Back in their career’s infancy, New York’s modern psych duo White Hills released a frenzied blast of power trio acid rawk entitled Heads On Fire, kicking off their reign of terror. Fifteen years later, singer/guitarist Dave W. and bassist/singer Ego Sensation return to their breakthrough for The Revenge of Heads On Fire, a reboot that gives the record new life. Besides remixing the primary tracks to give them even more fierce presence, the band also added additional tracks cut from the original LP, and re-ordered them to follow the abandoned script. Thus original psych rockers “Radiate” and “Oceans of Sound” now share the runtime with ambient electronic tracks like “Vids” and “Inoke Tupo,” giving the flow the feel of early Tangerine Dream popping up to give the audience a breather at a Loop concert. Fans of the first version need not fear, however – the sprawling epic “Don’t Be Afraid” still takes center stage, all twenty-plus, space-rocking, mind-bending minutes of it. As with the 2007 edition, the album ends with the cosmic crush of “Eternity,” taking the journey to its naturally explosive conclusion. Bringing the band’s previous progress back home, White Hills shows us that this Revenge is indeed sweet.
