Matt Pike’s post-Sleep project definitely woke listeners up. By introducing a heaping dose of thrash to the formula, they helped perfect stoner metal – basically stoner rock’s skeezy cousin who owns the van with the shitty Frank Frazetta knock-off airbrushed on the side. Blessed Black Wings improved on its predecessors with Steve Albini’s infernal production and songs that doubled down on the barbarian berserker frenzy. “Devilution,” the title track, and closing death march instrumental “Sons of Thunder” prove you don’t need finesse when you have a big-ass battleax.