In 2007, Rolling Stone named Matt Pike one of its "new guitar gods," and the High on Fire frontman is notable for being among the two or three least-known people on a list that included John Mayer and members of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Wilco, Tool, Pearl Jam, Rage Against the Machine, and Radiohead.

Pike is certainly a luminary in the world of metal - both the heavy and the stoner varieties with which he's associated - but he'd probably prefer to keep his appeal selective. High on Fire - performing at RIBCO on October 8 with Kylesa and Torche - is for metal purists, fans of Metallica's Master of Puppets who think that band has been pandering and floundering for the past two decades.

There's none of that desperation for acceptance with High of Fire, partly a function of its method. The songs are less organic than constructed out of often-disparate parts, and therein lies the key to both the music's appeal and difficulty.

It's a sentiment that should come standard-issue with any virtuosity.

"I do have to check myself, because sometimes I can find myself doing overly complicated things, and I think, 'Wait, am I doing this because it makes the song good or because I'm trying to show off?'" said Kristian Dunn in a recent phone interview. "It usually ends up being the latter, and it gets cut. You've got to be tough with yourself in this kind of situation."

"This kind of situation" is pretty funny, because it's unlikely that El Ten Eleven has much company in what it does. An instrumental duo featuring Dunn on guitars (often a double-neck) and drummer Tim Fogarty, the band makes extensive use of looping and effects pedals to build tunes that would seem to need three or more players. "Fat Gym Riot," from 2008's These Promises Are Being Videotaped, climaxes with thick bass and twin (or perhaps triplet) lead guitars.

But when El Ten Eleven returns to RIBCO on September 27, there will be just Fogarty and Dunn and the latter's 13 pedals, trying to make the extraordinarily complicated seem like merely good music.

It's been more than two years since Dick Prall released his last studio album, Weightless, and while that's a typical gap in the music business, the Iowa-raised, Chicago-based singer/songwriter doesn't believe it works for independent artists generally, and him particularly.

"For me, it's kind of daunting to say, 'Okay, this is what I've done the last two years, here you go, and let's see if that carries for the next two years,'" he said in a recent interview to promote his September 9 solo-acoustic show at the Redstone Room. (He'll also be recording a Daytrotter.com session that day.)

The problem, he said, is that schedule forces a musician to re-build momentum with each album. So he's determined to stop fizzling between releases. He's prepping an EP for this fall, with another to follow in late winter.

In this new age of singles (and single-track purchasing), the EP looks to Prall like an ideal format.

Images by photographer Chris Jones from Friday's Scorpions concert at the i wireless Center. Click on any photo for a larger version.