Cole checks in with his year-end best-of list, but don’t let that picture confuse you—”Snakes for the Divine” doesn’t actually show up until #7 …see what else he chose!

The included list of bands are an alphabetical order by band name rather than order of appearance, either on the live show or on my list posted here on MindOverMetal.org… guess you’ll need to listen and/or read up to find out!

I thought continuing the top 13 was a good way to go, but for every album I thought of, a parallel arose. So the list turned out as it did (with top slots held by bands found on few metallic year-end lists). Plus more stuff came to mind in the process—perhaps categories will be in order next year.

Band To Tour Canada with HIGH ON FIRE, Appear on OZZFEST & HEAVY MTL, and Returns To Europe; Completes New Video

Legendary stoner rock band SLEEP split in 1997 after two hugely influential albums. Members went on to form underground heroes OM and High On Fire, and more recently metal supergroup Shrinebuilder. This Fall, original members Al Cisneros and Matt Pike will be joined by drummer Jason Roeder of Neurosis to perform the seminal Holy Mountain album as well as selections from Dopesmoker and more. SLEEP debuted with 1991′s Volume One album, recorded for San Francisco label Tupelo. Earache Records received the band’s next recordings in the mail as a demo. The label — impressed by SLEEP‘s single-mindedness and unique vision – immediately signed [...read more]

Matt Pike is a metal god amongst mortals (all bias aside, as a fellow Matt that consumes the same substances). As important as Sleep ever was, the staggering intensity of High On Fire is now at its most potent.

Artwork and track list for BISON B.C.’s upcoming album ‘Dark Ages’ released!
Tour dates with Shadows Fall and Baptized in Blood AND upcoming tour with High On Fire, Priestess, and Black Cobra.

The first band of the evening, and quite a short set. I snapped the most pictures during High On Fire, unfortunately sucking up most of my battery life. Well, that’s what I get for forgetting to charge my batteries beforehand. I gotta say, for the only shirtless guy that night, Matt Pike has quite a belly on him! If he wasn’t a legendary ultra-badass, that would probably work against him.