4) High On Fire, Spitting Fire Live, Vol. 1 & Vol. 2
As good as High on Fire sound on record, nothing beats their live show. In between pummeling riffs from a trio of musicians at the top of their game and Matt Pike’s snarling vocals, there’s an overall sense of energy and menace that’s not quite captured on their records (which are still awesome, by the way). The band was all set to showcase their most recent album, 2013’s De Vermis Mysteriis, when Pike’s rehab forced the band off the Mayhem Fest. Their first tour back in support of the album at the end of that year found them in Brooklyn and Manhattan, where these performances were recorded for the album. While it’s a little odd that the band would split up the releases of two live albums, they were released on the same day, it’s still the next best thing to being there watching Pike in his shirtless glory.
