''Snakes for the Divine'' is the fifth studio album by American heavy metal band

High on Fire High on Fire is an American heavy metal band from Oakland, California, that was formed in 1999. Matt Pike, the band's frontman and founder, also plays guitar for doom metal band Sleep. High on Fire won the 2019 Grammy Award for Best Metal Per ...

History and recording

''Snakes for the Divine'' was recorded at The Pass Studios in Los Angeles with producer

Greg Fidelman Greg Fidelman (born September 4, 1965) is an American record mixer, engineer and record producer. He is a frequent collaborator of producer Rick Rubin, and has worked with many bands in various genres, including Metallica, Slayer, High on Fire, B ...

. The album cover art and track listing were revealed on the band's Myspace page on January 6, 2010. The album was released on February 23 through

E1 Music MNRK Music Group (pronounced "monarch", formerly known as Koch Records and eOne Music) is a New York City-based independent record label and music management company. It was formed in 2009 from the music assets of Koch Entertainment, which had b ...

Theme

In an interview, frontman

Matt Pike Matt may refer to: *Matt (name), people with the given name ''Matt'' or Matthew, meaning "gift from God", or the surname Matt *In British English, of a surface: having a non-glossy finish, see gloss (material appearance) *Matt, Switzerland, a mu ...

stated: "The title 'Snakes for the Divine' is based on the premise that

Adam and Eve Adam and Eve, according to the creation myth of the Abrahamic religions, were the first man and woman. They are central to the belief that humanity is in essence a single family, with everyone descended from a single pair of original ancestors. ...

weren't the first people on Earth, and Adam having a wife that was a Reptilian named

Lilith Lilith ( ; he, Wiktionary:לילית, לִילִית, Līlīṯ) is a female figure in Mesopotamian Mythology, Mesopotamian and Jewish mythology, Judaic mythology, alternatively the first wife of Adam and supposedly the primordial she-demon. ...

. They were the first two people to take the reptilian DNA, and make shape-shifting human beings that go between the fourth-dimensional, the

Anunnaki The Anunnaki (Sumerian: , also transcribed as Anunaki, Annunaki, Anunna, Ananaki and other variations) are a group of deities of the ancient Sumerians, Akkadians, Assyrians and Babylonians. In the earliest Sumerian writings about them, which ...

, and human beings. Eventually, from ancient

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...

, this spawned a thing called the

Illuminati The Illuminati (; plural of Latin ''illuminatus'', 'enlightened') is a name given to several groups, both real and fictitious. Historically, the name usually refers to the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment-era secret society founded on ...

- the enlightened ones - coming up through the centuries, and choosing the kings, controlling your media, controlling your banking, blah blah blah. It's just theory at most points. I thought it'd make a great metal song, so I just went ahead and started writing about that. That's how the record came about, as far as the theme.."

Reception

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...

'' named ''Snakes for the Divine'' the ninth-best metal album of 2010.

Track listing

Personnel

– guitars, vocals *

Jeff Matz High on Fire is an American heavy metal band from Oakland, California, that was formed in 1999. Matt Pike, the band's frontman and founder, also plays guitar for doom metal band Sleep. High on Fire won the 2019 Grammy Award for Best Metal Perf ...

– bass *

Des Kensel High on Fire is an American heavy metal band from Oakland, California, that was formed in 1999. Matt Pike, the band's frontman and founder, also plays guitar for doom metal band Sleep. High on Fire won the 2019 Grammy Award for Best Metal Perf ...

– drums *

– production *

Arik Roper Arik Moonhawk Roper (born 1973) is a freelance illustrator and painter based in New York City. Roper grew up in Richmond, Virginia. His parents both being artists, his creativity was encouraged and he spent a great deal of time during childhood ...

– album cover

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Snakes for the Divine 2010 albums High on Fire albums Albums produced by Greg Fidelman