by Erick Pressman

San Francisco has been an epicenter of great metal and hard rock throughout the years, and judging by some of the live music coming this month, the earth-shattering, head-splitting madness shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

The two biggest shows of the month are the back to back Sleep reunions going down at the Regency on the 12th and the 13th. For those of you not in the know, Sleep are a highly influential stoner metal band from the 90's featuring Matt Pike (currently of High On Fire) and Al Cisneros (currently of Om and Shrinebuilder). Original drummer Chris Kakius is sitting out these shows, so the band has tapped Jason Roeder (of Neurosis) to fill in on drums. The band will be playing their epic, hour-long song/record Dopesmoker, as well as selections from their Holy Mountain lp. The show on the 12th has Northwest weirdo Thrones opening, while on the 13th the band will be joined by Oakland's very own Saviours.