[Blistering.com Best-of 2007] With '07 almost at a close, we at Blistering.com felt it was time to let you know what rocked us hard this year. As you will see, variety abounds on each staff member's list, proving yet again there is no accounting for taste, although it is safe to say each and every one of us back our list to the nth degre...

[Om] "Once Sleep ended, though, in the period of time I claimed to spend with myself, I underwent something that permanently changed me. I felt it on the most fundamental level of psyche. It caused me to really value being alive and embrace it rather than find ways to stay in the paradox of comfortable misery. I think music is just an extrusion of what is going on with a person within. I am more connected to the music I play today then I ever was in Sleep." - Al Cisneros

[Pagan's Mind] "And I think also we have more to offer in many ways - this band is totally democratic and no one has more to say than the other and all are equal in the song writing process, with everyone contributing with almost the same amount at creativeness. This band is at times a mix-up of very different personalities, all with the gift of "creative overkill,” and to be honest we ditched about 80% of the riffs and ideas before shaping and building the song structures on God’s Equation". - Nils K Rue

[Enslaved] Using progressive elements, later releases further separated the group from death metal and the typical Scandinavian black metal sound. A typical Enslaved album encompasses many musical genres such as death metal, classic metal, folk, black metal, classical music and progressive rock; however, every album is extreme. No two Enslaved albums are the same, yet the group has a sound that is distinctly Enslaved.

[Bloodsimple] "In VOD, we were a bunch of reckless kids. We were 20 years old, thrown into huge Ozzfest type scenerios. With a decent amount of fame when you’re that young, and the whole world thrown at you, you don’t know how to handle that. We weren’t enormous, but for 20 year old kids from Long Island, there was a lot of shit going on. It wasn’t like the way it is today where everything’s messed over. It was a lot different. We made a lot of mistakes and probably cost us our career in the end. But whatever…time goes on. " - Tim Williams

[Black Tide] "It’s definitely surreal. Getting to wake up in the morning and knowing you’re about to go out on tour with some of your heroes. I don’t think there are words to describe what I’m feeling." - Zakk Sandler

[Sixx AM] "It was real interesting because Nikki and I have been friends for several years. I’ve seen him when he was not sober, and I’ve visited him in rehab. I’ve seen the whole process happen. But it’s still pretty shocking I’d have to say, even though we all know all of the legendary stories of the Motley days – just all of the absolute mayhem that went on. But for me, it was a different experience than what I think it would be for most readers." - James Michael

[Amon Amarth] Thanks to the Swedish invasion on Ozzfest and two videos taken for Headbangers Ball from their recent marauding effort With Oden on our Side, the group’s popularity is the highest of their career. Finally, after six years as a support act and twenty-minute time slots at festivals, Amon Amarth is the headlining act.

[Sol] "Humanity has been festering from the inside through thousands of years, it's time somebody put a stop to it. Or maybe people could do it themselves by simple killing themselves! I don't know... Let There Be A Massacrespeaks for its self. As the lyrics go in ‘The Inanity Of Man”: "If only I had a bullet for each human being, I would promise this world a miracle!" That was the first line I wrote to the album." - Sol

[Bobaflex] "Pretty much, we did what we always do. We didn’t really go about it in a different way. It happened that way. We got together and wrote a bunch of songs. Russ C. Cobb helped produce and that’s how it came out. This album’s more personal than the last couple of records. The last five years on the road have been crazy. A lot of things have changed, in matter of in people’s lives died and shit." - Marty McCoy

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