Here we are: the first installment of Staff Infections in the newly-remodeled Last Rites. It’s an easy job of picking the album of the month this time around, as the staff’s playlists converged on precisely one album, that being the forthcoming and final album from NWOBHM/Doom legends Pagan Altar, The Room of Shadows. Unfortunately the band and/or its label are keeping a tight leash on sample tracks, so I have none to share with you, but given how many on the staff are listening to the promo, I expect Last Rites will have a review for you in the very near future.
Since we have no sample track from this months champion, and there are no runners-up, I will have to improvise. Two bands show up multiple times on playlists, albeit with different albums. First is Incantation (courtesy of my own playlist, I must admit), which is timely because the groups latest album, Profane Nexus, was released this past week. In case you missed it, Mr. Obstkrieg’s review can be found right here. Secondly, we have cult favorite Seance, who are perhaps the most American-sounding of the early nineties Swedish death metal bands. Enjoy a taste of Incantation and Seance, while you share your playlist in the comments. For group discussion this month, if you care to participate, share your top three Incantation albums. Enjoy the rest of the summer (or winter for you southern hemisphere folks), and see you next month.
- Zach Duvall
Cradle of Filth – V Empire
Hell – Hell
Seance – Foenever Laid to Rest
Gigan – Undulating Waves of Rainbiotic Iridescence
Duke Ellington – Ellington Uptown
The Sisters of Mercy – Floodland - Manny-O-War
Pagan Altar – The Room of Shadows
Talk Talk – Spirit of Eden
Beneath – Ephemeris
Seance – Saltrubbed Eyes
Tchornobog – Tchornobog
Witch Vomit – Poisoned Blood - Andrew Edmunds
Dismember – Like An Ever-Flowing Stream
Expulsion – Nightmare Future
Phobia – Lifeless God
Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit – The Nashville Sound
Pagan Altar – The Room Of Shadows
Roger Waters – Is This The Life We Wanted? - Michael Wuensch
Corrupted – Noothgrush Split
Rope Sect – Personae Ingratae
Krolok – Flying Above Ancient Ruins
Boris – Dear
Tyranonaut – Tyranonaut
Pagan Altar – The Room of Shadows - Danhammer Obstkrieg
Nine Inch Nails – Add Violence
Leprous – Malina
Urarv – Aurum
Skyclad – Forward Into the Past
Pagan Altar – The Room of Shadows
Boards of Canada – The Campfire Headphase - Evan Thompson
Wintersun – The Forest Seasons
Broken Social Scene – Hug of Thunder
Flatt & Scruggs – Foggy Mountain Jamboree
Maglor – Asunder
Imogen Heap – Speak for Yourself
Antoine Dufour – Back & Forth - Dave Pirtle
Perkulatory – Chronic Caffeine Dependence
Prong – Zero Days
Steven Wilson – To The Bone
Succumb – Succumb
Tehom – The Merciless Light
Rex Brown – Smoke on This - Jeremy Morse
Khazaddum – Plagues Upon Arda
Incantation – Vanquish in Vengeance
Incantation – Dirges of Elysium
Dyscarnate – With All Their Might
Crescent Shield – The Last of My Kind
Morbid Angel – Abominations of Desolation
Hell – Hell
Demon Eye – Prophecies and Lies
Lisa Cuthbert – Hextapes
Impure Wilhelmina – Radiation
Paradise Lost – Medusa
Converge – “I Can Tell You About Pain”/”Eve” split EP
Ooooh! How’s Medusa? Or do I have to wait for your AMG review? Either way, as a PL fanboy, I’m stoked for it. Sample tracks have been awesome.
Not bad so far. Gotta give it some more listens, but I’m glad they went with the direction laid out by “Beneath Broken Earth” from The Plague Within.
Balzac – Beyond the Darkness
Balzac – The Birth of Hatred
Balzac – Deep Blue
Danzig – III: How the Gods Kill
Misfits – Collection I
Alice Cooper Paranormal
Trivium – Shogun
Bathory – Under the Sign of the Black Mark
Bathory – Hammerheart
Mother Love Bone – S/T
Beneath – The Barren Throne
Pallbearer – Heartless
Nice! Always been a huge fan of MLB.
Elder – Reflections of a floating world
Marty Friedman – Wall of Sound
Centuries of Decay – S/T
Droid – Terrestrial Mutations
Accept – The Rise of Chaos
Enslaved – Storm Son (single)
Gorephilia – Space Lightning guy
Howls of Ebb/Khthoniik Cerviiks split
Pyrrhon new one
Grave Miasma – Odori Sepulcrum
Latest Death Fortress
Sisters of Mercy – Floodland
For half a second, as I’m not familiar with Gorephilia’s catalog, I was hoping Space Lightning Guy was the actual name of the album. Needless to say I was mildly disappointed.
The Ebb/Cerviiks split is KILLAR.
Ne Obliviscaris – Urn
Pink Floyd – The Division Bell
Pyrrhon – What Passes for Survival
Steven Wilson – To the Bone
The Midnight – Days of Thunder
Death – Symbolic
Ezerath – Overture: The Heir Apparent
Xanthochroid – Of Erthe and Axen Act I
Steven Wilson – To the Bone
Khemmis – Hunted
Thundercat – Drunk
Byzantine – The Cicada Tree
Carcass – Necroticism: Descanting the Insalubrious
Decaying Purity – Malignant Resurrection of the Fallen Souls
Hammers of Misfortune – Dead Revolution
Madder Mortem – All Flesh is Grass
Top Three Incantation albums:
1. Diabolical Conquest
2. Diabolical Conquest
3. Diabolical Conquest
Well, I’d have made room for a couple more, but that one is making my top three for sure.
Incantation is the NY death metal band that I’ve been able to fully get into. I’ve tried a good few times, but apart from DC (and I think that Corchado’s vocals are a big factor here) I tend to bounce off other albums.
What would you recommend I try? Onward to Golgotha and The Infernal Storm have been recommended to me in the past, so perhaps I just need to give them another go. It did take me about 20 years to appreciate Voivod after all.
Any chance of using Disqus for comments instead? Not being able to edit mistakes is mildly annoying. 😛
You might want to check out Vanquishing in Vengeance. The production is massive and I think that it has some of the better vocal work in the band’s discography. On the other hand, if you prefer a murky, rawer production, the early albums are the way to go. I have 7 of their albums and I like them all. Of their early work, Diabolical Conquest is my favorite. I think their 3 most recent albums have been really excellent, in my opinion.
Begotten soundtrack
Phazm – Scornful of Icons
I Shalt Become – Wanderings
Ides of Gemini – Women
Benighted – Necrobreed
Anthony and the Johnsons – s/t
Darkrypt-Delirious Excursion
Voivod-Dimension Hatross Vinyl re-release
Septic Flesh-Titan Vinyl
Roger Waters-Is This The Life We Wanted?
Enslaved-Vertebrae and RIITIIR on vinyl
John Frum-A Stirring in the Noos
That Waters solo record is solid!
Der Weg einer Freiheit
Der Weg einer Freiheit
Fjords
Gravesite
Void Ritual
A Hill to Die Upon