Staff Infections – September 2017

Welcome, friends, to the September edition of Staff Infections, wherein we discuss, among other things, what the Last Rites staff has been listening to for the past month. I usually like to keep it light in this column, but things have just been straight-up shitty lately. I had some personal health issues that put me out of commission for a few weeks, but given recent events, my problems hardly seem worth bitching about. I’m sure I’m not breaking any news to you when I say that between hurricanes, earthquakes and wildfires, huge numbers of people have had their lives thoroughly fucked up in the last few weeks. Unfortunately, many of the people most affected by these disasters are those least able to afford it. If you are able, I would urge you to give to relief efforts to help those affected. And by give, I mean money. While it might seem more productive to donate goods to those who’ve lost everything, most donated goods just end up going to waste: it is next to impossible to effectively catalog, store and distribute the thousands of tons items that get donated whenever major disasters happen. Money, however, can be used to buy what is needed where and when it is needed. So, again, if you are able, put your money where your heart is.

Chaos reigns once more in the staff playlists. No clear cut favorite album has emerged this month. Instead we have an eight-way tie for first place, each with two appearances a piece. For the sake of brevity, let’s just hit the high points. First up is perpetual staff favorite Blut Aus Nord with Deus Salutis Meæ. The album isn’t out until late October, so Zach and Dan are no doubt enjoying the heck out of the early promo their years of slaving over a keyboard have earned them. Speaking of the Danhammer, Mr. Obstkrieg reviewed another winner this month, that being Incantation’s latest slab of beefy death metal, Profane Nexus. Paradise Lost is another favorite among the staff, so it’s no surprise that the band’s recently released album, Medusa, makes a few playlist appearances. Zach Duvall has the dirt on Medusa right here. Finally, in case you missed it, Pyrrhon released a masterpiece of dense, noisy chaotic death metal in What Passes for Survival, and Danhammer gave it a masterful review. Reading said review will make you smarter, wiser and possibly better looking.

 

That’s all for this month. Be sure to share your playlists in the comments, and take care of yourselves; it’s rough out there.

• Zach Duvall
  Horrendous – Anareta
  Blut Aus Nord – Deus Salutis Meæ
  Vuur – In This Moment We Are Free – Cities
  Pyrrhon – What Passes for Survival
  Howls of Ebb/Khthoniik Cerviiks – With Gangrene Edges / Voiidwarp
  Sqaulus – The Great Fish…
• Konrad Kantor
  Venenum – Trance of Death
  Ufomammut – 8
  Los Angeles Negros – Los Angeles Negros
  Incantation – Profane Nexus
  Inquisition – Nefarious Dismal Orations
  Wolfbrigade – Damned
• Manny-O-War
  Soror Dolorosa – Apollo
  Death – Symbolic
  Katla – Móðurástin
  Coalesce – 0:12 Revolution in Just Listening
  Acephalix – Decreation
  Paradise Lost – Medusa
• Chris Redar
  Inanimate Existence – Underneath a Melting Sky
  Live – Secret Samadhi
  Snot – Get Some
  Cytotoxin – Gammageddon
  Juvenile – 400 Degreez
• Andrew Edmunds
  Paradise Lost – Medusa
  Paradise Lost – Gothic
  Raven – Wiped Out
  Gun – Gun
  Pyrrhon – What Passes For Survival
  Pagan Altar – The Room Of Shadows
• Michael Wuensch
  Chevalier – A Call to Arms
  Acephalix – Decreation
  Crumbsuckers – Life of Dreams
  Enslaved – RIITIIR
  Soror Delorosa – Apollo
  GBH – Midnight Madness and Beyond…
• Danhammer Obstkrieg
  Vijay Iyer Sextet – Far From Over
  Blut Aus Nord – Deus Salutis Meae
  Vuur – In This Moment We Are Free – Cities
  Murkok – Coast
  Opeth – Blackwater Park
  Enslaved – Below the Lights
• Matthew Cooper
  Argus – From Fields of Fire
  Colour Haze – In Her Garden
  Captain Beyond – Captain Beyond
  Boris – Heavy Rocks
  Ufomammut- 8
  Ministry – Live Necronomicon
• Dave Pirtle
  Arch Enemy – Will To Power
  Beneath the Divine – The Wicked Resurrection
  Apocalypse Orchestra – The End is Night
  Septicflesh – Codex Omega
  Cannabis Corpse – Left Hand Pass
  The Venting Machine – Shackles Be Gone
• Jeremy Morse
  Incantation – Profane Nexus
  Death Penalty – Death Penalty
  Acephalix – Decreation
  Cryptopsy – None So Vile
  Thanatos – Emerging from the Netherworlds
  Suffocation – Breeding the Spawn