Staff Infections October 2017

Welcome, friends, to a somewhat tardy edition of Staff Infections, wherein we check out what the Last Rites staff has been listening to lately. I was hoping after the rash of natural disasters last month that October would find the world in somewhat better shape, but instead, things have only gotten worse. More hurricanes, a horrific mass shooting, and enormously destructive wildfires have significantly upped the tragic ante in the past month. And if that isn’t enough, the Yellowstone supervolcano might wipe us all out a lot sooner than expected. Here’s hoping you and yours have made it through the past few months unscathed.

Though it seems we might be in the midst of a slow-burning apocalypse, we all have heavy metal that needs listening to, so let’s see what’s hot this month: Enslaved has been a consistent favorite of the staff, and so it is no surprise to see that the group’s latest album, E, takes top honors this month. You learn more about E, and get a glimpse into Captain’s tortured soul via his review right here.

 

Second place this month is a bit more difficult to determine, because, for some reason, the staff has been listening to boat-loads of King Diamond and Mercyful Fate. Maybe it’s because Halloween is approaching, and King and company set the mood like no others. In any case, In the Shadows and Into the Unknown from Fate both make a couple appearances on playlists and likewise for KD’s Conspiracy and The Puppet Master. Because I’m more partial to Mercyful Fate, let’s have a listen to a track that was a young Jeremy’s first exposure to the band. Thanks, Headbangers’ Ball.

For discussion this month, share your favorite Halloween jams, along with your recent playlist in the comments. Stay safe, friends, take care of yourselves and each other, and bang your heads while the sun still shines. See you next month.

• Konrad Kantor
  Mercyful Fate – Mercyful Fate
  Mercyful Fate – Melissa
  Mercyful Fate – Don’t Break the Oath
  Mercyful Fate – In the Shadows
  Mercyful Fate – Time
  Mercyful Fate – Into the Unknown
• Andrew Edmunds
  Sodom – Agent Orange
  Paradise Lost – Medusa
  Enslaved – E
  Agnostic Front – My Life My Way
  Heathen – Victims Of Deception
  W.A.S.P. – K.F.D.
• Zach Duvall
  Wormed – Krighsu
  King Diamond – Conspiracy
  Progenie Terrestre Pura – oltreLuna
  Klabautamann – Smaragd
  Satyricon – Live at the Opera
  Destruction – Sentence of Death
• Manny-O-War
  King Diamond – The Puppet Master
  King Diamond – Conspiracy
  Antisect – The Rising of the Lights
  Trio Mediaeval & Arve Henriksen – Rímur
  Vio-Lence – Eternal Nightmare
  Cyclone – Brutal Destruction
• Chris Redar
  Archspire – Relentless Mutation
  Cytotoxin – Gammageddon
  Guns n’ Roses – Chinese Democracy
  Pyrrhon – What Passes For Survival
  Tech N9ne – King of Darkness
  Cannibal Corpse – Torture
• Dave Pirtle
  Ensiferum – Two Paths
  David Garrett – Rock Revolution
  With The Dead – Love From With The Dead
  Darkane – Rusted Angel
  Mercyful Fate – Into the Unknown
  Symphorce – Phorceful Ahead
• Captain
  King Diamond – The Puppet Master
  W.A.S.P. – Babylon
  Forsaken – Pentateuch
  Heretic – Breaking Point
  Disincarnate – Dreams of the Carrion Kind
  Blazon Stone – Down in the Dark
• Danhammer Obstkrieg
  Godspeed You! Black Emperor – Luciferian Towers
  Enslaved – E
  Type O Negative – October Rust
  Drudkh – Autumn Aurora
  Charles Lloyd – Lift Every Voice
  Miles Davis – Bitches Brew
• Matthew Cooper
  A Tree of Signs – Initiation of Light
  Husker Du – Discography
  Isen Torr – Mighty and Superior
  Zygote – A Wind of Knives
  Enslaved – E
  Mercyful Fate – Discography
• Jeremy Morse
  Exhumed – Death Revenge
  Suffocation – …Of the Dark Light
  Mercyful Fate – In the Shadows
  King Diamond – Abigail
  Darkthrone – Arctic Thunder
  W.A.S.P. – W.A.S.P.