It’s that time of the month again, friends. No, not that time of the month—it’s time for Staff Infections, wherein the Last Rites staff members share what they’ve been listening to over the last lunar cycle. If you thought the Manilla Road train was going to stop rolling through here, you don’t know Last Rites all that well. Our mourning over the untimely passing of Mark “The Shark” Shelton, Manilla Road’s some-time vocalist, guitarist and leader, continues. Consequently, Manilla Road’s entire discography dominated the staff’s playlists this month.
I only had the honor of seeing Manilla Road once, at a Maryland Deathfest several years ago, but it was so god-damned much fun, I’ll never forget it. Thanks to the ardent fandom of my Last Rites compatriots, I also had the pleasure of meeting Shark that same weekend. He just walked up to our group and started chatting. I assume he recognized some of the boys from the Ohio tornado debacle, which is detailed in Captain’s wonderful memorial piece. It doesn’t hurt that Zach Duvall, at six-foot-seven, tends to stand out in a crowd. I told Shark that if he had about forty five minutes, I could tell him how much I loved “The Riddle Master.” He politely took a rain-check, and we watched The Melvins instead. I guess I’ll never get to cash in that rain-check, but I did write a Riffology on “The Riddle Master,” so if there is an afterlife, and that afterlife has the internet, maybe Shark will read it. Anyway, representing this month’s first place finish for the entire Manilla Road discography, is my favorite Manilla Road song, “The Riddle Master.”
You left us too soon, Shark, but you left us with a whole passel of magnificent, epic heavy metal. You earned your rest. Up the Hammers.
Second place this month, as has become common, is a multi-way tie. Some highlights of said tie include recent Nordic black/doom releases from Faustcoven (In the Shadow of Doom) and Mörkö (Ulvova Tyhjyys). El Capitan has you covered on both.
Be sure to share your playlist in the comments, and be sure to listen to some Manilla Road. Have a great month!
- Zach Duvall
Manilla Road – Everything
Amorphis – The Queen of Time
Voivod – Target Earth
Ripping Corpse – Dreaming with the Dead
Aorlhac – L’esprit des vents
Burial Invocation – Abiogenesis
Pig Destroyer – Terrifyer - Dan Obstkrieg
Manilla Road – Everything
Binah – Phobiate
Furze – The Presence
The Field – Discography
Morgion – Discography
Gas – Nah und Fern
Faustcoven – In the Shadow of Doom - Captain
Manilla Road – Everything
Skepticism – Discography
Domovoyd – Domovoyd
Mörkö – Ulvova tyhjyys
Abhorrence – Megalohydrothalassophobic
Morgion – Discography
Blue Öyster Cult – Fire Of Unknown Origin - Andrew Edmunds
Manilla Road – Everything
Michael Schenker Group – Michael Schenker Group
Stryper – To Hell With The Devil
Warlock – Triumph And Agony
Skyclad – Wayward Sons Of Mother Earth
Testament – The New Order - Ryan Tysinger
Manilla Road – Everything
Destruction – Eternal Devastation
Mordor – Csejthe
Kawir – Isotheos
Aorlhac – L’esprit des vents
Undergang – Indhentet af Doden
Torture Rack – Malefic Humiliation - Manny-O-War
Manilla Road – Everything
Faustcoven – In the Shadow of Doom
Vreid – Kraft
Portishead – Portishead
Witch King – Voice of the Ossuary
Circle – Terminal
Extremity – Coffin Birth - Konrad Kantor
Manilla Road – Everything
Mörkö – Ulvova tyhjyys
Burial Invocation – Abiogenesis
LIK – The Second Wind
Clandestine Blaze – New Golgotha Rising
Eyedea & Abilities – First Born
Das EFX – Dead Serious - Dave Pirtle
Manilla Road – Everything
Chris Caffery – The Jester’s Court
A Dying Planet – Facing the Incurable
Judas Priest – Firepower
Psychostick – Do
Pact – Enigmata - Jeremy Morse
Manilla Road – Everything
Crawl – Rituals
Phrenelith – Desolate Endscape
Amorphis – Tales from the Thousand Lakes
Morbid Angel – Altars of Madness
Visigoth – The Conqueror’s Oath
Sear Bliss – Letters From the Edge
Nile – In Their Darkened Shrines
Arcturus – La Masquerade Infernale
Borknagar – Quintessence
Control Denied – Fragile Art of Existence
Frontierer – Unloved
Obscura – Dilivium
Neurosis – Given to the Rising
Smashing Pumpkins – Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
Heilung – Lifa
Metallica – “Ride the Lightning”
Scorpions – “Taken By Force”
Uriah Heep – “Uriah Heep”
Peter Murphy – “Deep”
Extremity – “Coffin Birth”
Queensrÿche – “Rage for Order”
Helena Hauff – “Qualm”
“The Riddle Master” has been my favorite Manilla Road song since 1984. There are some jams on “Open the Gates” that give it a bit o’ stiff competition: “Metalstrom,” “Astronomica,” “The Ninth Wave.”
Black Magick SS – Spectral Ecstasy
Troll – The Last Predators
The Lion’s Daughter – Future Cult
Deathpile – GR
Brighter Death Now – Obsessis
Ghost (Jpn) – Hypnotic Underworld
Jungle Rot – s/t
Wormrot ‘Voices’
Deiquisitor ‘Downfall of the Apostates’
Throaat ‘Reflections in Darkness’
Overkill ‘The Years of Decay’
Dangerous ‘Metal Heritage’
Gaerea ‘Unsettling Whispers’
Mule Skinner – Airstrike
Rebel Wizard – Voluptuous Worship of Rapture & Response
Khemmis – Desolation
Black Tusk – T.C.B.T.
QOTSA – Various albums
Theory In Practice – The Armageddon Theories
Internal Suffering – Awakening of the Rebel
Toby Knapp – Archives of Magick
Benighted Leams – Ferly Centesms
Balance Interruption – Door 218
Yattering – Genocide
Anteloper – Kudu
According to last.fm, and in order of most played
Parius – The Eldritch Realm
Starkweather – Croatoan
Atavisma – The Chthonic Rituals
Sorcerer – In the Shadow of the Inverted
Martriden – Cold And The Silence
Craft — White Noise And Black Metal
Amorphis — Under The Red Cloud