Staff Infections – November 2018

Greetings, friends. It’s time to check out what your pals at Last Rites have been listening to lately, with a little feature we call Staff Infections. Being November, this is but one of many lists you’ll be seeing as 2018 draws to a close and we enter what most of us like to call List Season. Both the combined staff and individual best of 2018 lists should start cropping up in a few weeks. In the meantime, 2018 continues roll out metal, so let’s see what the staff has been jamming.

Only three albums appeared on multiple playlists this month, and all three are black metal. First place goes Unbound, the latest album from Finland’s Sargeist. Second place is a tie between Poland’s Kriegsmaschine (Apocalypticists) and Iceland’s Svartidaudi (Revelations of the Red Sword). Normally I’d post links to reviews, but they’re still forthcoming, so be a little more patient and listen to a sample from each album below.

In addition to posting your recent playlist in the comments, post an album from 2018 that you’ve enjoyed that we haven’t covered here at Last Rites. We love to feel badly about ourselves. There’s a handy search button in the upper right corner of the page you can use to check if a particular album has been covered. Feel free to check out some old features and reviews while you’re at it—there’s some good stuff in there.

Until next month, try not to let the reduced daylight and falling temps ruin your good time. For a sure-fire mood-lifter, I recommend a liberal dose of head-banging riffs.

  • Zach Duvall
    W.A.I.L. – W.A.I.L. II
    Behexen – By the Blessing of Satan
    Kriegsmaschine – Apocalypticists
    Abysmal Torment – The Misanthrope
    My Dying Bride – Songs of Darkness, Words of Light
    Disincarnate – Dreams of the Carrion Kind
  • Manny-O-War
    Ulthar – Cosmovore
    Svartidaudi – Revelations of the Red Sword
    Agalloch – Ashes Against the Grain
    Night Birds – Fresh Kills Vol. 1
    Ulver – Childhood’s End
    Sargeist – Unbound
  • Konrad Kantor
    Svartidaudi – Revelations of the Red Sword
    Sargeist – Unbound
    Kriegsmaschine- Apocalypticists
    Kriegsmaschine – Altered States of Divinity
    Pink Floyd – Pulse
    Blue Öyster Cult – Agents of Fortune
  • Andrew Edmunds
    Paradise Lost – Symbol Of Life
    Funebre – Children Of The Scorn
    Nocturnus – The Key
    Meth Leppard – Discography
    Voivod – The Wake
    Siouxsie & the Banshees – Juju
  • Captain
    Skulmagot – Skulled to Death
    King Diamond – The Puppet Master
    Mercyful Fate – 9
    Svartidaudi – Revelations of the Red Sword
    William Basinski + Lawrence English – Selva Oscura
    Tim Hecker – Konoyo
  • Ryan Tysinger
    Funeral Bastard – Grave Cult Ascension
    Sargeist – Unbound
    Kriegsmaschine – Apocalypticists
    Immortal – Battles in the North
    High Spirits – You Are Here
    Ruin – Human Annihilation
  • Dave Pirtle
    Sick of It All – Wake the Sleeping Dragon
    Unleashed – The Hunt for White Christ
    Orion’s Reign – Scores of War
    Elvenstorm – The Conjuring
    Soulfly – Ritual
    Bloodbath – The Arrow of Satan is Drawn
  • Danhammer Obstkrieg
    Selvans – Faunalia
    Essenz – Manes Impetus
    Sargeist – Unbound
    Profetus – As All Seasons Die
    Esoteric – Metamorphogenesis
    Ambrose Akinmusire – Origami Harvest
  • Christopher Sessions
    The Beatles – Everything
    Strapping Young Lad – City
    Jesu – Conquerer
    Decomposed – Hope Finally Died
    Hammers of Misfortune – Dead Revolution
    Cripple Bastards – La Fine Cresce
  • Jeremy Morse
    Nucleus – Sentient
    Bolt Thrower – Realm of Chaos
    Slayer – Reign in Blood
    Visigoth – The Conqueror’s Oath
    Black Sabbath – Volume 4
    Bathory – Blood on Ice

Posted by Jeremy Morse

Riffs or GTFO.

  1. Julia Holter – “Aviary”
    In Solitude – “Sister”
    Tribulation – “The Horror”
    Tribulation – “The Formulas of Death”
    Tribulation – “The Children of the Night”
    Tribulation – “Down Below”
    Dawnbringer – “Nucleus”

    Looking forward to the new Obliteration record at the end of the month. Hope you guys provide observation on it.

    Reply

    1. Very much looking forward to the Obliteration. Still haven’t seen a promo, though, which is…GEORGE IS GETTIN’ UPSET

      Reply

  2. High on Fire – Electric Messiah
    Sleep – Dopesmoker
    Coheed & Cambria – In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3
    The Ocean – Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic
    Gaerea – Unsettling Whispers
    Psycroptic – As The Kingdom Drowns

    Reply

  3. Ahab -The Call of the Wretched Sea
    Mutilated By Zombies – Scripts of Anguish
    Eneferens – The Bleakness of Our Constant
    Necrot – Blood Offerings
    Enslave – E
    Contaminated – Final Man

    2018 Unreviewed Gems: Wolf King – Loyal to the Soil // Sectioned – Annihiated // Panopticon – Scar of Man…1 & 2 (I know this one wasn’t sent to anyone anywhere for reviews, but as a diehard Panopticon fan I would love to hear someone’s opinion on it to help me process my feelings – does that make sense?)

    Reply

    1. You could add High on Fire’s ‘Electric Messiah’ to my listening list and the not reviewed list too. Pike and crew’s best album in a while. Also, The Book of Bad Decisions – better than Psychic Warfare but not an Earthrocker.

      Reply

      1. The Book of Bad Decisions is Clutch’s worst album. Hello!

        Reply

        1. What?! It’s not an all-timer, but it’s certainly better than Strange Cousins (too date my least favorite Clutch album – by far), Psychic Warfare (just wasn’t cohesive), and Jam Room.

          Granted, ‘Spirit of 76’ is just … boring. Which is shocking for them, even their ‘bad’ songs aren’t boring. Also, Clutch has always excelled in opening their albums with a killer 1-2 punch and ‘Spirit…’ is mood dampening.

          Reply

          1. All of those others have far better highs than Book, which is just bland all the way through. Very little tempo variation, and it’s WAY over-produced. It’s like they’re trying to sound like The Black Keys.

  4. “H” month apparently

    Hail of Bullets – Of Frost and War
    Hannes Grossmann – The Crypts of Sleep
    Hate Eternal – Upon Desolate Sands
    Hollow Earth – Outre
    Virtrun – Carpe Noctem

    2018 album(s) not covered by Last Rites:
    Barus – Drowned
    Centaurus-A – Means of Escape
    Ghost Ship Octavius – Delirium

    Reply

  5. Antiverse – Under the Regolith
    Uada – Cult of a Dying Sun
    Gutslit – Amputheatre
    Serocs – The Phobos / Deimos Suite
    Counterparts – The Difference between Hell and Home
    Infera Bruo – Cerement
    Infuriate – Infuriate
    Sorcerer – The Crowning of the Fire King

    Reply

  6. Behemoth – I Love You at Your Darkest
    Uncle Acid – Wasteland
    Internal Bleeding – Corrupting Influence
    Ye Goat-Herd Gods – Ashes Shall Be Made of Them
    Deathpile – G.R.
    Danzig – all

    Reply

  7. Yesterday’s Saints – Generation of Vipers
    The Crown – Crowned in Terror
    Machine Head – The Blackening
    Iced Earth – Burnt Offerings
    December Noir – Autumn Kings

    You guys didn’t review Brainstorm – Midnight Ghost. Great release!

    Reply

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