Staff Infections – May 2019

It’s May, friends—well into spring and nudging on summer. And yet, the weather still sucks. The rain is seemingly incessant, the sun barely glimpsed, my summer clothes still packed away, and my motorcycle still un-ridden. Frankly, it’s wearing me down. Spring is supposed to be a hopeful time, full of new life and the loosening of winter’s icy grip. Instead, this spring has been an only slightly warmer extension of winter. It is appropriate then, that the album topping the staff playlists this month is Winter Ethereal, the long-awaited second album from Arch / Matheos. Winter Eternal might have been more appropriate, but close enough. John Arch doesn’t often grace us with music, but when he does, it’s magical—almost magical enough to kick my seasonal affective disorder. If you missed Zach Duvall’s excellent review of this excellent album, follow this link with all haste.

Second place this month is a tie between two forthcoming death metal albums, the exceedingly brutal Existential Disconnect from Organectomy, and the bizzarro-sci-fi odyssey Entity from Nucleus. Enjoy a sample from each below, and be sure to share your playlist in the comments. Have a great month. And get some sun, if you can find any.

• • Zach Duvall
    The Dillinger Escape Plan – Calculating Infinity
    Carcass – Symphonies of Sickness
    Autechre – Tri Repetae
    W.A.S.P. – Unholy Terror
    Rammstein – Mutter
    Blue Öyster Cult – Imaginos
  • Andrew Edmunds
    Queensrÿche – The Verdict
    Cannibal Corpse – Vile
    Ripcord – Hardcore
    Hard To Swallow – Hard To Swallow
    Hatred Surge – Human Overdose
    Scorpions – Fly To The Rainbow
  • Danhammer Obstkrieg
    Arch/Matheos – Winter Ethereal
    The Lord Weird Slough Feg – New Organon
    Paul Oakenfold – GU007: New York City
    Bvdub – At the Alter
    Organectomy – Domain of the Wretched
    Deeds of Flesh – Inbreeding the Anthropophagi
  • Dave Pirtle
    Amon Amarth – Berzerker
    Blazon Stone – Hymns of Triumph and Death
    Sworn Enemy – Game Changer
    Arch Matheos – Winter Ethereal
    Avantasia – Moonglow
    Eluveitie – Ategnatos
  • Ryan Tysinger
    Mortician – Chainsaw Dismemberment
    Hellripper – Black Arts And Alchemy
    Leather Glove – Perpetual Animation
    Blind Guardian – Follow The Blind
    Nucleus – Entity
    Suspiral – Chasm
  • Konrad Kantor
    Oranssi Pazuzu – Värähtelijä
    Incantation – Diabolical Conquest
    Nimbifer – Demo I
    Kaevum – Natur
    Flotsam & Jetsam – The End of Chaos
    Arch/Matheos – Winter Ethereal
  • Captain
    Mystik – Mystik
    Organectomy – Existential Disconnect
    Defeated Sanity – Chapters of Repugnance
    Defeated Sanity – Psalms of the Moribund
    Defeated Sanity – Prelude to the Tragedy
    Beorn’s Hall – In His Granite Realm
  • LoneWatie
    Arch/Matheos – Winter Ethereal
    Organectomy – Existential Disconnect
    Frequency Eater – The Fine Game of Nil
    Anata – Dreams of Death and Dismay
    Breidablik – Nhoohr
    Yes – Drama
  • Manny-O-War
    Tanagra – Meridiem
    Arch / Matheos – Winter Ethereal
    Hot Water Music – No Division
    Aethyrick – Praxis
    Mortal Wound – Forms of Unreasoning Fear
    Nucleus – Entity
  • Jeremy Morse
    Scorpions – Love at First Sting
    Scorpions – Taken by Force
    Scorpions – Lovedrive
    Arch/Matheos – Winter Ethereal
    Nocturnus A.D. – Paradox
  • Craig Hayes
    Filth of Mankind – The Final Chapter
    Depressor – Hell Storms Over Earth
    Agnosy – When Daylight Reveals the Torture
    Judas Priest – Priest In The East (Live In Japan)
    Grave Infestion – Infesticide (Demo)
    Swamp Witch – Dead Rituals
  • Chris Sessions
    Failure – In the Future Your Body Will Be the Furthest Thing From Your Mind
    Nile – Discography
    Warrel Dane – Shadow Work
    Dan Fogelberg – Phoenix
    David Hasselhoff – Looking for Freedom
    Bread – Baby I’m-a Want You