Here we sit, friends, on the verge of autumn. I imagine, as you sip your pumpkin spiced latte and regrettably don a pair of long pants for the first time in months, you might be prone to ponder just what your pals at Last Rites have been listening to of late. Ponder no longer, for the truth is revealed herein. Staff Infections is what we call it, and someday I might tell you all why I do not find that title the least bit funny. For now, however, let’s comb the playlists to see if any particular albums stood out as collective favorites.
The playlist crossover is this month is almost nil. Only one album appeared more than once, and that’s only because Ryan cheated by listing an entire discography as one of his six allotted entries. By whatever route, Atlantean Kodex’s The Course of Empire takes the top prize this month with twice as many playlist appearances as any other individual album. Aside from a little playlist chicanery, Ryan Tysinger’s integrity is beyond reproach, so when Ryan heaps praise upon The Course of Empire, as in his recent review, you should trust that praise is well-earned.
As the playlists shook out, there is no second place this month. But again we have a staff-acurated, and Andrew Edmunds-assembled Spotify playlist for your listening pleasure. Now that you know what we’ve been listening to, be sure to share your own playlist in the comments.
Finally, as you likely know, Hurricane Dorian devastated several islands in the Bahamas. We at Last Rites don’t want tell you what to do with your money, but if you have the means and the will to donate to help recovery efforts, in the Bahamas, here are some links to reputable charities:
https://www.redcross.org/donate/hurricane-dorian-donations.html/
https://www.mercycorps.org/donate/send-emergency-aid-families-bahamas
- Zach Duvall
Valborg – Zentrum
Dead Kosmonaut – Expect Nothing
Napalm Death – Diatribes
Cradle of Filth – Bitter Suites to Succubi
Cryptopsy – Blasphemy Made Flesh
Pink Floyd – Atom Heart Mother - Captain
Sodom – Agent Orange
Sodom – Obsessed By Cruelty
Sodom – Persecution Mania
Sodom – In War and Pieces
Sodom – Tapping the Vein
Loscil – Equivalents - Manny-O-War
Borknagar – True North
Ella Fitzgerald – The Complete Ella Fitzgerald Songbooks
Nightfell – A Sanity Deranged
Jack McDuff – The Honeydripper
Atlantean Kodex – The Course of Empire
RAM – The Throne Within - Andrew Edmunds
Iron Maiden – Killers
Heathen – Victims Of Deception
Frightmare – Bringing Back The Bloodshed
AC/DC – Blow Up Your Video
Pink Floyd – A Momentary Lapse Of Reason
WASP – Dying For The World - Fetusghost
Dog Fashion Disco – Committed to a Bright Future
Bongripper – Terminal
Shabti – Trembling and Shorn
Jidenna – 85 to Africa
Cara Neir – Perpetual Despair is the Human Condition
Progenie Terrestre Pura – starCross - Ryan Tysinger
ShadowStrike – Legends Of Human Spirit
Atlantean Kodex – everything
Luca Turilli – King Of The Nordic Twilight
Hibria – Defying The Rules
Black Cilice –Transfixion Of Spirits
Runespell –Voice Of Opprobrium - Craig Hayes
Cliterati – Ugly Truths / Beautiful Lies
Dödläge – Hostile Regression
Nightmare – Thirsty and Wander
New Model Army – From Here
Salty Dog – Every Dog Has Its Day
Asphalt Ballet – Asphalt Ballet - Danhammer Obstkrieg
The Neptune Power Federation – Memoirs of a Rat Queen
Ignivomous – Hieroglossia
Sleater-Kinney – The Center Won’t Hold
Khruangbin – Hasta el Cielo (Con Todo el Mundo in Dub)
Front Line Assembly – Wake Up the Coma
Zeitgeber – Transforming the Random Crushing Forces of the Universe Into Manageable Patterns - Dave Pirtle
Entombed A.D. – Bowels of Earth
Illdisposed – Reveal Your Soul for the Dead
Lagerstein – 25/7
Moron Police – A Boat on the Sea
Twilight Force – Dawn of the Dragonstar
Hammerfall – Dominion - Jeremy Morse
Dvourment – Obscene Majesty
Judas Priest – Sad Wings of Destiny
Exumer – Possessed by Fire
W.A.S.P – The Last Command
Blackfoot – Rattlesnake Rock n’ Roll: The Best of Blackfoot
Darkthrone – Arctic Thunder - Lone Watie
Disillusion – The Liberation
Spiral – Anomaly
Blå Lotus – Högtid
Jambinai – ONDA
Noekk – Waltzing in Obscurity
Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso – Transiberiana
I remember one of the writers on this site once addressing the issue that the metal community was lacking a general consensus on universally great and important contemporary albums. How can the wider metal community manage to gather around a shared modern canon if this monthly segment on a single webzine in an ocean of webzines regularly fails to get more than two people behind the “album of the month”. Seems like everyone nowadays are either wandering out to the furthest reaches of the bandcamp underground to drag out the most obscure of independent records, or diving into a week-long binge of trad/ power records to satisfy some primal urge or relive some better time in the past. I think it’s important to generate some shared history for the same reasons as the writer on this site. This sawed-off shotgun-blast-spread of consensus makes our genre look weak and tired, as there is almost no such thing as a big record anymore (except for the recent Opeth, which kudos for this amazing week of reads). This site used to generate some serious hype and community around certain records in these segments in the past, so I don’t really know what has happened. Seems like the objective of the segment maybe has slid a bit from summarising to the personal.
That’s an interesting point, and one that I’ll think about moving forward. (Although I’d argue that zero crossover is indicative of the OPPOSITE of a “tired” scene). Something else to keep in mind: a number of the albums that get the biggest hype from labels and promo companies (the new Opeth, for example) are a “you want to review it? Get in touch and we’ll get you a copy” sort of deal, so they only land in one reviewer’s hands for coverage, leaving the rest of us on staff waiting like everyone else. Anyway, I get your point, and I think it’s a good one. The staff talks about music with one other throughout the day, and there’s definitely a good bit of intersection that readers don’t see.
The intersection does show at the end of the year when the top 25 hits the feed. I guess I miss the whole “event”-factor that imbued records such as Loss’ “Despond” and Hell’s “Human Remains” with their indestructible magic eight years ago. I love that people are able to have widely different listening histories based on their preferences, but it is so important to gather around this music and heap praise and discuss why this certain album of blackened, industrial sludge hits so much sweeter than that album of folksy, ambient shitgrind. While all men might be islands when it comes to their appreciation of music, we should raise bridges like a bunch of bitches nonetheless (‘scuse the lingo).
Idole – Dystopia
Eternal Storm – Come the tide
Atlantean Kodex- The course of empires
RAM – The Throne within
Disillusion – The Liberation
Darkthrone – Old Star
Siberian Meat Grinder – Self Titled
Oingo Boingo – Dead Man’s Party
Tomb Mold – Planetary Clairvoyance
Refused – The Shape of Punk to Come
Driller Killer – Fuck The World
Tool – Fear Inoculum
Dream Theater – Distance over Time
Appearance of Nothing – In Times of Darkness
Arch/Matheos – Winter Ethereal
Devin Townsend – Empath
Blanck Mass – Animated Violence Mild
Weeping Sores – False Confession
Cult of Luna – Somewhere Along the Highway
Vanhelgd – Temple of Phobos
Swans – White Light From the Mouth of Infinity
New Model Army – From Here
Iron Griffin – Curse of the Sky
Carnage- Dark Recollections
Helloween- Keeper of The Seven Keys
Manowar- Hail to England
Speedwolf-Ride With Death
Atlas Moth- An Ache For The Distance
Iron Maiden-Oracle Arena, Oakland CA 9/10/19
Exhorder – Mourn the Southern Skies
Grim Reaper – See you in Hell
At The Gates – To Drink the Night Itself
Morbid Angel – Kingdoms Disdained
Incantation – Blasphemy