Staff Infections – March 2020

Hello, dear readers. I don’t think I have to go into much detail when I say there’s a lot of shit going on in the world lately, and not much of it is good. In the face of such crises, prattling on about heavy metal can seem a bit trivial, but we all need an escape from the doom and gloom of the real world, even if that escape is into sounds of doom and gloom. So, let’s see what the Hell all the Last Rites staff has been listening to for the past month.

It’s a bit of a mess this time around, I must say. But we have, by the narrowest of margins, a winner for our album of the month. The forthcoming album Omens, from Psychedelic / what-the-hell-ever band Elder, takes the blue ribbon with three playlist appearances. Omens isn’t out until April 24th, but look for a review in the near future, and you can enjoy a little sample from the album right here:

Second place this month is five-way fustercluck, including Opeth, Circle of Ouroborous, and Pat friggin’ Metheny, for Christ’s sake. I don’t care to bombard you with five samples, so… since I’m half-Irish and Saint Patrick’s Day is coming up, I’ll just leave you with my Favorite Thin Lizzy song. I’ve been trying to learn this god-damned solo for over a year, and it’s killing me. If there is still some essence of the late Gary Moore out there in the immaterium, I hope it is some comfort to him that his licks are still tormenting the shit out of the living.

Be sure to check out the Spotify playlist curated by the Last Rites staff for your listening pleasure, and share your own playlist so we can see what you’ve been listening to as well. And last but not least, if you haven’t already, have a look at the first edition of our essential albums of the 2010s series. And keep a lookout for a new edition every Friday for the next nine weeks. Until next month, stay safe, and wash your hands frequently.

• Zach Duvall
  Spiral Architect – A Sceptic’s Universe
  Autechre – LP5
  Aphex Twin – Selected Ambient Works 85–92
  Dodecahedron – Dodecahedron
  The Cars – Heartbeat City
  Psychotic Waltz – The God-Shaped Void
• Manny-O-War
  Elder – Omens
  Devangelic – Ersetu
  Anacrusis – Screams and Whispers
  Lugubrum – Plage Chômage
  Shards of Humanity – Cold Logic
  Circle of Ouroborus – Viimeinen Juoksu
• Captain
  Circle Of Ouroborus – Viimeinen Juoksu
  Shards Of Humanity – Cold Logic
  ! KNEEL ! – Infinite Worship, Slaves Eternal
  Freeways – True Bearings
  Hällas – Conundrum
  Nite – Darkness Silence Mirror Flame
• Ryan Tysinger
  Blood Freak – Mindscraper
  Ruin – Drown In Blood
  Lucifuge – The One Great Curse
  Serrabulho – Porntugal (Portuguese Vagitarian Gastronomy)
  Freeways – True Bearings
• Andrew Edmunds
  Opeth – In Cauda Venenum
  The Adicts – Songs Of Praise
  Prostitute Disfigurement – Left In Grisly Fashion
  Cannibal Corpse – Tomb Of The Mutilated
  Corrosion Of Conformity – Animosity
  Coalesce – Ox
• Danhammer Obstkrieg
  Wampyric Rites – Reflections of a Frostbitten Moon
  Devangelic – Ersetu
  My Dying Bride – The Ghost of Orion
  Elder – Omens
  North Atlantic Drift – Pillars
  Aluk Todolo – Voix
• Megan Astarael
  Necrophagist – Epitaph
  Intronaut – Fluid Existential Inversions
  Altar of Plagues – Teethed Glory & Injury
  Nawaharjan – Lokabrenna
  Pat Metheny – From This Place
  Amon Tobin – Fear In A Handful of Dust
• LoneWatie
  Elder – Omens
  Lord of Light – Morningstar
  Evolve – Choose Your Path
  Øresund Space Collective – Experiments in the Subconscious
  Altus – Strength of Fate
  Pat Metheny – From This Place
• Dave Pirtle
  Opeth – In Cauda Venenum
  Pariah – To Mock a Killingbird
  Demons & Wizards – III
  Dead Kennedys – Bedtime for Democracy
  Devin Townsend Project – Epicloud
  Thor – Rising
• fetusghost
  Luca Turilli – King of the Northern Twilight
  No One Knows What The Dead Think – No One Knows What The Dead Think
  Grima – Will of the Primordial
  Anciients – Voice of the Void
  Porcupine Tree – In Absentia
  Fluisteraars – Bloem
• Jeremy Morse
  Obituary – The End Complete
  Gary Moore – After the War
  Deströyer 666 – Wildfire
  Kreator – Coma of Souls
  Death – Individual Thought Patterns
  Pestilence – Testimony of the Ancients