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
Faidra- Six Voices Inside
YGG- The Last Scald
Absolute Power- Self Titled
Visigoth- Conqueror’s Oath
Demons & Wizards- III
Kiss- Oakland Oracle Arena 3/6/20
The Ruins of Beverast – Blood Vaults
The Ruins of Beverast – Exuvia
Horrendous – Anareta
Tomb Mold – Manor of Infinite Forms
Absu – Absu
Conjureth – Foul Formations
Today is the Day – Temple of the Morning Star
Alestorm – No Grave But the Sea
Job for a Cowboy – Doom
Sepultura – Quadra
Korpse – Unethical
Velvet Cacoon – Genevieve
Dead Kosmonaut – Gravitas
Thy Catafalque – Naiv
Psychotic Waltz – The God-Shaped Void
Stallion – Slaves of Time
Nero Di Marte – Immoto
Persefone – Core
Plateau Sigma – Symbols, The Sleeping Harmony of the World Below
Drawn into Descent – The Endless Endeavor
Disowning – Human Cattle
Burial Invocation – Abiogenesis
Grave Ritual – Morbid Throne
Depravity – Silence of the Centuries
Excruciate – Passage of Life