Greetings, dear readers, from the cursed gloom of standard time. It’s time for Staff Infections, the feature wherein we, the Last Rites staff, share what we’ve been listening to for the past month. Customarily, I, your esteemed (?) author, would also rant and rave about some generally inane horseshit for a paragraph or two, but I’ve been dragging my ass around in the woods for the past few days, so I’m too tired to summon much in the way of vitriol. Oh, wait, I just remembered Dave Mustaine. I’m never too tired to talk shit about Dave Mustaine. Dave is a gaping asshole and everything he’s done after Rust in Peace is insulting, watered-down bullshit. Liking any of it makes you a bad person. I’m glad Dave beat cancer, but he didn’t come through it a better man, he came through it a bigger asshole. Peace Sells is an all-time classic, though, I have to give him that.
On to what we’ve been listening to: For what seems like the first time in a while, we have a strong showing for our album of the month. Appearing on no less than five staff playlists is Worm’s Foreverglade. If you’ve not read Andrew Edmunds’ review of this magnificently murky morass of an album, please do so now, with all haste. Second place this month is a tie between Cradle of Filth’s recently released album, Existence is Futile, and Dream Theater’s equally recent album A View from the Top of the World. If you would like to read a review of Existence is Futile, as well as a touching tale of love lost and love regained, our man Spencer Hotz has you covered right here. If you’d like a review of A View from the Top of the World, I’m afraid we’re experiencing some delays. Blame the supply chain.
That’ll just a bout do it for this month, friends. I’ll ask you just a few things before we wrap this up: First, since what you listen to is almost as important as what we listen to, please share your playlist in the comments. Second, what we listen to is really, really important, so please check out the staff-curated Spotify playlist below. Finally, in the comments, along with your playlist, share with us your favorite Megadeth album. But be forewarned: this is absolutely not a judgment-free zone.
- Zach Duvall
Dream Theater – A View from the Top of the World
Cradle of Filth – Existence is Futile
Worm – Foreverglade
Nick Cave & Warren Ellis – CARNAGE
Tears for Fears – The Hurting
Necromantia – Scarlet Evil Witching Black - Ryan Tysinger
Lord – The Second Coming
Judas Iscariot – Distant in Solitary Night
Worm – Foreverglade
Mortal Soil – Mortal Soil
King Diamond – The Eye
Necromantia – To the Depths We Descend - Andrew Edmunds
Worm – Foreverglade
Hyperdontia – Nexus Of Teeth
The Accused – The Return Of Martha Splatterhead
Dark Angel – Time Does Not Heal
Nuclear Assault – Game Over
Rush – Signals
- Captain
A LOT of power metal from 2021 - Dave Pirtle
Dream Theater – A View from the Top of the World
Cradle of Filth – Existence is Futile
Exhumed – Worming EP
Dug Pinnick – Joy Bomb
Running Wild – Blood on Blood
Dire Straits – Love Over Gold - Lone Watie
Dream Theater – A View from the Top of the World
Mastodon – Hushed and Grim
Monolord – Your Time to Shine
Worm – Foreverglade
Blackwater Holylight – Silence/Motion
Discipline – Unfold Like Staircase - Danhammer Obstkrieg
Mortiferum – Preserved in Torment
Blut Aus Nord – Memoria Vetusta I
Laibach – Nova Akropola
The Beatles – Abbey Road
Death – Individual Thought Patterns
Tori Amos – Ocean to Ocean - Spencer Hotz
Cradle of Filth – Existence is Futile
First Fragment – Gloire Éternelle
Scarecrow – II
Knocked Loose – A Tear In The Fabric Of Life
Gutslit – Amputheatre
Worm – Foreverglade - Jeremy Morse
Napalm Death – Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism
Solace of Requiem – The Great Awakening
Asphyx – Asphyx
Suffocation – Breeding the Spawn
Suffocation – Human Waste
Excruciator – Devouring
The Night Eternal – Moonlit Cross
Mastodon – Hushed and Grim
Knife – Knife
Necrofier – Prophecies of Eternal Darkness
Illudium- Ash of the Womb
Skyclad -Wayward Sons of Mother Earth
Black Soul Horde – Horros from the Void
My favorite Megadeth album is Rust in Peace, outstanding guitar performance
Megadeth – Endgame
Megadeth – Cryptic Writings
Megadeth – Dystopia
Megageth – United Abominations
Megdaeth – Countdown to Extinction.
Well..this is awkward.
Favorite Megadeth album though? Peace Sells without question!
I’ll see myself out…
Well played, sir. You have chosen the most correct favorite Megadeth album, but I regret to inform you that you are a bad person. Win some, lose some.
Knife – Knife
Worm – Foreverglade
Crystal Coffin – The Stairway Eternal
Ihsahn – Eremita
Outre-Tombe – Abysse Mortifere
Rust in Peace will always be my fave Megadeth album, that record is seminal in my musical development. However *soap box alert*, the 2004 ‘remastered’ version on most streaming services is fucking atrocious. Menza’s bass drum sounds like it’s played on a learner’s kit, in another room (see ‘Tornado of Souls’). ‘Take No Prisoners’ sounds like a neutered demo version. The guitars sound thin and Mustaine’s voice (the least appealing part of Megadeth, sorry) is WAY too high in the mix.
Blaze – Silicon Messiah
Iron Maiden – Book of Souls
Iron Maiden – Senjutsu
Burial – Inner Gateways to the Slumbering Equilibrium at the
Center of Cosmos
Lie in Ruins – Floating in Timeless Streams
Fractal Generator – Macrocosmos
As for Megadeth, I just never liked them.
Iggy & the Stooges – Raw Power
Liquid Tension Experiment – LTE3
Iron Maiden – Senjutsu
Metallica – Kill ‘Em All
Worm – Foreverglade
Dream Theater – A View from the Top of the World
As for Megadeth, never got into them. Everytime I’ve tried to listen to them, something about their sound is off-putting and I turn it off quickly. Maybe I should give them another try over the next few weeks – at least their “classic” albums.
Well yes, I’m another bad person. Youthanasia, oh Lord, what a joy. The World Needs a Hero rocks my day too. What else? Current listening? Hmmm, Traktoroth’s Nervoza. Definitely easy-listening.
Cocteau Twins – Blue Bell Knoll
Black Sabbath – Mob Rules
Trouble – Manic Frustration
The Comsat Angels – Sleep No More
Fever Ray – Fever Ray
The Church – Starfish
Favorite Megadeth album is “Rust In Peace,” followed closely by “Peace Sells…But Who’s Buying?”