Hello, loyal readers of Last Rites. It is time once again for you all to get a gander at what the heck we’ve been listening to for the last month, in a little feature we call Staff Infections.
I know you’ve been eagerly anticipating another glimpse into the listening habits of your favorite superstar metal writers, but before we get to that I’d like to take a moment to reflect. I’ve lived in the Northeastern United States for my entire life. I’ve never really cared for the weather. The winter is too long, and the summer is too short. The lack of sunlight in winter, in particular, depresses the shit out of me. However, in reality, I have been fortunate to live a life here that has been entirely free of catastrophic natural disasters. Sure, we occasionally get a real bitch of a snowstorm that screws up travel and might knock out power for a few days, but that’s about as tough as it gets. I’ve endured no real nature-induced hardships, let alone a life-ruining disaster. So, when I see that Pakistan has endured flooding so severe it has literally submerged a third of the country, I count myself lucky that I can barely conceive of the suffering such an event must induce. If I believed in a god, I would pray to him or her that I never really find out how good I’ve had it. If you’ve been fortunate like I have, I would urge you to consider giving to those less fortunate through a charity you consider reputable. Google is going to throw a shitload of ads at you, so it won’t necessarily be easy to find one, but these sites can help you verify a candidate: https://www.charitynavigator.org/, https://www.charitywatch.org/.
Let’s get to the musical portion of this piece and our album of the month competition. Our runners up (in a three-way tie for second place) include some seventies-styled prog-metal in the form of Phantom Spell’s Immortal’s Requiem (Cap’s review here) and two albums from long-running Japanese bands: the latest installment in Boris’s Heavy Rocks series (Zach’s review here) and Sunburst, the newest album from the legendary Loudness. That leads us to this month’s big winner: Toronto, Canada’s black / death /thrash outfit Autonoesis, with their recently released second album Moon of Foul Magics. Our pal Ryan was quite taken with this album, and he offers a thorough review of this gem right here.
Before we wrap things up, be sure to have a listen to the Spotify playlist below, which consists of tracks selected by the Last Rites staff, and be sure to share your own playlist in the comments. While you’re at it, give some thought to the man I love to hate, Dave Mustaine, and tell us whether you still give a shit about Megadeth. If you’ve heard the new album, please tell us what you think of it. Take care of yourselves, and I’ll see you all next month.
- Andrew Edmunds
A-Z – A-Z
Overkill – The Atlantic Years
Loudness – Sunburst
Death Strike – Fuckin’ Death
The Damned – Machine Gun Etiquette
Unholy Grave – Terroraging Crisis (2022 Renewal Edition) - Zach Duvall
Autonoesis – Moon of Foul Magics
Darkthrone – Plaguewielder
Rollins Band – The End of Silence
Blind Guardian – The God Machine
Cleric – Retrocausal
Boris – Heavy Rocks 2022 - Captain
- Lone Watie
Stratovarius – Discography
Loudness – Sunburst
Motorpsycho – Ancient Astronauts
Brian Jackson – This is Brian Jackson
Cracker – Discography
Roy Buchanan – You’re Not Alone - Danhammer Obstkrieg
Autonoesis – Moon of Foul Magics
Muse – Will of the People
Kokoroko – Could We Be More
Darkest Era – Wither on the Vine
Pantha du Prince – Garden Gaia
New Order – Power Corruption and Lies - Ryan Tysinger
Autonoesis – Moon of Foul Magics
Phantom Spell – Immortal’s Requiem
Ancient Death – Sacred Vessel
Sigh – Shiki
Cosmic Hearse – Exalted Terror
Acid Blade – Power Dive - Dave Pirtle
Voivod – Katorz
Rush – Moving Pictures
Machine Head – Of Kingdom and Crown
Cyborg Octopus – Between the Light and Air
The Halo Effect – Days of the Lost
Dub War – Westgate Under Fire - Spencer Hotz
Grima – Frostbitten
Phantom Spell – Immortal’s Requiem
An Abstract Illusion – Woe
Wraith/Black Knife/Graveripper/Unholy Night – Faster Than The Fucking Devil
Boris – Heavy Rocks (2022)
Bas Rotten – Surge - Jeremy Morse
Enforced – At the Wall
Leeway – Born to Expire
Overcast – Reborn to Kill Again
Scorpions – Blackout
Necrot – Mortal
Judas Priest – Firepower
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An Abstract Illusion – Woe
Perish – The Decline
Disillusion – The Liberation
Trial – Feed the Fire
Portrait- Burn the World
Not interested in the latest Megadeth, revisiting the classic period from time to time
Krisiun – Mortem Solis (review guys?)
Megadeth album has too many guitar fills, especially Soldier On.
Where’s the Mustaine riffing? Even like some music on United Abominations… Some of the new album sounds like another band could have done it (the Mars song).
It’s also very ‘drummy’ -but I like Dirk. Too many drums though. Not everything needs double bass all throughout. Soldier On, again.
The Ice-T thing could have been epic but is not.
Favorite song is Soldier On, least favorite (and most skippable) is Junkie.
At least there’s no Poisonous Shadows song on there.
C-
Organ Failure – Neurologic Determination of Death
Gestation – Suffering from the Start
Pharmacist – Carnal Pollution
Abominable Putridity – Parasitic Metamorphosis…
Minor Threat – Complete Discography
Sons of Otis – Isolation
The Halo Effect – Days of the Lost
Northern Crown – Northern Crown
Carrion Vael – Abhorrent Obsessions
Worm – Foreverglade
Druid Lord – Relics of the Dead
Blackbraid – Blackbraid I
Alice in Chains – Black Gives Way to Blue
As for Megadeth, I like a few old songs, but have never been a fan.
First off…Autonoesis. Wow. Thank you Ryan and staff for that review. I’ve never donated on bandcamp faster in my life.
Halo Effect – Days of Lost
Autonoesis – Moon of Foul Magics
Autonoesis – S/T
Kreator – Hate Uber Alles
Megadeth – The Sick,The Dying, The Dead.
That said, I’m definitely 100% pro Mustaine. Another shot out to Ryan for the “No Life Till Leather” article. Loved the extra details and tidbits about this era that I didn’t know. While I love the early Metallica material, it really just boils down to Lightning and Puppets for me. I’ve gotten far, far, more enjoyment from a dysfunctional Megadeth than I’ve gotten from a formulaic Metallica.
That said, I know people can probably throw my own 2 album opinion right back at me and say “Rust in Peace/Peace Sells” and that’s it. I just disagree and really enjoy about 85% of the bands output to date.
New album? I can’t say I was starved for more after seeing them live recently due to Dave’s throat issues. He sounds alright, but the lyrics are pretty cringe. I think the album is a grower for more. I’m excited to revisit it, just not feeling it yet.
Hey thanks! Glad you’re enjoying that Autonoesis too!
I’m kinda with you on the Metallica thing – don’t get me wrong, Master’s pretty great, but I rarely reach for it outside of the first two these days. Something about the energy still burns pretty bright for me. I’m a Mustaine guy as well, though I won’t follow you all the way through some of the later output. Still unsure of how I feel about the new one vs Dystopia, but I’m much more content with what they’re doing now as opposed to Super Collider! Lmao
I pretty much have to ignore the lyrics though, so I feel you there. I know his voice is a contingency point for a lot of people but I love the snot in it, especially on those earlier works. Anyway, thanks for the kind words and thanks for reading!