Staff Infections – November 2023

Well, friends, I had a pretty good run going, but it all went to Hell. In October, my computer shat the bed, and by the time I got it back it was almost November, so October Staff Infections were canceled. On top of that, deer season starts in November, so I have been a bit preoccupied this month with chasing Bambi around in the woods, but, much belated though it is, it’s time for Staff Infections. Let’s see what the heck we’ve all been listening to.

The competition for album of the month was a bit stiffer than usual, with four albums making multiple playlist appearances. Third place goes to Autopsy’s latest, Ashes, Organs, Blood and Crypts. Our pal Zach Duvall has a review for you right here. Second place is a black-tie affair, or more accurately, a tie between two black metal bands: Mortuary Drape’ Black Mirror and Stygian Ruin’s A World Past Hope and Fear. The best K.K. of all the K.K.’s, Konrad Kantor, has you covered with a Black Mirror review here, and El Capitan does the same for A World Past Hope and Fear here. Finally, our winner this month is Pittsburgh heavy / power metal band Legendry, with it’s freshly released fourth album Time Immortal. Based on the cover alone, I’d have said this album has Ryan Tysinger written all over it, and sure enough, ol’ Ryan reviewed it right here.

Since we customarily skip Staff Infections in December to avoid over-listification, I’d like to wish you all  happy holidays for anything you might celebrate between now and January. Before I sign off, though, let’s do one last group discussion for the year. Winter is coming, and for me that means it’s time to dust off the Immortal records (or queue up the files, more likely). My question to you, dear friends, is what is your favorite Immortal album? For me it is At the Heart of Winter. I’m not entirely immune to the charms of Immortal’s early, rawer, more pure black metal work, but I definitely appreciate the band more when there’s some crunch in the riffs.

Be sure to listen to the staff-curated Spotify playlist below, and share your own in the comments. Take care, and we’ll do this all again in the new year.

• Zach Duvall
  The Rolling Stones – Hackney Diamonds
  Night Verses – Every Sound Has A Color In The Valley Of Night: Part One
  Deicide – Deicide
  John Lennon – John Lennon / Plastic Ono Band
  Sygian Ruin – A World Past Hope and Fear
  Sacred Outcry – Towers of Gold
• Captain
  Legendry – Time Immortal Wept
  Cirith Ungol – Dark Parade
  Autopsy – Ashes, Organs, Blood and Crypts
  Mortuary Drape – Black Mirror
  Stygian Ruin – A World Past Hope and Fear
  The Inward Circles – Before We Lie Down in Darknesse
• Andrew Edmunds
  Suffocation – Souls To Deny
  Rolling Stones – Hackney Diamonds
  Steve Hackett – Spectral Mornings
  Autopsy – Severed Survival
  Genesis – Foxtrot
  Dismember – Indecent & Obscene
• Manny-O-War
  The Rolling Stones – Let it Bleed
  Vastum – Inward to Gethsemane
  George Harrison – All Things Must Pass
  Legendry – Time Immortal Wept
  Mortuary Drape – Black Mirror
  Stygian Ruin – A World Past Hope and Fear
• Ryan Tysinger
  Legendry – Time Immortal Wept
  Heavy Load – Riders of the Ancient Storm
  Nithing – Agonal Hymns
  Marduk – Plague Angel
  Mortuary Drape – Black Mirror
  Valdrin – Throne of the Lunar Soul
• Dave Pirtle
  Tardigrade Inferno – Burn the Circus
  Prong – State of Emergency
  The Suffering – Our Fathers Turn In Their Graves
  Autopsy – Ashes, Organs, Blood and Crypts
  Blessed Curse – Pray For Armageddon
  Cypecore – The Alliance
• Lone Watie
  Legendry – Time Immortal Wept
  Afterbirth – In But Not Of
  Stygian Ruin – A World Past Hope and Fear
  Ozric Tentacles – Lotus Unfolding
  Elina Duni – A Time to Remember
  Steve Hackett – Foxtrot at Fifty + Hackett Highlights: Live in Brighton
• Craig Hayes
  Judas Priest – Painkiller
  Judas Priest – Screaming For Vengeance
  Judas Priest – Defenders Of The Faith
  Judas Priest – British Steel
  Judas Priest – Sad Wings of Destiny
  Judas Priest – Firepower
• Jeremy Morse
  Slayer – Hell Awaits
  King Diamond – Abigail
  Blood Incantation – Starspawn
  Immolation – Acts of God
  Vore – Gravehammer
  Van Halen – Women and Children First
• Spencer Hotz
  Neurectomy- Overwrought
  Deliriant Nerve – Contaminated Conscience
  Lost Harvest – Deluded Seas of Diverge
  Yes – Yessongs
  Discordance Axis – The Inalianable Dreamless
  Carnosus – Visions of Infinihility
• Danhammer Obstkrieg
  Infibulated – Diabolical Euphoric Subjugation
  Xoth – Exogalactic
  Irreversible Entanglements – Protect Your Light
  Wilco – Cousin
  Slowdive – Everything is Alive
  Suffocation – Hymns from the Apocrypha
• Josh Heath
  Crystal Coffin – The Curse of Immortality
  Krieg – Ruiner
  Slidhr – White Hart!
  Yellow Eyes – Master’s Murmur
  Summoning – Minas Morgul
  Pa Vesh En – Catacombs

Posted by Jeremy Morse

Riffs or GTFO.

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