Howdy, friends. It’s time for your monthly insight into the Last Rites staff’s listening habits with a little feature we call Staff Infections. February finds most of us here deep in the heart of Winter, and in my corner of the world it’s been a particularly cold and snowy one. I like Immortal as much as the next guy, but I never really wanted to live in Blashyrkh. I tried to get a break from the cold in Florida, but the cold followed me there. Spring can’t come fast enough, is what I’m getting at. Anyhow, let’s see what we’ve been listening to.
There is not much commonality in the playlists this month. We have a two-way tie for album of the month, with a total of two paylist appearances apiece. First, we have Swedish Adventure rockers Hällas with their recently released album, Panorama. El Capitan has a review of Panorama for you right here. Our second co-winner this month is Zu with the album Ferrum Sidereum. About both band and album, I must confess total ignorance, but perhaps a review is forthcoming.
For our group discussion this month, share with us your favorite winter music. It needn’t be winter-themed, just whatever band or style of music you like listening to when the snow flies. At the risk of coming off as a basic bro, I jam the aforementioned Immortal when I’m looking to feel wintery, but honestly, I fucking hate winter.
Let’s wrap it up. Have a listen to the staff-curated Spotify playlist below, and please share your own playlist in the comments. Until next month, stay warm, and watch out for that ice.
- Zach Duvall
The Ruins of Beverast – Tempelschlaf
Immortal – Battles in the North
Faith No More – Angel Dust
Furia – Księżyc milczy luty
Yob – The Unreal Never Lived
Queens of the Stone Age – Rated R - Danhammer Obstkrieg
Ruins of Beverast – Tempelschlaf
Ben Wendel – BaRcoDe
Zu – Ferrum Sidereum
Diabolus, Mecum Semperterne! – Diabolus, Mecum Semperterne!
Children of Bodom – Follow the Reaper
Xanopticon – Liminal Space - Captain
Pharaoh – The Longest Night
Dawnbringer – In Sickness and in Dreams
Bible of the Devil – The Diabolic Procession
Hammers of Misfortune – The Locust Years
Crescent Shield – The Last of My Kind
Blind Guardian – A Twist in the Myth - Andrew Edmunds
Van Morrison – Saint Dominic’s Preview
Exhumed – Red Asphalt
Agoraphobic Nosebleed – Honky Reduction
Impetigo – Ultimo Mondo Cannibale
Raven – All Hell’s Breaking Loose
Orchid – Chaos Is Me - Lone Watie
Hällas – Panorama
Zu – Ferrum Sidereum
Sykofant – Leaves
Steel Prophet – Dark Hallucinations
Paul Chain – Violet Art Of Improvisation
Julian Lage – Scenes From Above - Isaac Hams
Hällas – Panorama
Danefae – Trøst
Sumerlands – Dreamkiller
Lone Wanderer – Exequiae
Roc Marciano – 656 - Spencer Hotz
Temple of Void – The Crawl
Dwellnought – Monolith of Ephemerality
Ion Dissonance – Solace
Iniquity – Serenadium
The Groundhogs – Thank Christ For The Bomb
Blut Aus Nord – Hallucinogen - Jeremy Morse
Sacrilege – Within the Prophecy
Vader – Revelations
Slayer – Seasons in the Abyss
Bolt Thrower – Realm of Chaos
Helloween – Keeper of the Seven Keys Pt. 1
Black Sabbath – Vol. 4
Leave a Reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Lȧȧz Rockit- Know Your Enemy
Lȧȧz Rockit- Annihilation Principle
Savatage- Victim In Pain -Dallas 90′
Panopticon-The Rime of Memory
Phantom Spell-Immortal’s Requiem
Mayhemic- Toba
Worm – Necropalace
LI YILEI – NONAGE
Charli XCX – brat
Charli XCX – CRASH
Charli XCX – Charli
Charli XCX – how i’m feeling now
Every winter for the past 15 years, I go on a Tales from the Thousand Lakes bender. Classic Accept also always feels like the shortest and coldest months.
I fucking love Charli. She’s so smart and has an artistic integrity and vision that slots her into the list of pop vanguards like Robyn, Tove Lo, (post-‘Call Me Maybe’) Carly Rae Jepsen, etc.
I been listened to Necropalace all weekend too, it’s pretty spectacular.
Species – Changelings
Send More Paramedics – The Final Feast
Umulamahri – Learning the Secrets of Acid
Megadeth – Killing Is My Business
1914 – Viribus Unitis
1914 – Where Fear and Weapons Meet
“Share with us your favorite winter mu-”
“BERGTATT! The answer is Bergtatt.”
Yikes, was that too enthusiastic? I probably classify as a basic bitch when it comes to a metalhead’s winter music playlist: the aforementioned Bergtatt tops the list, followed by Below the Lights and Frost, Aspera Hiems Symfonia, Sons of Northern Darkness, Last Fair Deal Gone Down, In the Nightside Eclipse, Morningrise, et al.
I’m still working my way through the “best of” albums I missed from 2025.
Wizards – Russian something or the other title
Worm – Blackheart (loving it)
Herzel – Le Dernier Rampart (gets better the more you listen to it)
Hallas – Conundrum
Faith No More – Angel Dust
Blizaro – Light and Desolation
Bergtatt is an wonderful winter listen. Gonna throw out a weird recommend probably most haven’t heard it : Aurvandil – Yearning. The whole album just “sounds” like winter to me. Great to listen to the whole thing through to get maximum frosty satisfaction!