Howdy, friends. May is upon us, and although almost everything is still terrible, at least it’s getting a little warmer. In no time, I’ll be bitching about the heat. But at the time of this writing, it’s nice out, so I’ll take it. With the small talk dispatched, let us see what your pals at Last Rites have been listening to.
This month we have four albums appearing on multiple playlists, with one barely squeaking out a victory for album of the month. First, our runners-up include Tompa Lindberg’s final work with At the Gates, the depressingly aptly titled The Ghost of a Future Dead; the debut full-length album from Portland Oregon’s Lividus, Scarabaeus; and Denmark’s blackened heavy metal group Scimitar with its imaginatively titled sophomore album, Scimitarium II. Finally, this month’s big prize goes to Trichomoniasis and the almost indescribable platter of brutality that is their third album, Containment Facility.
For our group discussion this month, let us know in the comments what the most brutal music you listen to is. What qualifies as brutal is extremely subjective, of course, but give it a shot. While I’m tempted to give the nod to Devourment or Defeated Sanity, I don’t think anything ever kicked my ass as hard as my first listen to Napalm Death’s From Enslavement to Obliteration. At the time I didn’t really know the difference between death metal and grindcore, and my only previous experience with Napalm Death was probably a Barney-era video on Headbanger’s ball. Needless to say, I was not prepared for the storm of chaos that From Enslavement visited upon my young ears. Honestly it took a few years before I was really able to appreciate and truly enjoy that album. Even today, although there are certainly more brutal albums out there, From Enslavement to Obliteration still sounds ferocious, and from a lyrically standpoint the album has never been more relevant.
That’s all for now folks. Be sure to have a listen to the staff-curated Spotify playlist below and share your own playlist in the comments. Until next time, you all take care or yourselves, and get some sun on your face, if you can. Not too much, though—wear sunblock.
- Zach Duvall
At the Gates – The Ghost of a Future Dead
Trichomoniasis – Containment Facility
Neurosis – Times of Grace
Antropoceno – No Ritmo da Terra
Lividus – Scarabaeus
Ecchymosis – Thanatocorporeal Sculptures of Cryogenic Excruciation
- Danhammer Obstkrieg
Dave Douglas – Transcend
Deafkids – Cicatrizes Do Futuro
Pharmacist – Vertebrae After Vertebrae
Zela Margossian Quintet – Remedy
Lucinda Williams – World’s Gone Wrong
Nuclear Tomb – Epoch Inhumane
- Andrew Edmunds
Vow Wow – Cyclone
X-Ray – Hard Section
Genocide – Black Sanctuary
Earthshaker – Earthshaker
Bow Wow – Signal Fire
Discordance Axis – Inalienable Dreamless
- Captain
Effluence – Anticholinergic Derangement
Belexum – Belexum
Fake Dust – Decrepitizing Din of the Cerebral Psyopticon
Inmates – Role of God
Noxis – Rehearsal Tape 2026
Plainer – Partnerships - Lone Watie
Lunar Shadow – The Pall Of A Past World
Lividus – Scarabaeus
Long Distance Calling – The Phantom Void
Steely Dan – The Royal Scam
Nujabes – Modal Soul
Joel Lyssarides – Late On Earth
- Wolf Rambatz
Softjaw – Softjaw
Abrams – Loon
Yambag – The Psycho
Prism Shores – Softest Attack
Rachel Brooke – This One’s For You
Trichomoniasis – Containment Facility
- David Fonseca
Mercyful Fate – In the Shadows
King Diamond – Abigail
XTC – Drums & Wires
XTC – The Black Sea
Scimitar – Scimitarium II
Nevermore – This Godless Endeavor
- Blizzard of Jozzsh
Scimitar – Scimitarium II
Slayer – Reign in Blood
Intestine Baalism – Anatomy of the Beast
Incantation – Mortal Throne of the Nazarene
Defeated Sanity – Passages Into Deformity
Kreator – Extreme Aggression
- Spencer Hotz
Black Sabbath – Sabotage
Defaced – Envy
Trichomoniasis – Containment Facility
The Dying Light – The Killing Plan
Neural Indent – Thalassaeglean Unguents
Sulfuric Cautery – Consummate Extirpation
- Isaac Hams
Autechre – discography
A Forest of Stars – Stack Overflow In Corpse Pile Interface (again, sue me)
PJ Harvey – Let England Shake
The Kills – Keep On Your Mean Side
Mylingar – Út
Artificial Brain – Artificial Brain
- Jeremy Morse
At the Gates – The Ghost of a Future Dead
Exodus – Goliath
Celtic Frost – To Mega Therion
Blood Incantation – Absolute Elsewhere
Riot – Thundersteel
King Diamond – Fatal Portrait
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Boards of Canada – Tomorrow’s Harvest
M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
Aldous Harding – Train on the Island
Celtic Frost – To Mega Therion
PinkPantheress – Fancy That
Voivod – Nothingface
Definitely not the most brutal thing out there, but Under the Blade by Defleshed is still the first thing I reach for when I want to orbit that category.
At The Gates – The Ghost of a Future Dead
Anne Hathaway – Mother Mary: Greatest Hits
Hellripper – Coronach
Dance With The Dead – Malombra
No/Más – No Peace
Egregore – It Echoes in the Wild
In 1994, I was a burgeoning teenage metal head who grew up in a fairly religious home and was, paradoxically, still relatively devout. At the time, I had just begun to dip into the more extreme side of metal when an older friend hit play on Deicide’s debut. Admittedly, the layer of ‘anti-Christian’ taboo influenced my reaction, but in that moment, it was the most brutal thing I’d ever heard, or even conceived of. While Deicide and their output has never been a ‘favorite,’ that album still holds an experiential, brutal place. Some more recent albums that I’ve found to be brutally enjoyable include Unfathomable Ruination’s “Infinitude,” Diabolizer’s “Khlakedonian Death,” and Cytotoxin’s “Nuklearth.”
Live Burial – Curse of the Forlorn
Immolation – Descent
Sinister – Diabolical Summoning
Fen – Monuments to Absence
Obscura – A Sonication
Pestifer – Ravaging Fury
As for brutal music, I listen to Origin, Cryptopsy, Ingested. I sometimes delve into Leviathan, which is black metal and not generally considered “brutal”, but man, the lyrics and atmosphere are definitely brutal at times. Intense stuff, Leviathan.
Nevermore – Nevermore
Nevermore – In Memory EP
Amorphis – Halo
Green Day – Insomniac
Sleep – Dopesmoker
Amenra – Mass IIII
As far as brutal music goes, Anaal Nathrakh, Pig Destroyer and PORTAL are probably the three things that would most likely make normal people bleed from the ears.