A Devil’s Dozen – Suffocation
The late 80s and early 90s brought a great awakening in death metal, stretching the style from its embryonic origins into a wide array of new and experimental styles. However, much of the innovation of …
Fast Rites Volume 8 It’s Spring Again!
We’ve had a number of albums that are worthy of your attention burning on the back burner for quite awhile. (Well, these short blasts have been languishing in my inbox for quite awhile; my apologies.) …
A Devil’s Dozen – Metal Church
The first week of April, 2016 was a great stretch. Not only did it deliver another opportunity to break away from the daily grind to meet up with some fellow Last Rites folks and drink …
A Devil’s Dozen – Root
Along with Master’s Hammer, Root helped to define Czech black metal in the late 80s and early 90s. Through a series of demos and early albums, the band crafted a raw, ragged, and riff-centric approach …
Battle Royal: 80s Metallica Vs. 80s Slayer – Two Bands Enter, One Band Leaves
If you’ve been a regular reader of Last Rites over the years, you know we’re pretty kind to the 80s. That has a lot to do with the fact that a number of us who …
A Devil’s Dozen – Candlemass
There was doom before Candlemass. There was Black Sabbath, of course, but one could argue that Sabbath transcends all sub-genres. The NWOBHM brought the likes of Witchfinder General and Pagan Altar, and a few years …
A Devil’s Dozen – Anthrax
We’ve done a couple dozen of these Devil’s Dozens now — from Death to Voivod to Immortal to whomever — and I don’t remember any being as divisive behind the scenes as this one. No …
Fast Rites – Volume 6
We have a few “holiday leftovers” for you as we begin a new year at Last Rites. If you’re well sick-and-tired of ham or turkey sandwiches at this point (but your father STILL hasn’t taken …