80s Essentials – Volume Two
Our journey through the golden age of metal continues with another set of ten classics. If you missed the first installment of The Most Essential Albums of the 80s, check it out here. Goats were …
80s Essentials – Volume One
We are at it again. Having previously compiled the 100 Most Essential Albums of both the 1990s and the 2000s, the Last Rites staff set its sights on that golden age of heavy metal, the …
Protoplasm – The Archaeological Dig For Metal’s Ancestors
Look at us, tugging at them bootstraps with enough force to leave the webpage plague ages. Check it out, ma, we’re bleached clean. Finally, you can come to Last Rites and not think you’re entering …
A Devil’s Dozen – Ronnie James Dio
In a minor shift of format, this Devil’s Dozen edition will focus not on the work of one band, but on the work of one man in several bands. That man? The man: Ronnie James …
Keep It Short, Stupid – EP Round-Up: January 2014
Heavy metal’s highway is stacked ten miles deep with bumper-to-bumper EPs. In an effort to help our readers navigate the traffic, we offer an ongoing editorial designed to shine a light on a few of …
Last Rites’ Best Of 2013 – Combined Staff List
This is the end of the line. Well, not really. There’s still a full two weeks left in the year, and you’re still bracket-busting your way towards crowning a Metal Madness 2013 tournament champion. But as …
A Devil’s Dozen – Emperor
Metal fans often seem to have problems deciding what constitutes “true black metal.” Is it lo-fi production and satanic lyrics? Perhaps it’s tremolo guitar riffs and non-stop blast beats. Whatever the essential elements may be, …
Is It Worth It? – YOB’s Catharsis: Masters of the Remaster Debate the Reissue
On November 12th, Profound Lore reissued YOB’s sophomore full-length Catharsis nearly ten years to date of its original release. With a spiffy sound courtesy of Tad Doyle and a much-needed art design update thanks to people with functioning eyeballs, Catharsis 2.0 looks …