Rwake – The Return Of Magik Review

[Cover artwork by Loni Gillum of Minerva’s Menagerie and RWAKE] There are lyrics in “The Return of Magik,” the title track of Rwake’s sixth album and first in almost 14 years, with variable payloads. Two

Tower – Let There Be Dark Review

[Cover artwork by Jared Fleming] “One of the great things about New York is that if you ever need dead baby eels, you can get them here. Also, there is opera.” – Dave Barry Full

Dragon Skull – Chaos Fire Vengeance Review

When was the last time you felt powerful? I’m not talking about anything grandiose or world-historical; think of a time you opened the pickle jar on the first try, or a time when you did

Sanhedrin – Heat Lightning Review

Absolutes are dangerous. The rhetorical logic of “all or nothing” is a violent assault on the beautiful heterogeneity of the world. Taking any position to its extreme endpoint risks gross oversimplification and infantilizing generalization. That

Staff Infections – March 2025

Welcome, dear friends, to another edition of Staff Infections, wherein the staff here at Last Rites share what they’ve been listening to for the past month. Everything is still terrible here in the U.S.A., so

Nite – Cult Of The Serpent Sun Review

[cover artwork by Adam Vick of Dark Meditation] Everyone you know and love is a shambling whole comprised of smaller and smaller parts. You can drill down through the cutaneous, into the tissue, within the

Blast Rites: Type: Armor Unit – Revolutions In Saecula Review

“Way back in 2022” feels like about a million years ago, doesn’t it? We live in strange times, my friends, when time itself is strange… Back then, Belgian grinders Days Of Desolation released a record

Cryptosis – Celestial Death Review

[Cover art by Eliran Kantor] You like thrash metal, right? And you love all things space, don’t you? Of course you do, you fucking nerd. Look where you are right now. If the idea of

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