2024 was pendulous for yours truly. At one end of the swing my wife and I welcomed the second and equally greatest blessing of our lives, another sweet boy. He is an agreeable young man, not so tidy yet but he’ll get it. Not quite as high on that upswing but definitely not on the other, BAD upswing (still on a downswing though; have you met these guys? Difficult.) was joining this here gaggle of doofuses. I’ll save the true waxing poetic for the music but I’m honored to be part of a publication I’ve loved and respected for so long.

This was also the most difficult year of my life thus far. Work was particularly relentless. The one-two of a toddler and a fresh baby was a prime Tyson-level wallop. We had some very, very hard days that plunged me into hitherto unknown emotional depths. Not too much further explanation is warranted on the dark times. Everyone gets to these points and truly with every valley there’s a lovely summit. The below albums were my Sherpas.

Please, dear like-minded reader, keep your head up and shoulders back. 2025 might get wacky but you’ve got chutzpah, panache. In other words, less mess, more impress, OK? On with it.

THE SLIGHTLY LOWER THAN TOP 10 BUT I WOULDN’T DARE SAY BOTTOM 10 (20-11)

20. Lord Goblin – Lord Goblin

A tightly wound blend of blazing power metal and glorious trad spiced just so with a warm organ roux and a pinch of blackened fury, Lord Goblin are here to feed your needs. The Lord Goblin himself is on the mic and if you can fever dream up a blend of Bruce Dickinson and Dave Hunt of Anaal Nathrakh (in an underlying v.i.t.r.i.o.l. sort of way) then buddy you’re on some manifesting-ass dosage. Lord Goblin is a concise, riff-filled jaunt into new and welcome territory. BIG time looking forward to their next release.

• Bandcamp

19. Aara – Eiger

I’d say I’ve already written the book on Eiger but it wasn’t a book and, further, could barely be described as writing. Anywho, Aara play a no-bullshit style of wall-of-sound atmospheric black metal and if that bristles your behind feel free to abscond. If you stick around, though, you’ll be treated to 55 minutes of thick n’ serious riffs, punishing drums and one of the more ruthless vocal performances of the year. This one is for fans of the cold and unrelenting.

• Last Rites Review
• Bandcamp

18. Immortal Bird – Sin Querencia

Sin Querencia is Immortal Bird’s least fun record and that is absolutely a compliment. The band has always had a flair for using rhythmic motifs to lead the proceedings, and where Thrive on Neglect entwined that with enough melody to add an ounce of, dare I say, levity, Sin Querencia just hammers and hammers and hammers. An overall more violent affair for an overall more violent 21st century.

• Last Rites Review
• Bandcamp

17. Crown of Anguish – Stalker at the Midian Gate

Welcome to the first annual edition of “Dan Write Good, Isaac Write Bad” featuring Crown of Anguish and their slithering whopper of a record, Stalker at the Midian Gate! In this feature, we will discuss in comparatively troglodytic fashion why you should listen to Nile’s younger, much dustier (but honestly a little more affable) brother. Colossal riffs, sick acoustic interludes, production warmer than a stale tomb. Do your best Howard Carter impression and we’ll see you next week!

• Last Rites Review
• Bandcamp

16. Moisson Livide – Sent Empèri Gascon

Wouldn’t ya know it but we are already at the SECOND annual (biweekly? semi-bi-yearly?) edition of “Dan Write Good, Isaac Write Bad”! Moisson Livide practice a rousing, boisterous brand of Gastonian heroism. Think if Moonsorrow and The Somberlain made passionate l’amour over a game of Risk.  Great, fun, powerful, technical, get at it or foutre le camp.

• Last Rites Review
• Bandcamp

15. Defeated Sanity – Chronicles of Lunacy

I will admit to being relatively new to the “enjoyment” of brutal death metal. This fucking album took about four listens before I thought “yeah, I uh, I think it’s…good?”. Comparatively, the other day I was daydreaming about a new Carly Rae Jepsen album in 2025 and the thought alone put it squarely in my top 5. Canadian sirens aside, I can’t add to the conjecture around this release with any more grace than what has already been put forth by our very own Captain. So, read his review, delete the above, replace it with “Yeah I uh, I think it’s…good.”

• Last Rites Review
• Bandcamp

14. Dissimulator – Lower Form Resistance

How can you not love that gad-durn album cover? Woof, I’ll get divorced right now, baby. Lower Form Resistance is a dry and dirty dagger of a death/thrash stabbing. Sneakily technical (We get it. You’re from Montréal.), slyly catchy, another winner from 20 Buck Spin in 20 Twenty-Four. Submit to your robotic overlords’ new trepanation campaign – your reality must be reinstalled.

• Last Rites Review
• Bandcamp

13. Oranssi Pazuzu – Muutautuja

The illustrious Zach of Duvall fame already penned a real hobnobber of a review on this bad boy so set thy curious gaze upon that if you’re looking to be seduced. My dumb-guy elevator pitch is thus: hypnotic, cold, wild and free. Jam-band by way of Helvete psychedelia. That one dream you had about getting electroshock therapy with a Finnish biker gang. The growing realization that the wrought-iron fence keeping the feral spirit of black metal contained might actually be a 2D projection.

• Last Rites Review
• Bandcamp

12. Pyrrhon – Exhaust

Good morning. This is the first lecture of Societal Collapse 302 with your esteemed instructor Professor Bedlam. Yes, Pyrrhon are back and as full of caustic piss and expired vinegar as ever. This here’s another case of “I didn’t get it until I got it” (see #15) but THANKFULLY my fellow Riters pushed it enough that I finally gave it the attention necessary for full absorption. Exemplary, visionary death metal that with time, I’m sure, will only prove itself more powerful.

• Last Rites Review
• Bandcamp

11. Bütcher – On Fowl of Tyrant Wing

The most fun you’ll have in Hell all year and no, I do not want to hear about how Branson “actually wasn’t that bad”. Bütcher continue their streak of speed metal excellence and this time with more, more, MORE. Reckless pace, wicked leads, the devils ride on avian steeds. Spitting venom, barren earth, careening forth on riffs of mirth.

• Last Rites Review
• Bandcamp

THE TOP 10 BUT I WOULDN’T DARE SAY BEST 10, JUST MY FAVORITE 10 (10-1)

10. SERPENT COLUMN – TASSEL OF ARES

There are tortured souls who play guitar to exorcise their demons and there are demonic guitarists who exorcise their souls by torturing their demons. Still yet exist the rarest musicians with white-hot streaks of both. Tassel of Ares vomits forth like Hell itself has been punctured, its ghouls screaming out like the Bat Flight at Carlsbad Caverns. Lone architect Theophonos handles everything and I can’t help but experience this record in that context – as a total relinquishment of self to violent inner impulses, the music a form of scarring catharsis.

Of two riff-worship black metal albums in my top 10 this one takes the fabled Cake of Idiosyncrasy. Four tracks of massive string-work, coiling and uncoiling, spooling outward to drag the song forward and mightily constricting to wrest the ear to its will. The way Theophonos writes and plays is totally mesmerizing, a style unlike any I’ve heard and one necessary to experience as a fan of the guitar and of violent music.

Historical markers of a great artist are both the ability to synthesize and perfect the hallmarks of their chosen genre as well as to erase boundaries, to remove trappings and rearrange them into a stark, undeniable new whole. Serpent Column achieve both, and Tassel of Ares is a singular experience, one enjoyed best through focused consumption.

• Bandcamp

10. CHAPEL OF DISEASE – ECHOES OF LIGHT

You know, when I founded “Dan Write Good, Isaac Write Bad” I never imagined we would get here. Three issues! Monumental. Let’s quit while we’re ahead, shall we? Goodnight, sweet princes and princesses.

Echoes of Light is one of those records that gives your rump a little kick. You turn around expecting your little brother, the neighbor kid maybe, but instead it’s the recluse from down the street’s grubby son. He hands you a joint and gestures toward his alley-facing garage – “You want to get real, chubby?” You nod rapidly. Let’s get real.

Chapel of Disease have mastered a prescient variety of 70’s-influenced death metal that is just as warm as it is cold-blooded. Mastermind Laurent Teubl plays his guitar with a soul that belies his age, lending the entire shebang an air of lived-in sincerity. This is the one album I heard this year where I thought “Damn. This might be the next big deal.” If Chapel of Disease’s next record doesn’t break them into the ears of the Absolute Elsewhere-swarm then the world is cruel and miserable. Moreso, anyway.

• Last Rites Review
• Bandcamp

8. NOXIS – VIOLENCE INHERENT IN THE SYSTEM

Hey! Stupid! Yeah, you. You want to hear some heavy heavy smart stuff? Some chunky thick poindexter ass-handling? Some meaty, beaty, big and bouncy, if I may be so Pink? Well LISTEN TO NOXIS.

Violence Inherent in the System is a romp. A rough and tumble, mid-80’s action flick where the severed tongue rots squarely in decomposing cheek and the body count is astronomical. John Matrix would listen to Noxis. Shit, is John Matrix IN Noxis? No no, he’s a fictional character played by the #1 Imported Beefman. My mistake. But once those steely bass lashings and downhill-sprinting blasts kick in you’re going to be just as unreality-addled as I am.

Equal parts punishing crushery, twiddly trickery and lockstep…jockstrapping (?), Violence Inherent in the System is a required listen for death metal fiends in this, the year of our Arnold, 2024.

• Last Rites Review
• Bandcamp

7. NIMBIFER – DER BÖSE GEIST

This, THIS, is what I’m fuckin’ tawkin’ about. A mean pile of melodic and uncompromising riffs n’ blasts. Fans of the raw, fans of the atmo, fans of the more forward-facing BM acts of today, all of you lot can find something to love in Der böse Geist.  

Hanover duo Nimbifer absolutely tear the ground asunder with this debut (heilige Scheiße) full-length. Drummer Sturmfriedt and string-ripper/throat-tearer Windkelch both commit entirely to the pursuit of triumphant destruction, tinging their solution with a drop of melancholy just potent enough to redden up the black filth.

Nimbifer adhere to a surprisingly common theme of 2024 – storm in, storm out, don’t overstay the welcome. At a tidy 36 minutes Der böse Geist rumbles through and rages, rages before the dying of its light. Indeed, like Rodney Dangerfield reading Dylan Thomas, this record distills the most important elements of its genre into something short, sweet and walleyed. Maybe not that last one but without any photos I don’t know what else to envision. (Disclaimer: author does not actually envision artists. Said descriptions would not uphold in a court of law and cannot be used in any litigation thereof.)

• Last Rites Review
• Bandcamp

6. THY CATAFALQUE – XII: A GYÖNYÖRÜ ÁLMOK EZUTÁN JÖNNEK

What is there to say about Thy Catafalque that yet remains unsaid? That this latest release (I will not type that title again.) is a-fucking-nother chameleonic juggernaut from the Hungarian Hercules himself? Obviously not. If you’ve paid a lick of attention to Tamás Kátai’s career for roughly the last decade then you already knew that. The truth is I just wanted to call him “Hungarian Hercules”. Plus, if you’re looking for an intelligent examination HERE instead of from Lone Watie you are sorely mistaken (see link below).

I’d call this album a departure from the skull-smashing heaviness of Alfö​ld back to the more folky, electronic-y stylings of Meta and Vadak, and for that I’m glad. I believe Tamás is at his best when he allows his influences to run completely wild, to spill overboard even, because while in another’s hands this might cause a total cacophonous breakdown, he has the miraculous deftness to make it cohesive.

Every time I came back to this album I found some new lovely detail to fixate on. My expectation is that with time the full wonders of XII will reveal themselves. Start on it now! Maybe by mid-2025 you’ll be able to put it on your past-year’s list. That is assuming, of course, that Thy Catafalque don’t gift us another full-length next year; this guy’s more prolific than Kate Gosselin.

• Last Rites Review
• Bandcamp

5. HAMFERÐ – MEN GUÐS HOND ER STERK

I, a perennial dumb dummy, said this about my number 5 pick back in July for the first installment of Missing Pieces:

“Men Guðs hond er sterk is a work of vicious vitality and oceanic power. I could eagerly and capably argue its merit to death fans, doom fans, death-doom fans… Hell, I’d put a healthy wager on trad fans as well.”

If that makes a boink of sense to you then why haven’t you checked this record out yet, hmm? I wrote that nonsense last summer, for fjord’s sake.

If I could list but one reason to listen to Hamferð it would be for to bask in the radiant warmth of Jón Aldará’s voice. The man is a titan in the booth, a sorceror of the diaphragm, explosive in his growls and angelic in his cleans. As captain of the ship he commands the proceedings but this record is about the story, not the tellers. With subject matter as grim as this the music must both pay proper respect to its victims and colorfully illustrate their plight. In that regard, Men Guðs hond er sterk is every bit as harrowing and tragic as it needs to be.

• Last Rites Review
• Bandcamp

4. MOSS UPON THE SKULL – QUEST FOR THE SECRET FIRE

Here’s a group that came out of left field for me. Moss Upon the Skull practice a mystical style of death metal, progressive in its leanings but still earthen in feel. Imagine a gardner with otherwordly skill; they till the same ground you do, absorb the same rains, but their plants twist upward into alien forms, thicker and more wild than your paltry cuke vines. Quest for the Sacred Fire start with the same tools as any other death metal band but somehow their product seems more fluid and organic, like the rare, earned putridity of a rotten black truffle.

This record has some of the tightest songwriting I’ve heard this year. There’s not a single unnatural moment, no awkward transitions. Even the track sequencing is such that from beginning to end you never really get lost despite the intentional, enigmatic murk of the experience. Tasteful drumwork underlies the knotty riffs, vocals bellow from a foggy ravine. Quest is another wonderful example of a guitar player’s record in 2024. It’s that delightful amalgam of technical but not gratuitous, dissonant but not devoid of hook. These guys float like a Cacodemon and sting like a…well…Sting? I mean, the cover art glows blue, right?

Seek out Moss Upon the Skull if you are a fan of any of the following: robed beings of dubious intent, rhythmic gnashing of teeth, shimmering oils, horrors unmentionable and/or death metal from the churning void.

• Last Rites Review
• Bandcamp

3. CONVULSING – PERDURANCE

“At once a continuation of the surgical violence of Grievous and a stunning expansion (or contraction) into the choking constriction of introspection, perdurance has been as much as it is and will be. On February 29 perdurance was keeping time in the murky darkness of the unreal and on March 1 it was forcing our conscious minds to confront the ugliness of its truths.”

Such is a small portion of the slop I wrote for our Combined Staff list this year. I’m not sure how to encapsulate this record otherwise, at least currently. The truth is perdurance has the air of a release that will change and grow with me over time. Today’s conclusions might be tomorrow’s questions.

The concept of “maturity” as it relates to the growth and wisdom of a lived life might not necessarily be associated with death metal amongst the common man’s “great” thinkers. Disbelievers and ignoramuses aside, the power of convulsing exists as proof to the contrary – that a work of art forged in strife, naked in ragged pain, can also offer a gentle hand to lead you, screaming, over the coals and into the dark, up through and beyond the inner turmoil to some semblance of serenity.

There’s a distinct possibility that down the road perdurance will enter my personal death metal hall of fame, to perhaps diminish its breadth. This is an album that transcends its earthly form while still basking in its own self-actualized mastery. You readers would do well to offer your ear to Brendan Sloane. perdurance is not required by law, per se, but it IS considered mandatory.

• Bandcamp

2. UNLEASH THE ARCHERS – PHANTOMA

In the interest of time (and in the disinterest of negative press, and combat, and rage) I’d like to focus this paragraph on my personal experience with Phantoma in 2024. Having been newly converted to the Unleash the Archers fold in 2020 by way of Abyss and the subsequent backtracking to Apex, I was ready, willing and able to jump into a new release. Singles began trickling out and the excitement grew. Finally in May Phantoma was released and my initial tepid response eventually started to warm. Before long I recognized it for what it truly was – a confident side-step from a band that did not need to rush headlong into wild, uncharted territory. By doubling down on the 80’s-tinged influence of Abyss and reeling back just enough from the Euro-style blaze to keep a mostly lively pace, Unleash the Archers crafted their most concise release yet, a rock-solid collection of anthemic tunes with nary a stinker in the bunch. And yet…

A grave error was made. The Phantoma album release included a non-zero amount of the questionable usage of AI. Questionable is the operative word because this issue is still being heavily debated by both promotors and detractors of AI-created art in any form. To wade into these waters, especially as an artist with such foothold as Unleash the Archers, is deleterious to both the band as well as to the heavy music scene itself.

With all that being what it is, you may ask “well then, Mr. Hams, why bring this shit up again? Can’t you just talk about the MUSIC?”. No, unfortunately I can’t. YOU clicked that gorg’ human-made article art to hear MY opinion and unfortunately the overall radness of the songwriting/performances/riffs/solos/vocals/drums/bass/keys of Phantoma cannot be separated from the sadness of its messier context.

This album rips a whole heck of a lot. It’s my number two for a reason, many reasons in fact, but do note that we are entering an era where these battles will be more commonplace and likely get nastier as technology improves. If you can, listen to Phantoma, let it rock your woolen socks off, then do some of your own ponderin’ on the subject.

• Last Rites Review
• Bandcamp

1. MOTHER OF GRAVES – THE PERIAPT OF ABSENCE

“…The Periapt of Absence is as worthy a successor to Where the Shadows Adorn as the doomly deathsters could have crafted. Indeed, where the prior album was veiled in a miasmatic shroud, this one is such a brighter, bolder step into the outer atmosphere as to make me, asthmatic, proud. Despite such cumbersome and cheery phrasing I assure you, the bottom line is the same: this here is a class-A melodic doom death album, steeped in nostalgic reverence for the old gods and stricken through from end to end with piercing heartache.”

That was the gist of my opinion on Mother of Graves’ latest opus waaaaay back in those halcyon days of October, when the Autumn Leaves first began to coat the sidewalks, when the moon gained more time-ground in heated battle against the Rebellion of Tides (You’ve stuck with me long enough to be accustomed to facile description, OK? I’m no botanist, not even a moonographer.). And yes, your mastery of chronology did not mislead you: I STILL think The Periapt of Absence is tremendous.

Muscular yet graceful, sorrowful yet uplifting, Mother of Graves crafted the most complete heavy music package for me this year. Seeing them live and hearing these tunes in the flesh was especially a highlight given my infrequency of gig attendance these years of late. In an era where the stale rehashing of old styles has become de rigueur, it renews my faith in the future of heavy metal that bands like this can come around, delve greedily and deeply, and still hit veins of shining brilliance. There are only so many colorful ways to say I love this record, so to (finally) be brief: I love this record and everyone should listen to it.

• Last Rites Review
• Bandcamp

Barring convulsing, four of my five top albums all serve the same specific purpose in some percentage – they have been comforts, balms and salves. Is it a cop-out to rank what one simply enjoyed the most over the options that may have challenged or innovated the most? At other times in my life, I’d point you to an “absolutely it is, you coward”. Additionally and in that spirit, part of this job is to dissect and display the works of art we believe to be most worthy of careful exploration, the albums that unlock doors in people that may yet remain hidden. Yet, in 2024 that was not the case. I’m new to this gig, and frankly it has been a more difficult pursuit than I had imagined. These fun little musings you squint at on the can? They take hours, if not of actual fingers-to-keys clattering, of further listening and consideration and agonizing. So yes, if it’s a cop-out year for Mr. Hams I accept it ALSO as a year of much learning. I hope to next year disappoint even fewer of you in this, my clumsy pursuit of silly words on significant things.

THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING (IN 2024) – 8 NON-HEAVY WHISTLE-WETTERS

The below are other, lighter albums I spun countless times this year. You stinkers visit Last Rites solely to be lectured at by lunkheads about which blast beat is better than what slam belch, I get that. Don’t ever accuse me, a lunkhead, of not getting that. However, sometimes what’s good for the greasy goose isn’t good for the grimy gander, you know what I’m saying? For every war metal there’s a peacegaze, yeah?

If you’re interested in lighter fare of varying genre take a dip into one of these here ponds. Hopefully you find something worth blabbing about. Lord knows I’m not going to blab about ALL of these. Blabbing days are over, dad is tired.

8. Mannequin Pussy – I Got Heaven (punk/indie rock)

7. ELUCID – REVELATOR (hip-hop)

6. Charley Crockett – Visions of Dallas (country)

5. Charley Crockett – $10 Cowboy (country)

4.  Meer – Wheels Within Wheels (prog pop/rock)

• Last Rites Review

3. Nero – Into the Unknown (ah geez, electronic? dubstep? future house?)

2. Gillian Welch & David Rawlings – Woodland (folk/country/americana)

1. AROOJ AFTAB – NIGHT REIGN (you tell me, bud)

At an ungodly hour on a balmy June morning my wife woke me up and it was time to go to the hospital. I drove anxiously, trying to thread the needle between life-savingly careful and life-savingly quick. The sky was watercolored with heat lightning and the car was being pelted with wet, heavy raindrops. Not the kind that portend impending disaster, the kind that have simply grown out of their cumulostratus beds. Night Reign was playing, and I will forever link its alluring sonic palette with the day my son was born.

What greater gift can an album give than to imprint itself upon a treasured memory? Night Reign has become an inextricable piece of my chapter, however long and fruitful it may be, and that is to say nothing of the exceptional beauty of the music itself. Arooj has a voice that can move to tears – I’ve seen it happen firsthand on the Vulture Prince tour – and the cadre of musicians she assembled for this record is, to be diminishing, world-class. To enter Night Reign‘s realm is to be enfolded by an almost desperate awe and lovesick yearning. If you’ve a heart in that brittle black palace of yours, you owe it to yourself to feed upon the many wondrous fruits of this record.

Keep on tickin’, boys and girls. Don’t forget to be a good pal to your chums, partner to your sweeties, collector of the triumphant and obscene.

The post Best Of 2024 – Isaac Hams: Silly Words For Significant Things appeared first on Last Rites.

Prolificacy is an oft-lauded trait for bands in the metal world. We are constant consumers on the lookout for more tasty morsels to glut our filthy musical maws, so bands that regularly throw scraps out to satiate us are given special attention. Once upon a time, the pressure of record labels forced a steady album cycle on most bands, requiring them to be more prolific than they were probably prepared for. The modern day often allows bands to have better control over when and if they write, meaning we should applaud those that take their time equally as we do those that can crank out fresh material annually.

Album opener “Bioluminescent Toxins” exhibits the group’s patience quite well. The song starts with slow, ominous notes that morph into a woozy doomy riff. As the guitar line speeds up it becomes more angular. Eventually, that riff is sped up into a slicing, whirling tremolo assault. After one of the most rollicking drum sections of the entire album, the song cuts into a somber and quiet stretch that sees vocalist Rae Amitay break out some haunting clean singing. Just as you think the song is concluding on that clean segment, it smashes the listener over the head with a brick of a simply heavy as hell closing passage. The song patiently builds but doesn’t overstay its welcome considering the runtime is under six minutes.

The song exemplifies so well what makes Immortal Bird stand out among their peers. Amitay proves she is willing to try new things with her voice. Later on, she even fires off some hardcore-style shouts on “Ocean Endless” to spice things up among her usual vicious snarl. Nate Madden takes on bass in addition to his guitar playing on this album but shows that double-duty does not hinder his ability to create varied and fantastic riffs. The opener has a killer blend of sludge, black and death metal swinging in and out of it. While those two players are absolutely holding their own on the recording, Matt Korajczyk’s drums are the star of Sin Querencia. That near minute of relentless rolling and fills in the opener is a more obvious bright spot, but he readily changes up his style and approach to suit the songs throughout. He can blast away to create a full-on rhythmic battering in “Plastered Sainthood,” unleash an unwieldy sense of chaos by flailing across the whole kit on “Ocean Endless,” dip into a simple D-beat on “Propagandized,” or let steady kicks and slick cymbal work rule the roost on “Contrarian Companions.”

Just as Korajczyk’s drumming is exceptionally varied and poignant, so too are the riffs and influences that peek through each song. The band’s careful mind also shows through the album’s well-ordered sequence. That simple, crusty assault on “Propagandized” feels like a song made for picking fights but follows “Consanguinity,” which has an aggressive plodding attack, not unlike Primitive Man, and then throws in an unnerving atonal riff that feels strange and possessed of an evil spirit. “Propagandized” is also followed by “Ocean Endless,” which opens with a big dramatic black metal riff but also has a section that could fit on a Converge record. Want a few more reference points that pop in? The opening to “Synthentic Alliances” leans into discordance and comes across like a slowed down Ulcerate guitar line. There are also two different passages that call to mind Meshuggah. “Consanguinity” has a scribbling riff that ascends and then descends back down, creating a suffocating feeling like something off of Catch-33. “Ocean Endless,” on the other hand, has a fast-paced, repeated and off-kilter chug like the opening of I.

While all of these influences and styles come together, what makes it all the more impressive is that the album always sounds and feels like Immortal Bird. The band has clearly continued to push what they do but nothing here feels out of place or like their forcing variety of the sake of having variety. Even among all the oddities and new tricks, tracks like “Contrarian Companions” is a classic Immortal Bird song through and through with its blasting notes, big riffs and ability to feel pretty, somber and hostile all at once. The band is careful to retain their origins while experimenting.

With album number three, Immortal Bird’s patience and care for writing has absolutely paid off. Sin Querencia is easily their best album to date and fans of the band won’t be disappointed.

The post Immortal Bird – Sin Querencia Review appeared first on Last Rites.

A brief bio: As a consumer of metal music, I got a late start in my mid-teenage years with, well, nu-metal, but I’ve been listening to all things heavy for over 20 years now. I hosted a college radio show that played metal for the late night crowd, and I forced myself to listen to every subgenre possible to equip myself to cover any requests or make any recommendations within the realm of metal. As it turns out, I like at least a little bit of everything. I have a very low tolerance for hair metal, but that’s because it sucks (sorry, Mr. “Andrew” Edmunds, sir). The list below is fairly representative of my tastes. There is always some sort of metal for any mood, and that’s one of many reasons why this genre rules so hard.

With every passing year, the pantheon of metal grows, and it gets harder and harder to keep (or catch) up. Short of joining a crew of seriously well-listened and critically thoughtful folks like the Last (w)Riters here, the best you can do is read along with us, go on Twitter, I guess (not at all recommended), or just follow your heart (aka the algorithms of YouTube / Spotify / etc). Metal should be fun, and writing about our beloved genre should inspire others to look beyond the mainstream and our comfort zones. There are enough subgenres, active touring bands, and dusty archives to explore that no one should ever want for lack of metal. Don’t like the screaming? Power, prog, and trad metal are here for you. Don’t like the government, authority figures, or your parents? Grindcore and crust have you covered. Don’t like fun? (well, you should probably politely fuck off, but…) Black metal has more than a few dark corners for you to hang out in. Don’t like all that happy shit, but still want to have a blast? Death metal beckons. Feel overwhelmed by all the options? Just pick something on our staff’s top 25! It’s a weird list because we are a weird group, but at least a few of us will gladly champion everything on it as a great album to spend some extra time with. Go to a random heavy show: the more diverse the bill, the better. The one uniting factor at Last Rites is an insatiable need to continue exploring music. For a bunch of old folks, the unabashed enthusiasm for albums new and old is a joy to be a part of. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve jumped into an unknown band or style because our own Danhammer “Daniel” Obstkrieg gushed some poetry about it. (Hi, Dan, you’re still my hero.) I have also avoided more than a few turds thanks to Chris “Topher” Sessions’ hilarious roasts. (Hi, Chris, please make time for at least a few scathing takedowns next year.)

My list is not the best of metal in 2019. It’s not the best of any particular subgenre, either. It’s just 20 great albums that I could not get enough of, and most critically, was able to spend enough quality time with. There are only so many hours in the day, and work and family are always competing. I joined the gang in August, and I was never much of a list person (shhhhh), so this skews a bit towards the end of the year. I also think that Tomb Mold and Blood Incantation put out fantastic albums (Hidden History being more fantastic, if I had to pick), but I did not spend enough time with either to include them. Like I said above, listen to what you love. Metal is fun, and if it feels like homework to listen to a particular band or style, it’s time to pick something else. Music is emotion, and if you’re not feeling it, then keep moving.

Enough jibber-jabber, on with the list!

Rankings Are Just Numbers, Maaaan

20. Eternity’s End– Unyielding

Lasers, knights, and an absurd amount of shred from the drummer to the keyboardist. What more could you possibly want from a power metal album? For them to be German? Check, check, check, and erledigt! Unyielding is fun as hell, so get in here and join the “Triumphant Ascent!”

• Last Rites Review
• Bandcamp

19. Turilli / Lione Rhapsody – Zero Gravity

I’m apparently stashing all my power metal at the back of the list, making the genre an afterthought like a good American idiot. We will be better about this; it’s a Last Rites 2020 Resolution to cover more power metal. Zero Gravity is slick, fun, and chock full of powerful moments.

• Last Rites Review
• Facebook

18. Shabti – Trembling and Shorn

I discovered Shabti while writing a review for the upcoming Obsidian Tongue album, where I learned that OT forms the rhythm section of Shabti. Without hesitation, Shabti is the faster and meaner of the two, with gnarlier tones and unrelenting riffs. Who knew Portland, Maine had such a strong scene? This is top-shelf technical blackened death, with strong hooks that go straight for the throat.

• Bandcamp

17. Equipoise – Demiurgus

Young, dumb, and full of…tasteful wankery? Demiurgus dances delicate circles around their tech death brethren. The Metal Archives membership page (past, present, and live) counts dozens of incredible bands, so the talent is no surprise, but their ability to weave prog, power, flamenco, neoclassical, and tech death as the cynical atheistic forefathers intended is truly impressive. You will be exhausted at the end of this hour plus ride, but hoo-boy can these fellas shred.

• Last Rites Review
• Bandcamp

16. Xoth – Interdimensional Invocations

If there is a theme to this list, it’s fun. Metal is fun. Technical riffs, precision drumming, and songs about goofy sci-fi shit…that’s fun. Xoth are interplanetary explorers of joyful noise. Even the Mark Richards cover art is a wild ride. Get in loser!

• Last Rites Review
• Bandcamp

15. Sarke – Gastwerso

I’m new to the Sarke party, but dagnabbit, I too “want to drink wine… In the Mausoleum!” Nocturno Culto and friends bring the heavy black ‘n’ roll but keep it just weird enough with stabbing synths, orchestral arrangements, guest vocalists, and songs about being a “Rebellious Bastard.”

• Bandcamp

14. Witch Vomit – Buried Deep in a Bottomless Grave

This one is all about how it felt in my (rotten) guts. Is Witch Vomit, in the year of our lard, 2019, better than Tomb Mold or Blood Incantation? I know some fellow idiots with strong opinions on the matter, but what’s important is that I had a hell of a good time listening to Buried Deep in a Bottomless Grave. Like a dutiful addict, I just could not stop huffing “The Fumes of Dying Bodies.”

• Last Rites Review
• Bandcamp

13. Car Bomb – Mordial

I think my very coherent and straight-laced review, conveniently linked below, covered everything that needs to be said about Mordial. Get wrecked to Car Bomb!

• Helmet Not Included
• Camp Bandicoot

12. Year of the Cobra – Ash and Dust

Year of the Cobra have immediate hooks, but they’re the sneaky kind with lots of barbs that will not sling loose. Good luck getting “Demons” or “Into the Fray” out of your head once Amy and Jon pour their fuzzy, beautiful doom into your brain. Ash and Dust is gorgeous, heroic, and fun.

• Last Rites Review
• Bandcamp

11. Blut Aus Nord – Hallucinogen

What a great album! The psychedelic grooves are no boring drug-fest, as Blut Aus Nord’s riffs are precisely crafted and layered to create an incredible seamless patchwork of progressive black metal. Hallucinogen is the kind of album that will imprint on your brain, forever linked to where you heard it first or spun it the most.

• Manny-O-War drops the truth tab directly on your tongue
• Bandcamp

The Same List: Continued, But With Smaller Numbers

10. Big Business – The Beast You Are

Riffing is their business, and business is BIG. The Beast You Are takes a minute to step out of their own shadow of well-worn grooves, but hot damn, it smokes once they take flight.

• Bandcamp

9. No One Knows What The Dead Think – No One Knows What The Dead Think

Grindheads, rejoice! “This album kills”—me, from that link right down there.

• Last Rites Review
• Bandcamp

8. Cara Neir – III / IV

Cara Neir wrote a damn near perfect album with 2016’s Perpetual Despair is the Human Condition. Its tortured, blackened screamo painted vivid nihilism that conveyed existential angst perfectly. Now comes 2019, as bleak as ever, but Cara Neir put a bright yellow flower on the cover and substituted much the blasting and sharp riffing for electronic interludes and more than a little dabbling in the post-punk and post-hardcore palettes. The band still provides plenty of melancholy and anguish, but III / IV offers playful experimentation that opens up their sound.

• Bandcamp

7. Nile – Vile Nilotic Rites

Nile did not owe us an album this damn good in 2019. Karl Sanders and his supremely talented friends decided to give it to us anyway. Thanks, Nile! Now, if you will excuse me, I have a snake pit mating frenzy to get back to.

• Last Rites Review
• Facebook

6. Organectomy – Existential Disconnect

Slamz. The fun-as-hell, disrespect-your-surroundings variety. Disconnect from existence and get slammed.

• Last Rites Review
• Bandcamp

5. Malevich – Our Hollow

Malevich do their thing with conviction. Ugly, angry riffs scrape against screamo vocals and blasting, churning drums. Dissonant chords pick themselves apart, and then stitch together to form a hideous Frankenstein monster, lurching through the sludge. Our Hollow expertly deploys dynamics that create even more suffocating riffage, and even more beautiful distortion-free breaks.

• Last Rites Review
• Bandcamp

4. Immortal Bird – Thrive on Neglect

Immortal Bird’s twisting, grinding, genre-blurring attack gets stronger with every release. Thrive On Neglect has immediate hooks, and more than enough layers to reward your repeat spins. Listen to more Immortal Bird. So say we all!

• Last Rites Review
• Bandcamp

3. Oozing Wound – High Anxiety

Oozing Wound suffer exactly zero fools. High Anxiety is sharply focused thrash with razorwire taut riffs, and completely ruthless vocals and lyrics. Get in the pit or get the fuck out of the building.

• Bandcamp

2. White Ward – Love Exchange Failure

The black metal + jazz of debut Futility Report gets leveled up on Love Exchange Failure. The blending of styles goes deeper, and White Ward have written some of their most inspired songs. The guest artists stretch the band’s unique sound on the back half, and there’s a lot of replay value here. Explore modern man’s disconnect with their fellow humans on this beautiful album.

• Last Rites Review
• Bandcamp

1. Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard – Yn Ol I Annwn

Look, of course it’s a silly name. It’s also silly how well these Welsh weirdos have managed to unify ethereal vocals with massive fuzzed-out riffs, adventurous synths, and electronic flourishes. Yn Ol I Annwn is the final installment of a three-album arc and MWWB’s strongest work yet. There’s plenty of room on the bandwagon, hop on!

• Bandcamp

…and that’s it! Less talk, more rock. Go support these fantastic bands, buy their stuff, see them live, and always tip your bartender. Thanks to you, dear reader(s) for reading and commenting!

The post Best Of 2019 – Fetusghost: Yeah, But What Does The FNG Think? appeared first on Last Rites.

It is customary to write a lengthy preamble to our lists, and I am normally hilariously guilty of overwriting mine.

Fact is, this year I am tired. Depressed, clinically and otherwise. Old. Cotton headed. Without a spark. Tricky turns of phrase are not forthcoming. So instead of writing some manifesto of pointlessness, let’s just dive in.

The Forward

It will come as no surprise that my slots are essentially interchangeable. I have a super effective and elaborate method of meting out points that is also super subjective and really only helps me corral my thoughts. Tomb Mold and Immortal Bird: who made the better record? Yes. Car Bomb and Blood Incantation? OK. Nile vs. Weeping Sores? Absolutely. Fact is, on any given day you could reverse my list and still be accurate. If I didn’t like a record, it didn’t make my list at all. If it made my list, I like it.

20-11: It’s not 10-1, but it is almost 10-1.

20. Cara Neir – III/IV

I really miss Burnt by the Sun a lot. Cara Neir fills a hole left by the lack of BbtS. Melodic and chaotic, furious and frail by turns.

• Bandcamp

19. Nixa – Opus Tierra

A crushing doom band with a very satisfying vocalist and classicist melodies to push the heft around.

• Last Rites Review
• Bandcamp

18. Organectomy – Existential Disconnect

A clinical take on brutal gutterality, this brings a laser precision to the wounds it inflicts, acting as a refreshing palette cleanser from all the gorgeous fatty murk death metal has brought us this year.

• Last Rites Review
• Bandcamp

17. Abyssal – A Beacon in the Husk

A sound story of cosmic proportions, told from the very depths of a dead star. Voluminous and darkly fascinating. Whether blasting or sludging, there is a terror endemic to this album.

• Last Rites Review
• Bandcamp

16. Death Angel – Humanicide

One of the best of the original thrash albums was The Ultra Violence. So many years later, Death Angel is still bringing fire and deftness that defies reason. Mark Osegueda remains one of the unsung (get it?!) vocal heroes of thrash music.

• “The Pack”

15. Noisem – Cease to Exist

Grindblackthrashdeath. Pure. Fuck the niches.

• Last Rites Review
• Bandcamp

14. Gatecreeper – Deserted

Ah, I was wondering when we’d get a dose of HM-2 in this list. Traditional death metal that gets everything right and nothing wrong.

• Bandcamp

13. Oozing Wound – High Anxiety

Metal can take itself pretty seriously, at least from outside. And that’s fine by me, but I will always keep a place for Lawnmower Deths and Old Lady Drivers in my heart. Oozing Wound has a tongue in its cheek. Can’t say whose. But they still manage to make some moshtastic music while chewing on it.

• Bandcamp

12. Disentomb – The Decaying Light

Hulking death metal with spritely little moves. Oxymoron? Not in their hands.

• Last Rites Review
• Bandcamp

11. Inter Arma – Sulphur English

This is a long walk, granted. But when you finally get there, my god was it worth it.

• Last Rites Review
• Bandcamp

10-1, EXACTLY LIKE 10-1

10. Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard – Yn Ol I Annwn

I am busy. I can’t hear every damned record every damned band ever damned makes. So as the end of the year approaches I ask the fellas for recs on anything I might have missed. FetusGhost mentioned this band and the name alone forced me at knife point to give it a listen.

Thank god. This is Shonen Knife if they had fallen in love with Black Sabbath instead of The Ramones. And I mean that in the best possible sense. Truly hooky sludge / doom with a vocalist at once pixie lovable and banshee horrifying, this record brings a welcome twist to the mournfully stoned.

• Bandcamp

9. Nucleus – Entity

To my mind this year started out bereft of death, but around the midway point bodies started dropping like Democratic subpoenas. Death owned the summer, and continued to own the fall. Part of that is thanks to Nucleus.

Another in the growing sci-die motif death metal has been gurgling around with, Entity crams the void with dirty, time-shifting Incantation-esque pounders that satisfy on both primal and intellectual levels.

• Last Rites Review
• Bandcamp

8. No One Knows What the Dead Think –No One Knows What the Dead Think

Look, if the dead can think (which I doubt, but that is the premise we are presented with) then they know what they think, and they are someones, so I call bullshit.

Apart from that obvious flaw, this is a flawless North American crusty grind record. Nothing overstays its welcome, emotionally compelling performances, and not a throwaway riff or vocal to be found. The kind of depth and intricacy we should expect from this outfit of veterans makes this a stellar grind release in a fairly grindless cycle.

• Last Rites Review
• Bandcamp

7. Cerebral Rot – Odious Descent

Another powerfully icky death metal entrant, this time gurgling up from a swamp like some drunken salamander. This whole record makes one feel unclean, fetid and sloshed with fecund miasma or whatever words make you think of drowning in oxygen-less skunk water. This band has more lurch than all the Addams Family franchises combined. In other words, just exactly what keeps us coming back.

• Last Rites Review
• Bandcamp

6. Car Bomb – Mordial

Somewhere the child version of myself is throwing a tantrum. That version loved Beatles and Bee Gees and Monkeys and Tommy James. He loved simple, sensible, and easy to understand, easy to internalize music that made him want to dance.

He needs to go fuck himself. Car Bomb makes no sense, does nothing that is simple or understandable and they FLAY. This is not for the weak minded or the easily distracted. It is not for dancing or even moshing. This is music the quivers and ebbs and distracts itself only to sneak up on itself and murder itself. Triumphantly. While somehow making even the occasional pop-metal vocals intimidating. Tempo, niches, expectations are nothing but silly putty to this band. And that makes me so happy.

• Last Rites Review
• Bandcamp

5. Immortal Bird – Thrive On Neglect

One of the reasons writing year-end lists is so fun, apart from making the Count Von Count laugh after each number, is saying something meaningful or amusing about a record that was meaningful or amusing for you. Of course, if you already wrote a review full of that stuff, you are probably just paring it down to a blurb version of what you already wrote. It can seem pointless. Just go read my review. It’s all in there.

But Ima’ gild the lily: Immortal Bird is great and getting better. They smoosh emotion, fervor and bestial talent into a model of what metal will look like ten years from now. Intimate, yet vast; brutal, yet sublime. They have set themselves up to move in any stylistic direction and then move back, so that there is nothing forbidden except mediocrity. And YOU ARE THERE. Fucking magic.

• Last Rites Review
• Bandcamp

4. Nile – Vile Nilotic Rites

What the hell can be said about Karl Sanders that fully encapsulates what he has accomplished? As the soul remaining founding member of Nile, it must feel astounding that a record released twenty years or so from their initial full length should sound and feel at once fresh and perfectly at home with the rest of the catalog.

Despite the lineup changes, the vision for the band has not changed. And neither has the quality and intensity. Fresh blood or old souls, Vile Nilotic Rights comes as Ramses of old: with war, pestilence, bellowed curses, crushed corpses and RIFFS!

Side Note: I finally saw Nile this year. They had room enough on stage for only the drums and amps, so the guitarists had to play on the dance floor. They flailed like it was Donnington circa ’88. This is a band in love with what they do, and Osiris damn it: so am I.

• Last Rites Review
• “Vile Nilotic Rites”

3. Weeping Sores – False Confession

Whether you care or not, knowing (and liking) people in a band, however briefly or distantly, makes this reviewer nervous. Am I a homer? Am I trying too hard NOT to be a homer? Can I say for sure, one way or another?

Thing is, listen to the fucking record. Tell me I am wrong. Tell me it isn’t everything I suggested in my review. Moving, heaving, lilting, terrifying, crushing, edifying… listen to the fucking thing and tell me I am just a homer. If you can, then maybe I am. But I suggest you might be made of candy.

• Last Rites Review
• Bandcamp

2. Blood Incantation – Hidden History of the Human Race

Sci-Death, Death-Fi Sci-Fi Death, Death Sci-Fi, post mortal speculative fiction… something turned on a lot of metal bands to the idea of the cold dark expanses and technology gone mad world of SF, and we are sure the better for it. Blood Incantation has managed to incorporate SF into music that feels as permanent and necessary as Nespithe, Close to a World Below and Obscura. Taking the organic feel of Starspawn and building stellar compositions which compliment both their style and their subject has pushed Blood Incantation into the forefront of modern death.

• Last Rites Review
• Bandcamp

1. Tomb Mold – Planetary Clairvoyance

Tomb Mold is now a classic death metal band. Because Planetary Clairvoyance is a classic death metal record. Fight me. If you lose, you are wrong. If you win, you are wrong. This fucker got me ready to die on some hill or other over whether Tomb Mold is on par with Carcass, Bolt Thrower, Nile and Morbid Angel. They are. This shit moves even that which is immovable. It pulpifies even that without pulp. It defiles even that without…files. It has purity without having the malignant stain of hackney. Planetary Clairvoyance is without flaw because it is without shits to give. It just wants you to headbang. And thus becomes immaculate.

• Last Rites Review
• Bandcamp

Not 10-1, nor nearly 10-1, but not worth overlooking

Another five, because they were considered:

Malevich – Our Hollow

Insomnium – Heart Like A Grave

Misery Index – Rituals of Power

Lord Vicar – The Black Powder

Concrete Winds – Primitive Force

Another two late entries worth writing about

For whatever reason some music doesn’t get in the cue for consideration in my best of until I already have it laid out. I often consider adding them, but I haven’t really “ingested” the music, which makes it unfair to the other acts and the reader. On the other hand no one reading this actually gives a shit one way or another, but self-imposed standards are still standards, and a body’s gotta’ have em’. A couple of records I just heard (in the last week or so of the published date of this most auspicious article) I still feel should be addressed.

Cattle Decapitation: Death Atlas. Having gone all in on the strangely strangled vocals that have acted as punctuation in the past, Cattle Decap may have overestimated their fan’s tolerance. Of course, it feels hilarious to even discuss this given the general tolerance for questionable vocalizing metalheads exhibit. But the controversy (not a controversy) obscures what may be the most important lyrical contribution to metal…well, ever. Why? Because the subjects and emotions of these songs fucking matter. They are not just about something, but about the fucking main thing. Humans are destroying their environment, and most of them are digging in all the harder for knowing this. There is no topic more important, and less explored, in metal. Gods, Satans, Hammer Smashed Faces, Hypocrisy, Racism, Sexism, Homophobia….none of that shit matters if the subjects/victims all died in the inevitable fucking famines to come. Also, the music itself kills.

Ithaca: The Language of Injury. Much as with Cara Neir, Ithaca scratches the Burnt By the Sun itch I have never really gotten over. The true modern crossover of hard and grind cores, respectively, Ithaca attacks with just the right combo of intensity, brevity and melody, propelled by riffing that belongs in the same league as Converge and Botch. Similarly also to Car Bomb, the group finds a way to introduce clean vocalizing without compromising the fury. Worth your attention.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

This is the part of the year end list where I spend some time celebrating or irritating metaldom and myself. I go on and on about whatever. Doesn’t matter. It’s a chance to let my expository whims loose.

I don’t have it in me this year. It’s just not there. I don’t know if I should apologize or say “You Are Welcome.” It was a great metal year, but it was a fucking dismal year for everything else. And 2020 looks even worse from where I sit.

In a way, it feels like the world caught my depression. My internal war is becoming external. Is it cynicism if the evidence supports it, though?

Where I used to look at some creature, some animal, and wonder at what makes it what it is, how it came to be, where it might go from here, now I wonder if, in twenty years, it will exist?

Where I used to look at a freshman student and wonder how their life will turn out, whether they will make the great discovery, write the great novel, or just major in business and end up owning a stretch cab pickup for no reason, now I wonder if they will migrate east to the overcrowded wet states or try to stick it out here in the inter-mountain area as the water ghosts from the desert southwest and the relatively wet little pockets like where I live are all that remain inhabitable?

Where I used to look to my fellow Americans to slowly – all too slowly – but surely move toward a more perfect union, now I wonder if we even have enough time left to see some kind of practical equanimity between all our various American peoples?

I wonder too whether I will have anything to offer in the coming strife, as my back and my knees and my eyes and my mind succumb to frayed telomeres and worn cartilage?

Harry Nilsson, who was never heavy metal but was still an immaculate songwriter, once observed that “You gotta have hope, it’s the price you gotta pay.” I did, and I did. You have to have hope to lose it.

As far as metal goes, it can be the soundtrack to the end as surely as it can be the soundtrack to anything else. In fact, it is more fitting.

Thanks for reading, populating the site and going to shows. Thanks for being. I hope I am full of shit and you get to keep that up for a long time.

The post Best Of 2019 – Chris Sessions: My List Is Best Because It Contains No Preservatives appeared first on Last Rites.

In the grand scheme of things, 2019 was a pretty good year for me, and I hope the same for you. I drank many good beers; I spent time with many good friends; I  saw many great shows (Iron Maiden twice! King Diamond! Queensryche AND Fates Warning! Misfits + The Damned! Faster Pussycat!) Most importantly, I whiled away many hours listening to great music — my most favorite of past-times, of course — and rather than keep you waiting here with some faux-philosophical (fauxlosophical?) bullshit wrap-up, let’s just get to to the damn thing, what say you?

THESE ALBUMS ARE GOOD
(BUT NOT AS GOOD AS THE ALBUMS BELOW THEM)

20. Misery Index – Rituals Of Power

Not Misery Index’s best, but still dependably pummeling death / grind with loads of groove and sharp riffing. A much better take on what Pig Destroyer was trying to do with last year’s dreadful Head Cage.

• Second Opinion (Oh, Wait, That’s Actually Still Me)
• One Time, At Bandcamp

19. Runemagick – Into Desolate Realms

I’m slightly ashamed to admit that I avoided this band for a long time because the name made me think this would be poofy-shirted folk goofiness. Turns out it’s kick-ass vintage doom-y death-y goodness. Who knew? You knew? Ah, well…

• Second Opinion
• Another Time, At Bandcamp

18. Insomnium – Heart Like A Grave

Generally speaking, I don’t give half a hair on a rat’s ass about melodeath, but when it’s done properly, it can still crush. Insomnium does it properly, largely by expanding the palette and tossing in loads of sadsack goth. The perfect album for the coming winter…

• Second Opinion
• Peep On The Band Website

17. High Command – Beyond The Wall Of Desolation

Ah, crossover, that perfect middle ground between hardcore rage and metallic riff. High Command brings the goods for this one, all swaggering groove and ripping riff and crackling energy. Put it on, turn it up, circle the wagons…

• We didn’t cover this because we’re dumb.
• Play Along At Home

16. Flotsam & Jetsam – The End Of Chaos

What lies beyond that wretched eyesore of a cover is the best Flotsam album in thirty years, re-capturing the fiery thrash spirit of the first few, back before the groove metal years. AK still sounds killer, and the band is firing on all cylinders. Let’s hope this chaos is just (re-)beginning…

• We didn’t cover this either. I told you we’re dumb.
• Facebook Stalk The Band

15. Pretty Maids – Undress Your Madness

This hard rock / metal / AOR juggernaut has found a new spark over the last few records. Jumping back and forth from more metallic numbers to more radio-friendly ones, this may not be the most kvlt record around, but it rocks from tip to toe. Get well soon, Ronnie; we’re pulling for you.

• We didn’t cover this one, too. You know why? Yeah.
• Send Your Own Get Well Message

14. Exhumed – Horror

Exhumed never disappoints, and Horror is no exception. Stepping backwards towards a grindier, less melodic approach, Horror is still primo Harvey / Sewage filth and fury, filled with snappy riff and bloody humor. Plus, look at that sweet album retro-VHS album art, eh?

• Second Opinion (Me Again)
• One Time, At Gorecamp

13. Immortal Bird – Thrive On Neglect

Immortal Bird continues flying higher and higher with this, their second full-length and first for 20 Buck Spin. Tearing up the black, death, and grindcore playbooks and letting the pieces fall together where they may, the Bird has crafted a damned fine slab of cross-genre extremity.

• Second Opinion
• One Time, At Birdcamp

12. Dimhav – The Boreal Flame

Proggy power done properly, with all the instrumental noodling, fiery speed, and soaring melody you could ever want. A late-year out-of-nowhere entry custom-made for exploding best-of lists. Welcome back, Mr. Heiman…

• Second Opinion
• One Time, At Powercamp

11. Candlemass – The Door To Doom

The kings of doom return with Johann Längqvist behind the mic for the first time since the first time. This year, if you listen to only one bad-ass slab of epic doom featuring a song about a giant octopus with a guest solo from Tony “God” Iommi himself, then let it be this one…

• Second Opinion (And More)
• One Time, At Doomcamp

THESE ALBUMS ARE EVEN BETTER THAN THOSE OTHER ALBUMS UP THERE

10. WEEPING SORES – FALSE CONFESSION

Death / doom has been hitting home even harder of late, for whatever reason. Maybe it’s because I’m old and one step closer to my imminent demise and I’m sad about it, or maybe it’s just because this year had a slew of ugly doomy goodness. This Weeping Sores was towards the top of the death / doom pile, blending stately violin melodies against some killer morose riffing, the whole of it equally beautiful and ugly, just like life, just like you, just like me…

• Second Opinion
• One Time, At Sadcamp

9. OVERKILL – THE WINGS OF WAR

Did anyone not expect this to be on my list?  I mean, c’mon… It’s Overkill. And I love Overkill. Most of you probably expected it to place higher, and maybe I did, too, but that’s no real slight on The Wings Of War. It’s Overkill doing what they’ve been doing since coming back screaming strong with Ironbound almost a decade ago. This is high energy thrash from one of the few old-fart bands that’s still making thrash on this level. Maybe it’s not as strong as Ironbound or White Devil Armory (though it’s an improvement upon Grinding Wheel), or maybe it’s just that we’re five albums into the resurgence now and we’re expecting this type of thing, but regardless, The Wings Of War delivers.

• Second Opinion
• Say Hello In The Gutter

8. KRYPTS – CADAVER CIRCULATIONS

Somewhere, at some point, my fine compatriot Captain declared that Finnish death metal is greater than Swedish death metal. One day, not all that long ago, them would’ve been fightin’ words to me. But the more I go back and the deeper I dig into Finnish death metal, the more I think he may be onto something. Now on their third album, Krypts keeps the death alive and oozing, slathered in reverb and crawling up from the grave, all eerie atmosphere and carving riffs. Sometimes sluggish, sometimes pummeling, always creepy, and damned near perfect.

• Second Opinion (Oh, Hai, Mark, It’s Me Again)
• Kerran Bändileirillä

7. TOMB MOLD – PLANETARY CLAIRVOYANCE

Death metal had a hell of year, that much is certain, from both the Old Ones and the New Kids. Tomb Mold is squarely in that second category, of course, though they certainly learned their art well from the former one. Now on their third album, they continue to grow, with Planetary Clairvoyance quite easily the best of the bunch so far, filled to bursting with grimy murky hooky riffs and stellar performances. The vocals float ominously back in the mire, but each instrument is somehow clear even as the whole thing is coated in a nearly palpable grime. Meet the new death, sounds a lot like the old death, and kicks ass all the way.

• Second Opinion
• One Time, At Tombcamp

6. NILE – VILE NILOTIC RITES

And speaking of the Old Ones, here’s Nile back to show everyone how high-class brutal death metal is done. With riffs, riffs, and more riffs, Karl Sanders and company return with some new blood and one of their strongest albums of late. Of course, Nile’s formula hasn’t changed, even if the line-up has: tech-ish arrangements, skull-crushing heaviness, tales of ancient civilizations, and — it warrants further mention — riffs, riffs, riffs, and more riffs. Also, seriously, was there a better song title in 2019 than “Snake Pit Mating Frenzy”?

• Second Opinion
• Amongst The Catacombs Of Zucker-Berg

5. BLOOD INCANTATION – HIDDEN HISTORY OF THE HUMAN RACE

The press buzz on Hidden History Of The Human Race has been, to understate it a bit, quite positive. I’ve seen this hailed as the Album Of The Year in some places (like, y’know, here), and I’ve been told it redefines death metal in others. Whether you think it’s incredibly good or merely very very very very good, what Blood Incantation has wrought upon is undoubtedly Awesome Death Metal, and yes, one of the best death metal albums of the year (perhaps the best, as I don’t have any death metal above it, you’ll soon notice). Hidden History is handily the best release from a band that continues to create first-class metal. Between these guys and Tomb Mold above, the future is very much in good hands.

• Second Opinion
• One Time, At Space Camp

4. OPETH – IN CAUDA VENENUM

But which version? The English one, or the Swedish one? And the answer is: Yes. Whatever language you prefer, Opeth has delivered yet again. You know all those people who complained about the last few albums, about Mikael’s embrace of prog-rock over prog-metal? I’m not one of them. But I will admit that the likes of Heritage and Sorceress, while very good, are still not as good as what preceded them, your Ghost Reveries and your Watersheds, so having Opeth returning to that level of quality is a damned good thing. Ambitious, emotional, occasionally heavier than it has been, and always interesting, In Cauda Venenum is another notch on the belt of one of metal’s all time greats.

• Second Opinion
• In Cauda Zuckerberg

3. NO ONE KNOWS WHAT THE DEAD THINK – NO ONE KNOWS WHAT THE DEAD THINK

What do the dead think? They think this rips. And they’re right. (Actually, we don’t know they think that. No one does.) All terrible joking aside, the return from Discordance Axis’ Jon Chang and Rob Marton and ex-Cohol drummer Kyosuke Nakano continues in the vein of Chang and Marton’s previous work: sharp grindcore that tucks intricacies into its riffs while charging forward at 900 miles per hour, and all of that whilst Jon Chang spews forth screaming vitriol like a man possessed. An absolutely stellar grindcore album, and given the band’s pedigree, would you expect any less? With both Discordance Axis and Gridlink no more, No One Knows What The Dead Think fills that gap nicely…

• Second Opinion
• No Ones Knows What Happened One Time At Bandcamp

2. QUEENSRŸCHE – THE VERDICT

I’m a Queensrÿche fanboy, and I have been for a large part of my life. So I’ve been more than ecstatic to watch Todd LaTorre bring new life to the band through three albums now, of which The Verdict is the strongest. His vocals are godlike, and behind them, Wilton and Jackson and Lindgren can go back to the stately progressive metal greatness that made Queensrÿche kings many moons ago. Added bonus LaTorre: In the continued absence of Scott Rockenfield (which is admittedly a bummer, as Scott is a killer drummer), Todd also performed behind the kit for this one, and it’s further testament to the man’s talents that the Rÿche literally didn’t miss a beat.

• We didn’t cover this because our mere mortal words can’t do it justice.
• Zückerÿche

1. ARCH / MATHEOS – WINTER ETHEREAL

Progressive metal gods John Arch and Jim Matheos re-united in 2011 for their first full-length since the outright classic Awaken The Guardian, twenty-five years earlier. Now we’re on LP2 from the simply monikered Arch / Matheos, and like its predecessor, it’s an absolute monster of prog metal. Matheos brings the killer tracks, and Arch provides those signature soaring, twisting, oddball melodies, his lines bobbing and weaving around the riffs and rhythms, never taking the obvious turn and yet always ending up in exactly the right place. Like Sympathetic Resonance before it (and like all of Fates Warning’s work, with or without Arch), Winter Ethereal is the kind of record that captures the heart and the mind, the true depth of its secrets revealed over time and many many listens, for years to come.

• Second Opinion
• One Time, At Godly Prog-Metal Camp

TOP THREE EPs

3. Elder – The Gold And Silver Sessions

Krautrock-y, space-y, drifty, dreamy, instrumental psyche-rockin’ fun from these stoner-prog-doom wizards. Kick back with a cold one (or a burning one, whatever you’re into) and get into the groove…

• We didn’t cover this because we were too busy rockin’ to it.
• One Time, At Psyche-Stoner-Prog-Doom-Krautrockcamp

2. Phobia – Generation Coward

One of my longtime stalwart bands, Phobia just keeps on grinding. If you’ve been keeping up, you pretty much know what it sounds like, and if you haven’t been, then you should be. Crusty heavy raw grindcore, just like the good Lord intended…

• Second Opinion
• One Time, At Grindcamp

1. Vader – Thy Messenger

Vader simply crushes. Vader crushes simply. If you don’t know that by now… well, you’re a big ol’ dummyhead. Vader does no wrong, and the only complaint one could make here is that this is just an EP and not a full-length. Give us more, Lord Vader, more sweet sweet death metal…

• No full review, but a year-end blurb here.
• One Last Time, At Bandcamp

MOST INTERESTING OF THE NOT-METALS
(IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER)

Orville Peck – Pony

Ever wished Chris Isaak and the Jesus & Mary Chain would collaborate on the soundtrack to a David Lynch film? Of course you have. But they didn’t, so all we have left is this gay cowboy in a sparkly fringed Lone Ranger mask crooning goth-tinted dark Americana… Thankfully, it’s as awesome as it sounds.

• Listen

Erin Enderlin – Faulkner County

Sad-panda drinkin’-song country is the best country. If you find a better opening couplet for a country song than “He was a bastard, even though he knew his daddy / even had his daddy’s angry eyes,” then you’re wrong and you didn’t find one.

• “Broken”

Bruce Springsteen – Western Stars

The Boss’ tribute to Laurel Canyon country and California pop didn’t hit me at first, but after a few listens, it took hold. Still great songs, of course, now layered with strings and and horns and lush 70s production, like a Glen Campbell record. And yes, that’s actually a good thing.

• Like A Rhinestone Cowboy From Jersey

RAISE A GLASS TO THOSE WHO PASSED

Hails and RIP to Tardar Sauce, Lil Bub, Timi Hansen, Bruce Corbitt, Paul Raymond, Richard Brunelle, Dr. John, Roky Erickson, Earl Thomas Conley, Ginger Baker, Eddie Money, Ric Ocasek, and any other of our sisters and brothers and friends who crossed into the great beyond…

The post Best Of 2019 – Andrew Edmunds: One Bird Cannot Make A Bad Pun, But Toucan appeared first on Last Rites.

Anyway, point being: news of this article opens a big can of worms. Worms that have questions and concerns.

First and foremost, this serves as yet another reminder that we’ve reached the end of a fresh decade, so votings and rankings such as this are bound to abound. And yes, Last Rites is planning on committing a portion of 2020 to looking back on the best of what the last decade has delivered unto us, the ultimate fans of the guitar’s greatest gift: RIFFS.

Second, who might WE consider to be the Best Guitarist(s) Of The Decade? The Last Riters and our readership are generally more concerned about the underground, but there are some big players out there that’ve been quite busy over the last 10 years. For me personally, the following 15 (in no particular order) jump to mind:

• Esa Holopainen (Amorphis)
• Mark Shelton (Manilla Road)
• Ihsahn (um, Ihsahn)
• Tosin Abasi (Animals As Leaders)
• Terrance Hobbs (Suffocation)
• Mikael Åkerfeldt (Opeth)
• André Olbrich (Blind Guardian)
• Ice Dale (Enslaved)
• Karl Sanders (Nile)
• Adrian Smith (Iron Maiden)
• Bob Vigna (Immolation)
• Jim Matheos (Fates Warning, Arch / Matheos)
• Luc Lemay (Gorguts)
• Christian Münzner (Eternity’s End, Alkaloid)
• Shusuke “Syu” Ueda (Galneryus)

I’m sure you fine folks can think of at least 10 or 20 others I’ve managed to neglect.

What the hell does this have to do with this year’s Last Rites Combined Staff Top 25? In the immortal words of Ol’ Dirty Bastard: nuthin’. But it’s sure as hell fun to argue about it as another decade draws to a close. Annnnd…it’s another LIST. We love our precious lists.

As for 2019, it’s been another very good year for metal and Last Rites. Our Top 25 will (hopefully) demonstrate the former, and with regard to the latter, the crew is still tight: one of us got married, so we all gathered; another got engaged, so we will all gather again; and we still assemble like poorly dressed Sandhill Cranes every year at MDF to test all the barstools at Max’s Taphouse. Oh! We added a new guy, too, which is exceedingly rare. He has a real name, which remains a secret because he’s fairly well known (rhymes with Bustin’ Fingerlakes), and he brings a brand new flavor of shitty taste to the table. So, thanks for that, “FetusGhost” (wink wink.)

And you! The readers! You’re still here.  A very sincere THANK YOU goes out to any and all eyeballs currently reading our words, as well as the bodies connected to those blessed peepers.  Sometimes it feels like we don’t thank you guys enough, but hopefully our gratitude is still reflected in the quality of the words we continue to rumble down the chute.

This year’s Top 25 is pretty eclectic? That question mark is intentional, because I lost the ability to discern what’s generally considered eclectic and / or peculiar around the same time I discovered Varghkoghargasmal and Lugubrum. And speaking of those two particular bands, you’ll perhaps notice that black metal didn’t exactly win out in our Top 25. We could beat around the bush and talk about shifting tastes and avoiding various buffoonery until the pandas come home, but it’s probably easiest to simply put it like this: there ain’t a lot of black metal on our collective list. What there is, however, is a stack of really cool records as voted on by the following individuals: Me (Captain), Zach Duvall, Jeremy Witt, Jeremy Morse, Dan Obstkrieg, Manny-O-War, Chris Sessions, Ryan Tysinger and FetusGhost. Now you know who to thank and blame for including and ignoring your favorites. Be sure to keep an eye out for our personal lists starting next week so you can really find out who’s liable for the way this thing shook out.

That’s it. What were your favorite albums of 2019? Who would you pick as your Top Ten Guitarists Of The Decade? Do aliens make lists relating to the top ten ways they’re going to murder us all? Feel free to wrassle over life’s big questions in the comments section or through our Facebook or Twitter account.

See you on the other side. [CAPTAIN]

25. WHITE WARD – LOVE EXCHANGE FAILURE

“White Ward harnesses ideas of pain and disconnection and turn them into haunting, plaintive jazz woven through several waves of modern black metal. There is an exciting commitment to all aspects of their sound, and we can only hope that they continue to experiment and add singers and musicians to their ranks (permanent or otherwise).” [FETUSGHOST]

• Last Rites review
• Bandcamp

24. TRAVELER – TRAVELER

“Simply put, it is such an enjoyable listen that it actually distracts from other tasks. It demands attention with its hooky riffs and well-written songs. Everything else seems to fade to the background as Traveler takes its hold, sending the listener on a cosmic voyage powered by the nuclear fusion of imagination and emotion. It is such a fun album that listening to it while holding still is a nigh-impossible task, and I cannot wait for the opportunity to be frustrated to find the right words to describe the next one.” [RYAN TYSINGER]

• Last Rites review
• Bandcamp

23. CAR BOMB – MORDIAL

“Did Greg Kubacki perfect the pick-scrape riff? There are even truly peaceful moments, like the outro of “Antipatterns.” All due respect to noted French persons/band Gojira, of course, but Kubacki manages to scrape through the 5th dimension more than once. Both the Dillinger and the Meshuggah are still here, but like, partially digested, spit back up, and baked into a C-4 casserole. These four gentle souls are in lock-step; they are an unstoppable whirlwind of perfectly timed chaos. [checks notes: “drums = heavy” – better spice that one up, you lazy asshole]” [FETUSGHOST]

• Last Rites review
• Bandcamp

22. ATLANTEAN KODEX – THE COURSE OF EMPIRE

“By the first solo, it is clear why Atlantean Kodex are such masters of their craft – there isn’t a whole lot of technical flashiness going on here; the root of the band’s power is firmly set in their songwriting – in the structure, in the choice of notes and changes, of the building of suspense and tension to the ultimate release. Markus’ vocals simply rise above the music, accentuated with plenty of subtle choral harmonies to drive home his lyrics of near-forgotten ancient myths from a perspective that feels both anthropological and theological as much as it does mythological.” [RYAN TYSINGER]

• Last Rites review
• Bandcamp

21. OOZING WOUND – HIGH ANXIETY

The Last Rites HQ, for all its mahogany paneling, fancy leather chairs, and expensive oil paintings, is home to a very diverse group of weirdos. When High Anxiety popped up on our year end list (via supersecret and Russian hacking-resistant voting machines), about half the gang said, “What the heck is an Oozing Wound, and should I see a doctor?” The other half replied, “They’re a gnarly, awesome thrash band from Chicago, and better late than never, but modern medical science can only do so much for you at this point. It’s like the band wrote ‘Surrounded by Fucking Idiots’ about you guys.” But seriously, this is ripping, sarcastic, noisy thrash, lovingly hatefully crafted by a trio of Midwestern lifers. “Tween Shitbag[s]” beware, this one is for the angry old ‘heads. [FETUSGHOST]

• Bandcamp

20. OBSEQUIAE – THE PALMS OF SORROWED KINGS

“Not since Windir has a black metal band been so infatuated with their guitars ringing out for eternity, and like their Norwegian progenitors, Obsequiae often creates a pipe organ feel with their harmonized leads. As it was on the previous two albums, it’s almost constantly stunning on The Palms of Sorrowed Kings. But the comparisons to Windir and other influences – Dissection-esque melodic black metal, the earliest Opeth, or The Jester Race-era In Flames – stop with the pretty parts. Obsequiae is almost completely uninterested in aggression.” [ZACH DUVALL]

• Last Rites review
• Bandcamp at 20 Buck Spin

19. TANAGRA – MERIDIEM

“Tim Socia weaves tales of anciently futuristic dreamlands—mystical lands that combine and intertwine the past with the future. Melodic guitar lines interweave and create a sense of profound loss—a mourning for the lost ruins of the ancient past and a life more intimately connected to nature. It’s an overlaying emotion across Meridiem that creates a ceaseless tension between remaining in a time long passed that’s nevertheless entangled in the future. What will the hero choose? Will the hero stand defiant against the shores of time? It’s within the multiverses and interdimensional planes of existence that Tanagra’s tales lie expertly supported by hyper-emotional, technically proficient, brilliantly composed and balanced musicianship.” [MANNY-O-WAR]

• Last Rites review
• Bandcamp

18. ETERNITY’S END – UNYIELDING

“The interaction between Münzner, Tougas and Pitts is superlative, so shredders approaching in hopes of hearing something that will inspire them to take their playing to the next level are in for a merciless treat. And coming in from a different angle, folks who wouldn’t know a sweep-picked arpeggio or diminished scale if it hit them on the front end of a speeding garbage truck would have to walk away equally impressed. The way all the leads mingle with what LePond and Grossman bring to the table (bassists and drummers will find plenty to chew on here as well), and the way it all does so within so many slants of heaviness—speed, thrash, power, hard rock, traditional, neoclassical—make the whole of Unyielding sound very much like a modernized version of what Shrapnel would’ve killed to sign back in the day.” [CAPTAIN]

• Last Rites review
• Bandcamp

17. MAMMOTH WEED WIZARD BASTARD –
YN OL I ANNWN

When both Bongzilla and Belzebong exist, you really gotta stretch the ol’ brain cells to come up with an even dumber 420-friendly band name. But if you want to engage your audience for more than a stoned chuckle, consider gently placing an angelic voice over fuzzy, doomy riffs, and crafting some songs that are way more beautifully heavy than they have any right to be. Should you also include some wobbly, futuristic synths and explore the cosmos? Bingo! Wales’ MWWB is full of contradictions, but similar to Year of the Cobra or Cult of Luna’s Mariner with Julie Christmas, they have flawlessly blended massive grooves with Jessica Ball’s beautiful vocals, and created crushing and compelling psychedelic doom. You don’t have to be blazed out of your gourd to enjoy this album, but it certainly doesn’t hurt. Strap into your spacesuit and board “The Spaceships of Ezekiel” as we Yn Ol I Annwn (that’s Welsh for “return to the underworld,” you uncultured idiot). With song titles in 6 different languages referencing Vonnegut, floating ships above the horizon, biblical science fiction, and more, you better buckle up; this journey is gonna get weird. [FETUSGHOST]

• Bandcamp

16. ESOTERIC – A PYRRHIC EXISTENCE

“Full psychedelia is carried in on the wings of seabirds as Esoteric effortlessly reaches their compositional climax. While they claim that humanity is “paralyzed with apathy,” their music certainly denotes a channel of resistance that is tragic and beautiful at the same time. Much like weeping while laughing, crying through pleasure or rain falling from a cloudless, sun-drenched sky, the pointlessness of existence can be contrasted and combated through the tireless pursuit of artistic endeavors (at which Esoteric certainly excel beyond means).” [MANNY-O-WAR]

• Last Rites review
• Bandcamp

15. CANDLEMASS – THE DOOR TO DOOM

“Längquist sounds fantastic. Not quite the same level of stagey drama compared to 30-plus years ago, which was to be expected, yet every bit as enthusiastic, barrel-chested and vital to the overall victory. Where years and life have so often sapped counterparts, Längquist’s voice has simply become more gravelly and composed. He gives the record’s heaviness the perfect partner, slamming home the hook as well as any of the C-mass frontman sandwiched between his bookended releases, and he offers the scattering of Door to Doom’s mellow moments an added bit of golden sorrow.” [CAPTAIN]

• Last Rites review
• Bandcamp

14. DIMHAV – THE BOREAL FLAME

“If Last Rites still lived in the scoring days, I would be extremely tempted to hand The Boreal Flame a 10/10. And yes, this is stated with full recognition of the fact that three days spent with an album is a very short honeymoon and one swallow does not a summer make. But I feel like I’ve been waiting for Dimhav and a power / prog record of this sort (and caliber) for over a decade, and now that it’s landed—blindsided, no less—I could not be more pleased with the result. Hell, even if this ends up being the only thing this trio manages to thrust into the aether, The Boreal Flame delivers enough ins and outs from start to finish to keep the engine purring for years to come.” [CAPTAIN]

• Last Rites review
• Bandcamp

13. TOMB MOLD – PLANETARY CLAIRVOYANCE

“All this gels into one of the best sounding death metal albums I have heard. Much as with Manor of Infinite Forms, Planetary Clairvoyance is just listenable. It is a joy to play this in the car, in the gym, in the operating theater (I would think), or as you sit at your cubicle desk doing whatever mindless thing you do for a living. And better still, if you are doing nothing at all but trying to absorb every nuance of the record. It is just a fucking pleasure.” [CHRIS SESSIONS]

• Last Rites review
• Bandcamp at 20 Buck Spin

12. IMMORTAL BIRD – THRIVE ON NEGLECT

“No matter where you are in a given Immortal Bird song, there is a gut level movement that many blasting bands lose in their fury, but it is part of Immortal Bird’s nervous system. “Vestigial Warnings” had my head bobbing through all the sick asymptotic bends that buttress its structure, and thus I was completely hooked for the crunching slowdowns in the mid-section and drawing the song to a close. “Avolition” carries that forward with a heartbreaking chord combo and release. Even without the lyrics you know this is a song of pain and loss. And headbanging. Very much headbanging.” [CHRIS SESSIONS]

• Last Rites review
• Bandcamp at 20 Buck Spin

11. TANITH – IN ANOTHER TIME

“Guitar tones are strong and rough, but also warm and bright, while Newton’s bass has a relatively tight and round feel to it, providing buoyancy beneath the melody makers. Robinson’s drums are made to feel just a little soft, saturated, while the cymbals ring brightly. And it’s all filtered through the gentlest layer of haze to settle it into that classic 70s analog sound. Wrap that sound around the twin guitars and vocals, interweave it with amazing melody and harmony and it’s no surprise that these songs are reminiscent of some of the 70s greatest melodic rockers, including Thin Lizzy and Blue Oyster Cult, but especially Wishbone Ash.” [LONE WATIE]

• Last Rites review
• Bandcamp

10. NO ONE KNOWS WHAT THE DEAD THINK –
NO ONE KNOWS WHAT THE DEAD THINK

“The riffs are brutal, albeit with an intricacy for those bold enough to look closely. Then “Dagger Before Me” begins with similar fury, but midway through the riffs open up. They chug along slowly, a single rhythmic chord atop devolving, naked drums as the song closes. I might have exaggerated slightly about the lack of dynamics in grindcore. Slightly. Marton and Nakano only slow down to show how fast they can keep going. If Chang weren’t so damn vitriolic, I would consider praising their music as spirited and lively. Screw it, this is a spirited album, full of lively songs written and expertly performed by seasoned veterans. Grindcore for the lifers.” [FETUSGHOST]

• Last Rites review
• Bandcamp

9. OPETH – IN CAUDA VENENUM

“Everything here is a journey, even if sometimes the journey includes some weird turns. This is new era Opeth, after all, and Åkerfeldt has long been a bit of a prankster. But for every start-stop and up-and-down of “Universal Truth / Ingen sanning är allas,” there is a perfectly smooth “Lovelorn Crime / Minnets yta.” When the latter explodes into its bright, affecting guitar solo, it rewards all the subtlety of Åkerfeldt’s earlier vocal melodies, and just when you think the former is going to spend all it’s time changing volumes, it naturally arrives at a dramatic and beautiful string-driven swell.” [ZACH DUVALL]

• Last Rites review
• Official Website

8. WEEPING SORES – FALSE CONFESSION

“Clarity, melody, restraint? Am I even talking about a death/doom metal album? Yes I am. Consider opener “Scars Whispering Secret Tongues.” Right off the bat you get a doom-infused, forlorn, but wonderfully heavy riff. The lyric is driven by Schwegler’s double kicking, without changing the tempo, early Mastodon or Inter Arma style. Sickening breaks and lead melodies follow, until the lead work begins to send us toward a melodic interlude, ramping the energy just to send us over a cliff of oddly off-kilter violining and into an abyss of sorrowful crunching weight.” [CHRIS SESSIONS]

• Last Rites review
• Bandcamp

7. BORKNAGAR – TRUE NORTH

“True North is an album for all seasons, all moods, all celebrations and all lifestyles. It’s pure exuberance harnessed, infused with happy pills and set free upon the masses to create one giant population of smiling citizens ready to embrace each other in peace and love. Bass lines pop and dazzle as melodic guitars rocket over chromatic progressions and modal, relative-minor key changes that lend a bluesy feel to this masterpiece of modern prog.” [MANNY-O-WAR]

• Official Website

6. BLUT AUS NORD – HALLUCINOGEN

“Hallucinogen is another feather in Blut Aus Nord’s already well-worn beret, and it is a feather that should be worn without criticism. The album is, not to overstate the fact, a perfect work that can (and should) be returned to time and time again in both the happiest of sun-filled beach afternoons and the most depressed of winter evenings soaked in glogg, dew-laden greatcoats and wet overshoes. Hallucinogen is at once both timeless and present, emotionally mature and painfully vulnerable. It is a masterpiece of the melding of black metal sub-genres while reaching beyond.” [MANNY-O-WAR]

• Last Rites review
• Bandcamp

5. DEVOURMENT – OBSCENE MAJESTY

“Devourment’s brand of brutality here is so accurate in its trajectory that it could almost be considered sophisticated. Brad Fincher’s drumming is phenomenal from start to finish: speed on the snare that hurtles like a plummeting rollercoaster, swift and clever cymbal play, and very often hitting like literal thunder in order to augment all those HULK SMASH riffs. And my lord, those riffs. The weight of an actual planet pounding your skull into powder, snorting said powder, and then riding off to the heavens to battle other planets.” [CAPTAIN]

• Last Rites review
• Bandcamp

4. ORGANECTOMY – EXISTENTIAL DISCONNECT

“The easiest way to describe it all is, well, FUN. Remember fun? Brutal, slamming death metal that’s fun and in fact quite fit for the entire family: Brutal Slam Dads, Brutal Slam Moms, Slam Grammies and Pappies, plus all the grimy Slam Youth that have been gifted to us all. If Existential Disconnect could be an amusement park, which it should, it would offer an endless supply of rides that forewarn of grisly decapitations, senseless disembowelments and alarming head explosions, but you’d still manage to walk away from it all exceedingly thrilled to finally be free of your guts.” [CAPTAIN]

• Last Rites review
• Bandcamp at Unique Leader

3. NILE – VILE NILOTIC RITES

“From start to finish, Vile Nilotic Rites is singularly focused on moving bodies, whether through hyperspeed fret-lashing, mid-paced swaggering, or earthquake-grade breakdowns. The pacing and sequencing of the album is remarkable, too, with the mostly frantic attack of the first two songs pulling ever so slightly back into the choppering grease-strut of the title track, which in turn leads into the jaw-droppingly epic “Seven Horns of War.” The cinematic break and spoken word recitation around the 5:30 mark of “Seven Horns of War” could have sapped its momentum, but the jackhammering, militaristically precise section that it ushers in is one of the most absurdly city-leveling passages Nile has put to record to date.” [DAN OBSTKRIEG]

• Last Rites review
• Official website

2. ARCH / MATHEOS – WINTER ETHEREAL

“Perhaps the most inviting aspect of the record is that, much like the most recent Fates Warning album Theories of Flight, Winter Ethereal feels like just that: an invitation. These extremely experienced musicians are still pushing themselves, but they don’t do it from feelings of pressure or boredom, but from their perpetual sense of curiosity, and they want listeners along for the ride. It isn’t just in the lyrics, but also in music that fits those words perfectly and in the performances of musicians that are beyond excited to be there. We should all be lucky enough to have such passion for anything after such a long time. Perhaps that’s the true theme of the record, that the world will do everything it can to beat us down, but no matter what, we must keep lit the pilot light of positivity.” [ZACH DUVALL]

• Last Rites review
• Bandcamp

1. BLOOD INCANTATION –
HIDDEN HISTORY OF THE HUMAN RACE

“With Hidden History Of The Human Race, Blood Incantation has grown more complex, layering their songs more lavishly and moving further away from traditional structure than their already off-center starting point and relying more on gradually building the music up to unorthodox crescendos. The jolting changes that highlighted their previous material and draw the earlier comparison to Death are still very apparent; the band aren’t afraid to boldly and brashly shift direction on a whim, yet they break newer, more progressive ground with the same confidence and gusto and it pays off over and over again. There is so much going on simultaneously, but it works when viewed in its entire context. The ley lines of their influences provide a grid-work for the band to work within, and, when necessary, challenge and push into territories that seem both new and familiar, as though seeing the world of death metal from a parallel perspective, breathing into it fresh life and infusing its potential with extraterrestrial D.N.A.” [RYAN TYSINGER]

• Last Rites review
• Bandcamp at Dark Descent

The post Best Of 2019 – Last Rites Combined Staff Top 25 appeared first on Last Rites.

Taking the winners in alphabetical order, first up is Crypt Sermon with the soon to be released doom metal triumph, The Ruins of a Fading Light. We’ve been feasting our ears on the promo of Fading Light for a while now, but in less than a month you all will be able to join in the fun. Expect a review in the near future. Next is Gold & Silver Sessions, the recently released EP from stoner / doom / etc. trio, Elder. Thirdly is some good old Norwegian black metal from Gaahl’s Wyrd, the latest project from (if the name didn’t give it away) former Gorgoroth vocalist Ghaal. Ghost’s Invited, the groups debut, was released in May, and while we didn’t review it at that time, Ryan Tysinger gave it a write up in our Missing Pieces feature from last month. Penultimately, we have Immortal Bird’s Thrive on Neglect, which our resident grumpy old man (as if there’s only one) Chris Sessions praised effusively with his review back in June. Last, but not least is Pyramid of Terror, the sophomore release from trad-metal torch-bearers Mirror. You can read Captain’s review of Pyramid of Terror right here.

Once again, Andrew Edmunds has compiled a Spotify playlist featuring tracks some tracks from some of our albums of the month, as well as staff-selected tracks from individual playlists. Have a listen to the playlist while you share your own in the comments. Until next month, be kind to each other and listen to Slayer.

• Captain
  Mirror – Pyramid of Terror
  Elder – The Gold & Silver Sessions
  Dold Vorde Ens Navn – Gjengangere I Hjertets Mørke
  Consummation – The Great Solar Hunter
  Deformation – Deformation
  M. Grig – Mount Carmel
• Manny- O-War
  Megaton Sword – Niralet
  Portishead – Third
  Witch Vomit – Buried Deep in a Bottomless Grave
  Midnight Prey – Uncertain Times
  Wingtips – Exposure Therapy
  Crypt Sermon – The Ruins of Fading Light
• Zach Duvall
  Gaahls Wyrd – GastiR – Ghosts Invited
  Wormed – Metaportal
  Bolt Thrower – …for Victory
  Disharmonic Orchestra – Not to Be Undimensional Conscious
  Borknagar – Borknagar
  Monstrosity – Imperial Doom
• Ryan Tysinger
  Dark Tranquility – Skydancer
  Gaahls Wyrd – Gastir – Ghosts Invited
  Colosseum- Chapter 3: Parasomnia
  Crypt Sermon – The Ruins Of A Fading Light
  Mirror – Pyramid Of Terror
  Slow – V – Oceans
• Craig Hayes
  Swordwielder – System Overlord
  Nightfucker – S/T
  Hawkwind – The 1999 Party
  New Model Army – Thunder and Consolation
  Tomb Mold – Planetary Clairvoyance
  Tristengrav – II – Nychavge
• Dave Pirtle
  Otep – Smash the Control Machine
  Zed – Volume
  Hollow Haze – Beyond Wild Landscapes and Deep Blue Seas
  Disentomb – The Decaying Light
  Abbath – Outstrider
  Sabaton – The Great War
• Chris Sessions
  Immortal Bird – Thrive on Neglect
  Tomb Mold – Planetary Clairvoyance
  Led Zeppelin – Physical Graffiti
  The Hollies – Greatest Hits
  The Doors – The Doors
• Andrew Edmunds
  WASP – Dominator
  Scorched – Ecliptic Butchery
  Immortal Bird – Thrive On Neglect
  Vain – No Respect
  Chastain – The Voice Of The Cult
  Tomb Mold – Planetary Clairvoyance
• Danhammer Obstkrieg
  Doombringer – Walpurgis Fires
  Jig-Ai – Entrails Tsunami
  The Neptune Power Federation – Memoirs of a Rat Queen
  Elder – The Gold & Silver Sessions
  Nehëmah – Light of a Dead Star
  Prins Thomas – Ambitions
• Jeremy Morse
  Suffocation – Pierced From Within
  Desaster – The Arts of Destruction
  AC/DC – ’74 Jailbreak
  Slayer – Reign in Blood
  Tanith – Into Another Time
  Abyssal – A Beacon in the Husk

The post Staff Infections – August 2019 appeared first on Last Rites.

Normal people are fine. We need them for everyday things like teaching disinterested teenagers algebra, maintaining nuclear power plants, and delivering mail we won’t read. But normal people are not in Immortal Bird. At least in the creative sense. I am sure the members do lots of normal things, but they create something special together. Something that manages to incorporate the disparate aspects of modern metal and synthesize it into a sound that is at once generally compelling and intrinsically personal.

The band have a clarity of sound that almost belies the dirty nature of the compositions and subject matter. It’s a little Voivodian in many ways. Voivod always have their own quality above and beyond their compositions; some aspect of it is hard to place a finger on. It has something to do with the rhythms chosen, something with the countermelodies that wander in and out as well.

No matter where you are in a given Immortal Bird song, there is a gut level movement that many blasting bands lose in their fury, but it is part of Immortal Bird’s nervous system. “Vestigial Warnings” had my head bobbing through all the sick asymptotic bends that buttress its structure, and thus I was completely hooked for the crunching slowdowns in the mid-section and drawing the song to a close. “Avolition” carries that forward with a heartbreaking chord combo and release. Even without the lyrics you know this is a song of pain and loss. And headbanging. Very much headbanging.

The production is so clear that each member of the band is well presented, even as the songs themselves exhibit a unified flow. Many parts of the songs depend on nuance, so the production really hits the mark. Could the death metal fan in me have used a little more mud and murk? Maybe. But that might have taken away from the nuances, so it’s all for the best.

The vocals are well mixed, and Rae’s voice is as terrifying as we have come to expect. Nate Madden’s guitars are bright. The chords—hell, the individual strings—are very discernible, and the rakes and metallic squeals make the performance spark. The rhythm section of John Picillo (bass) and Matt Korajczyk (drums) is noose-tight, flexible and athletic, giving the album that headbangy motion I talked about.

Longtime readers, of which there are undoubtedly tens, already know that I do not dwell much on lyrics—mainly because I never get to see most of them, digital promos being what they are. So it is a welcome surprise that the undying aves provided one for this album. The main impression is that they are very personal, very internal, and allow the listener to insert their own experience into the verse. The main themes, if I am able to correctly discern them, are betrayal and spiritual isolation—with hints of dark vengeance. The themes match the music, and allow a listener to enter into and participate with the songs in ways more traditional metal lyrics don’t.  At least that is how I feel about it.

Are there any drawbacks? There could have been, but the band seem to know just where a cool idea might become overplayed, instead introducing a new idea. The songs have a knack for avoiding tedious repetition, making the whole experience very satisfying and exciting. And again, the death head in me misses the murk, but also again, it would be misplaced here.

Bottom line: Here is a record without any downsides, and with a lot of ferocious—and moving—upside. Uncompromising and niche-less, Thrive on Neglect should place Immortal Bird on best-of lists come year’s end, and secure for them a place at the table of the heaviest hitters in modern metal. But most of all, it should be in your library and your rotation.

The post Immortal Bird – Thrive On Neglect Review appeared first on Last Rites.