The 10 Best Belgian Metal Bands of All Time, According to Gnarly Native Sons 30,000 Monkies (Exclusive)

Posted in Features, Interviews, Lists with tags , , , , , , , , , on 08/16/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

Some 15 years after ganging up in their home city of Beringen in Belgium (population approximately 45,000 residents), 30,000 Monkies continue to claim the throne as the country’s most enduring we’re-kidding-but-not-really-kidding, noisy, sludgy, experimental doom metal band. Or so we presume; try as we may to acquaint ourselves with every arty, far-out band in every nation on the planet, The Bad Penny still has plenty of work to achieve that mission.

We were fortunate enough, however, to recently land upon Belgian rabble-rousers 30,000 Monkies. Not only did we find the spelling of their moniker worth a chuckle, we also came across a written plea to fans that appears on the quartet’s illustrious website:

Driving the point home, here’s a truly outlandish video that the band – who would fit comfortably on a tour with Mclusky, Ken MODE and/or Melvins – released six years ago:

Wacky personas and band presentation aside, 30,000 Monkies will once again prove their mettle – and heavy, fuzzy forays into their self-constructed fun house – with the September 12 release of Super Rebound (Champagne Metal) on September 18 via FVN KULT REKORDS. That said, when the band accepted our proposal to collaborate editorially in an idiosyncratic manner – rather than toss conventional queries about their upcoming record – we thought 30,000 Monkies would be fitting ambassadors to name the best heavy bands from their home country of Belgium. They obliged, and here’s the list they compiled exclusively for The Bad Penny.

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Favorite Films: Soulburn Are Passionate About ‘Silence of the Lambs,’ ‘Shining,’ ‘Lighthouse’ and 2 Flicks Starring Denzel and Depp

Posted in Favorite Films, Features, Interviews with tags , , , , , , , , , on 08/16/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

It was all the way back in 1996 that Dutch deviants Soulburn lit embers that eventually became a full-blown blaze of death metal and black-doom, lighting the path for legions of like-minded bands in the years ever since. As is so often the case, the band wasn’t initially appreciated, and they split just three years later. But as the metal world at large eventually caught up to their masterful melange of black, death and doom metal, guitarist Eric Daniels (also of Asphyx) reignited the project in 2013, and Soulburn have burned bright ever since.

The latest evidence of the Netherland band’s brilliance is found in Quantifying Cosmic Doom, which is jam-packed with bangers as complex and rich as the album’s title suggests. Testimony put out the album – which arguably underscores Soulburn’s black-metal bona fides more than any of their previous four studio efforts – roughly two months ago. Get a taste of the record via the below video, then check out movies that each member of the badass band graciously shared with The Bad Penny for the latest installment in our ongoing Favorite Films series.

And now, here are Soulburn’s movie picks:

Twan van Geel (bass, vocals):

Antichrist (2009)

Of the many movies I like, this one [written and directed by provocative auteur Lars von Trier] popped up as being one that really intrigued me. The whole atmosphere, the depth, the tone, the colouring, the pace, the unsettling creepy ungrabbable vibe, I just love it immensely. Also Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg are incredible here. Antichrist is unsettling not just because of what it shows, but because of the deeper ideas it disturbs. Its unease comes from a fusion of psychological, symbolic and existential themes that never fully resolve. That’s also why I keep coming back to this one. It creeps under your skin.

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Metallica Tribute: Musicians From Around the World Reveal How Metal’s Biggest Band Inspired Them (Exclusive)

Posted in Exclusives, Interviews with tags , , , , , , , , , on 08/15/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

Do you remember where you were the first time you heard Metallica? Whether the answer is yes or no, the band has left an indelible imprint on the psyche of every musician who either plays metal or has even a passing appreciation of it, from Mastodon to Lou Reed to Lady Gaga. With the possible exception of Black Sabbath, no band has had a bigger influence on heavy metal writ large.

That phenomenon is in no way confined to the United States; Metallica have proven as such with some of the most historic concerts in the past 50 years, from their legendary concert in Russia in 1991 to their larger-than-life (and definitionally decadent) co-headlining tour with Guns N’ Roses in the ’90s to their provocative documentary Some Kind of Monster. Metallica’s Guinness World Record-achieving feat as the only band to play on every continent in one calendar year is proof positive of the band’s global impact.

With that in mind, it’s eminently appropriate that Norway’s Antichrist Magazine released a Metallica tribute album earlier this month in which bands from 16 countries contributed. The outlet previously issued similar salutes to Motörhead, Darkthrone and Bathory, but their Metallica comp is an achievement of awesome proportions. As a tip of the cap to their accomplishment, The Bad Penny, Antichrist Magazine and Grand Sound PR teamed up to solicit comments from almost every band that contributed to A Tribute to Metallica on what Metallica means to them.

With that in mind, and also in celebration of Metallica’s 45th year as a band, we bring you reflections from metal’s biggest band that artists from around the world featured on the collection exclusively shared with us.With that in mind, and also in celebration of Metallica’s 45th year as a band, we bring you reflections from metal’s biggest band that artists from around the world featured on the collection exclusively shared with us.

Imperial Domain (Sweden) – “My Friend of Misery”

They were my introduction to thrash metal. They were the band that took me from more traditional rock and metal into a faster, more aggressive sound. Through them I discovered other bands like Slayer, etc.

I first came across Metallica sometime around 1986-’87. Some of my friends were actually at Cliff Burton’s final show at Sporthallen in Stockholm, but it still took a while before I really got into the band myself. Back then, I was younger and grew up with Judas Priest, Dio and Iron Maiden, so Metallica initially felt a bit too intense for me. Eventually, though, they grew on me – and it was Master of Puppets that really pulled me in and made me a fan, via the mix of aggression and melody; and their riffs, dynamics and live energy.

We were offered the opportunity to contribute a song [to this compilation], and saying yes to that was the easy part. Picking which song to do was much harder. In the end, “My Friend of Misery” felt like a strong fit for us. It’s not the most obvious track people choose to cover, and that’s exactly what I like about it.

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New Releases 8.14.26: Afghan Whigs, Sweeping Promises, Holissstik, Radiator Hospital, Real Numbers, Chico (Updated 1:42 p.m. PT)

Posted in Lists, New Releases, News with tags , , , , , , , , , on 08/14/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

16 Underground – Without a Trace EP (Sunday Drive)
Afghan Whigs – Soft Control (Royal Cream/ BMG)
Afrofuturistics (feat. Sons of Ra members) – Enigmatic EP (Big Bonkey)
Jacob Alon – Live From the Roundhouse (Island)
Brendan Angelides – Can You Feel the End Begin? (feat. Serj Tankian; Ancestor)
Arca – XXXXX
Arcadian Wild – Make It Out Alive
Jon Batiste – Black Mozart (Batiste Piano Series, Vol. 2), Monk Meditations (Batiste Piano Series, Vol. 3) and Monk Movements (Batiste Piano Series, Vol. 4)
Becky G – Baraja Bandita
Natasha Bedingfield – Dot Dot Dot single
Benny Blanco – Hermoso (feat. Selena Gomez, Becky G)
Boston Manor – Be Nothing. 10 Year anniversary edition (Pure Noise)
Cavetown – Big Strong Man single
Chico – s/t (New Morality Zine)

Jimmy Cicero – I Will Always Love You 7-inch (self-release)
Elizabeth Cook – Great Television (produced by Shooter Jennings; feat. Wynonna Judd; Thirty Tigers)Credit Card – Devil’s Night/ Dead Internet mixtape (Goth Horse)
Credit Card – Devil’s Night/ Dead Internet mixtape (Goth Horse)
Grace Cummings – Bloodhorse! (ATO)
Cutthroat – Purge EP (M-Theory Audio)
Dana and Alden – Papa’s Boat (Concord Jazz)
Dead Tired – Hornets of Fall (New Damage)

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Pet Sounds #90: Fires in the Distance’s Cat Narrowly Escaped Strict Landlord – and Lived to Pee About It

Posted in Features, Interviews, Pet Sounds with tags , , , , , on 08/13/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

“She was just my perfect companion for 14.5 years. Every day I was happy to see her, and I’m honored to say she was happy to see me too.”

-Fires in the Distance vocalist/guitarist Brendan Hayter

There’s a strong case to be made that melodic death-metal bands gain notice and recognition, and cultivate their fanbases, by devoting far more time and energy to their recorded output as opposed to touring. Fires in the Distance are an exception to that generalization – because their exceptional live performances are as exceptional as their studio material. Amorphis and Dark Tranquillity helped the Connecticut band gain notice with an opening slot on the European heroes’ joint tour three years ago, on the strength of just two Fires in the Distance full-lengths: 2020’s Echoes From Deep November and 2023’s Air Not Meant for Us.

Like clockwork (as another Scandinavian extreme-metal band, Meshuggah, would say), Fires in the Distance just issued their third record, Circadian Promise, after another three years of dutiful songwriting and recording – and issued it via Prosthetic, which put out the quartet’s first two gems. (That’s notwithstanding an instrumental album released in ) On paper, what’s most striking about the new record is that it features a new frontman: vocalist/guitarist/lyricist Brendan Hayter, whose surname is as well-suited for a metal band as his chops are for the doomish MDM crew.

In an effort to further acquaint Fires in the Distance fans with Hayter, The Bad Penny recently connected with him to participate in our ongoing Pet Sounds series, to which he graciously obliged. He told us all about his cat Mimsy, and while we typically don’t include discussions about pets post mortem, Hayter’s touching recollections about his companion and how he worked through her loss are valuable advice to pet owners about how to deal with both love and grief over animals.

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On Tyranny: Dumb Waiter, the Next Big Thing in Noise Rock, Say ‘It’s Hard Not to Be Political’ Now

Posted in Features, Interviews, On Tyranny, On Tyranny, Videos with tags , , , , , , on 07/29/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

Dumb Waiter’s saxophone player and vocalist, Tristan Brennis, is wise to the fact that many musicians are speaking out in resistance to MAGA and fascism because the war being wages is between right and wrong, not right and left.

“In this day and age, you know, in 2026, it’s kind of hard not to be political,” he says. “I don’t think, when writing [our new] album … any of us intended to make it political. I think it’s just we’re a reflection of our surroundings. You close your eyes, you blink, and all of a sudden, you’re like, ‘Wait a second, we’re actually pretty pissed off.'”

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Altarage, Experimental Death Metal Basque Band, Says Mankind ‘Deserve[s] the Worst of All Fates’

Posted in Interviews on 07/29/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

“As time passes on, life begins to lose its taste and the walls start to close in. In order to ‘survive’ in this sea of nausea and distaste, we have to search for some anchor and stay focused on something. All the divagations and reflections find its place in this form of art.”

-Altarage’s Javier Gálvez

—

On Monday, we gifted you with a list of the 10 most charming musical performances featuring humans and Muppets. Today we present you with an interview that could not be more polar opposite.

“It seems like the collapse is closer, we are a despicable kind, we deserve the worst of all fates, so if anyone wants to push the play button when the buildings crumble and the flames engulf us, it’s fine to me,” says Javier Gálvez (a.k.a. GLVZ) – guitarist and vocalist for experimental and dissonant death metal band Altarage from Bilbao, Spain – about the state of the world.

Now in their 11th year, the Basque brigade are putting out their seventh studio record, Cogwheel, on Friday through Sentient Ruin and Doomentia Records. The labels are touting the record as Altarage’s “longest and most sonically colossal release to date, and possibly, their most experimental and abysmal since Sol Corrupto.”

Anchored by “Ichor,” a nearly 15-minute song that is the sixth of seven songs on the record, Cogwheel evokes the bleakest churning of post-industrialism, a torturous wasteland in which any oasis that may exist is well out of view or range. Pushing the limits of death metal against the wall of doom, Altarage prove themselves singular once again, conjuring the spirit of Meshuggah’s own “Broken Cog” while draped in the robes of Sunn0))).

Sadly, Altarage’s Cogwheel is the soundtrack of our times. And we have no one to blame but ourselves. With that cheery sentiment in mind, we questioned and Gálvez answered a bunch of questions in an effort to understand what keeps Altarage plowing ahead when all seems is lost.

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Melissa Auf der Maur (Ex-Smashing Pumpkins, Hole) Releasing First New Music in 15 Years

Posted in News with tags , , on 07/28/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

Melissa Auf der Maur returns with her first new music in 15 years, releasing a soundtrack tied to her upcoming art exhibition featuring rare demos and photography. Read my full news report at AllMusic.com.

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REZN’s ‘Cycles in the Infinite Dream’: Two Cent Review

Posted in Album Reviews, Reviews with tags , , , , on 07/28/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

After a decade together, Chicago psych-doom quartet REZN craft a second album for Sargent House, Cycles in the Infinite Dream, that’s as deadly serious in story as it is in execution.

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Favorite Films: If You Loved ‘Backrooms,’ You’ll Probably Dig ‘The Cell’ Too

Posted in Essays, Favorite Films, Features with tags , , , , , , , , , on 07/28/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

To the surprise of no one, the summer blockbuster to beat is Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey which, based on the reactions of critics and average-joe moviegoers alike, seems to be the best movie of all time ever made ever in the history of all times. But there’s still a curious mid-card match taking place far more unexpectedly: the jostling between two very low-budget psychological horror flicks, Obsession and Backrooms. Both are very unnerving, mostly sparing in the use of violence, and tap into Americans’ widespread fear these days of psychological insanity and not knowing what’s real (cough, MAGA, cough) versus physical violence.

The Bad Penny highly recommends both films – and one more, although it dates back 26 years. The Cell was a thoroughly original horror movie (more so than sci-fi, the genre in which it was primarily marketed and classified). It starred Jennifer Lopez, Vince Vaughn and Vincent D’Onofrio, who didn’t make for the strongest acting ensemble, but that issue was mitigated by the fact that visionary Indian director Tarsem Singh helmed The Cell.

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