Darkthone Tribute: 12 Bands Tell Us Why the Badass Black-Metal Barons Rule on Their 40th Anniversary (Exclusive)

Posted in Exclusives, Features, Interviews, Lists, Videos with tags , , , , , , , , , on 09/21/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

With all the hoopla surrounding bands boasting anniversaries of their major milestones, whether it be sticking together after 30-plus years or playing a tour after decades of dormany, it’s crucial that extreme metalheads don’t forget one especially important 2026 celebration, especially in the black-metal netherworld.

That would be the 40th anniversary of Norway’s Darkthrone, who influenced the development and dissemination of black metal around the world more than arguably any other band not named Emperor, Mayhem, Bathory or Burzum. This year also marks the 35th anniversary of the release of their debut, Soulside Journey – which also was, ironically, Darkthrone’s only death-metal album.

Recognizing those milestones, metal publication Antichrist Magazine – based appropriately in Hell, Norway – released the simply named but dense in high-quality material A Tribute to Darkthrone. It was one of a series of like-minded compilations the outlet has issued and dropped in late July. With enormous help from the rep behind that various-artists collection, we received a slew of testimonials from 12 of the 17 bands who contributed exclusive songs to the comp about why they worship at the altar of Darkthrone.

[Ed. note: Don’t miss our recent story about the similar tribute album that Antichrist Magazine recently issued [best pun ever, right] in honor of Metallica.]

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Exclusive Premiere: Paper Girl Debuts ‘Ohio (Fall 2016)’ Music Video Ahead of Upcoming Emo-Nostalgia LP

Posted in Exclusives, Interviews, Videos with tags , , on 09/21/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

Paper Girl, the Nashville-based emo/folk-punk project led by Sarah Gargano, has just put out the final single ahead of the release of a new album next month. It’s called “Ohio (Fall 2016),” and the video for it exclusively premieres today on The Bad Penny.

Paper Girl was also the title of Gargano’s first single, which itself referenced the John Green book Paper Towns. The new video for “Ohio (Fall 2016)” features the whimsical song playing as the artist bikes to a field, where she sits down and plays the song with a beaming smile on a sunny day. In addition to recalling the days of yore when her music was primarily of the emo variety, one can’t help but be reminded of the ongoing 2016 nostalgia meme, fueled in part by a Gen Z’s longing for pre-COVID days.

” ‘Ohio (Fall 2016)’ is a song I wrote from my high school boyfriend’s perspective about watching me go to college in Ohio and have fun without him after breaking up,” Gargano told The Bad Penny. “It’s probably the folkiest/cutesiest song on the album and the most similar to the songs I was releasing under my actual name.

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Top 34 Best Bandcamp Free Downloads #21: Exbats, BeachMaster, xCHUCKxBASSx, Bleary Eyed, Spread Joy, Unearthly Trance

Posted in Features, Lists, MP3s with tags , , , , , , , , , on 09/20/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

Welcome to the biggest – and hopefully best – installment of Bad Penny Freebies. These songs – which we test-ran a bunch of times to ensure they qualified. I just tried to make sure they’re solid listens, if not solid-gold hits. They also run the gamut musically more than any Freebies edition. But due to the massive number of free downloads we’re pointing to you this week, we’re gonna have to keep the descriptions short.

1. xCHUCKxBASSxSod EP

Home: NYC
Genre: Doom and drone metal with some power electronica
Label: Chrome Peeler

2. BeachMaster‘s One Is None demo

Home: Reno, Nevada
Genre: Black metal psych jazz
Label: self-release

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The White Stripes’ ‘Elephant’: Two Cent Review

Posted in Album Reviews, Features, Reviews with tags , , , , on 09/20/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

After grunge stuck a dagger into the heart of guitar heroics, along came Jack White to defend the value of virtuosity. He laid out his case on Elephant—after all, as only one of two members of the White Stripes, he had to pour every ounce of his creativity into his sole instrument, right? (White later cinematically demonstrated his innovative techniques and “reinvention” of playing guitar in the 2008 documentary It Might Get Loud with U2’s The Edge and Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page.)

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Isis’ ‘Oceanic’: Two Cent Review

Posted in Album Reviews, News, Reviews with tags , , , , , on 09/20/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

Godflesh and Neurosis are heralded as the shamen of post-metal, but heirs to the throne Isis helped evolve the avant garde end of heavy music into a transcendent and even mystical reimagining of the sound. Isis’ Oceanic is almost unanimously regarded as a classic record.

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Elder’s ‘Lore’: Two Cent Review

Posted in Album Reviews, Features, Reviews with tags on 09/20/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

Elder weren’t exactly elder statesmen in the doom-metal body politic upon releasing their third album. But they were staunchly convinced that a little more of everything was needed. More volume. More melody. More prog-rock passages that’d break up the monotony of the hypnotic riffs.

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Fucked Up’s ‘Chemistry of Common Life’: Two Cent Review

Posted in Album Reviews, Reviews with tags , on 09/20/2026 by Kurt Orzeck


In the late aughts, when the majority of the most innovative and provocative punk bands had stepped out of the pool and toweled off, Toronto’s Fucked Up came running across the backyard out of nowhere and cannonballed into the water with such weight that even those standing at a safe distance got soaked.

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Crying Laughing’s Alto Sax Player/ Percussionist Christian Best Names 101 Favorite Songs That Influenced His Band

Posted in Interviews, Lists with tags , , , , , , , , , on 09/19/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

What do The Residents, The Go-Betweens, Steve Reich, Sade, Moondog, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Sun Ra, Cate Le Bon, The Stranglers and Dizzy Gillespie have in common? Why, they’re all artists responsible for creating songs that have inspired the development of Baltimore band Crying Laughing’s utterly unique experimental jazz-rock-meets-post-punk sound.

The Bad Penny had the good fortune to catch up with drummer Jen Kirby and alto saxophone player/percussionist Christian Best about all things under the sun in a recent interview. The band members discussed their music backgrounds, their chemistry, the Baltimore music scene and much more over the course of our conversation. We staged it in anticipation of Crying Laughing releasing their new full-length, Talking, eight days ago on Hausu Mountain, which is rapidly becoming one of our favorite record labels.

As a bonus, today we bring you a special playlist of songs that have inspired Crying Laughing and that Best assembled exclusively for The Bad Penny. (Thanks again, man!)

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Queens of the Stone Age’s and Foo Fighters’ New Albums Are Abysmal. The Only Question Is Which One Sucks More.

Posted in Album Reviews, Essays, Reviews with tags , , , , , on 09/19/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

Breaking the third wall here a bit, if there still is one …

Over the course of my 30 years as a music journalist, Queens of the Stone Age and Foo Fighters are among the top five bands about which I’ve written the most. I still rank QOTSA as my third-favorite band of all time (Nirvana and the Jesus Lizard will probably forever occupy those #1 and #2 spots, respectively). And I continue to regard Dave Grohl as my ultimate rock idol, it gives me no pleasure to report that the new QOTSA record, Perfecth (due October 30), is – from the few spins I’ve given it thus far – not just the worst record in the band’s catalog, by a long shot, it’s utterly perplexing that the band would even put its name on it.

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What You Readin’ For?: Slothrust’s Leah Wellbaum Calls Melissa Broder’s ‘Milk Fed’ a Nourishing Book

Posted in Features, Interviews, What You Readin' For? with tags , , on 09/19/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

Our recent, lively conversation with Slothrust leader Leah Wellbaum ahead of their new album What They Grow in the Garden, resulted in a FLOOD interview and an exclusive bit of news that we ran on this website. But we have another leftover from the articles that might supply you with a good read if you’re in need of one.

The book in question is Milk Fed by Melissa Broder, released in February 2021.

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