The Bad Penny (beta)

Inside Moscow, a once-US adversary that appears to be becoming more of an ally thanks to Donald Trump’s hero-worship of its dictatorial leader Vladimir Putin, is a man waging his own war against the same type of authorial rule that is taking hold in the U.S. If you’re acquainted with The Bad Penny’s On Tyranny series, in which we interview musicians who previously or are currently living under authoritarian regimes, you should be familiar with him: Ovfrost, an inspired young artist whose primary project Malist is recognized far beyond the borders of Russia thanks to its excellence in rebelling against tyranny, war and isolation with seething, searing and superiorly executed black metal.

As brave as the uncompromising music that Ovfrost unleashes with enviable proficiency practically every year with Malist, the longhaired prodigy graciously spoke with us candidly and without fear in 2023 and 2024 in opposition to his country’s invasion of Ukraine. During those conversations, he inspired the continuation of our On Tyranny series while many other rock critics and outlets began shirking away from the topics of tyranny, fascism and authoritarianism as Trump strengthened his grip on the U.S. and continued finding new ways to establish a unitary executive, i.e. making himself a king in these United States. As Putin keeps setting an example for Trump’s takeover, Ovfrost is setting an example for us on how to combat those anti-democratic efforts.

With Ovfrost’s courage in mind — keep in mind he lives a solitary existence, sans security detail, and is creating and even starting to perform live some of the most anti-establishment music on the planet — we sought his counsel for the third year in a row on how to deal with forces of evil that few of us would have imagined could effectively take over America. This time around, however, the music project of Ovfrost that we also focused on was his newer affair Crimson Crown — which, as you will soon learn, is even more brazen in its message to crush monarchic rule.