Slow Crush present the noisiest and more mature version of themselves yet on Thirst, which arrives today. The Belgian shoegazers’ third record takes the form of a hopeful manifesto that the human race still has the opportunity to reinvent itself. Read my full review on FLOOD.
This week alone:
• RFK Jr. effectively sentenced millions of Americans to potentially die thanks to his contested decision to roll back critical, effective vaccines that (sigh) do not have microchips or tiny aliens in them.
• Trump announced plans to expand the U.S. military presence (i.e. martial law) into Seattle and Portland, in addition to L.A., Chicago and D.C.
• Another preventable school shooting resulted in the deaths of Catholic children in Minnesota and inflicted trauma on an indeterminate number of kids and families.
• ICE unlawfully arrested a bunch of firefighters in Washington while they battled a blaze.
• ICE detained Kilmar Abrego Garcia again, apparently with plans to send him to human-rights-abuse-lovin’ Uganda instead of a gulag in El Salvador this time.
• Israel killed five more journalists in yet another bombing in Gaza.
And to cap it all off, now we have to tolerate the return of Mudvayne. That’s right: fucking Mudvayne.
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(Go here to read my post-mortem on Anciients’ performance in Boise on Friday and why you should make every effort to see them on their current tour.)
Criticize awards all you want, but there’s something to be said for a band that has more hardware than they can carry with two hands. One of the more unlikely bands faced with this honor, problem or whatever you wanna call it is Anciients.
The Vancouver prog-metal crew snatched the Juno Award for Metal/Hard Music Album of the Year in 2018 for their second record, Voice of the Void; their debut, Heart of Oak, was deemed a long-listed nominee for Canada’s other major award for artists, the 2013 Polaris Music Prize.
Adding to their accolades, the complex, challenging band scooped up their second Juno Award for the same category mentioned above on the strength of Beyond the Reach of the Sun, released exactly one year ago. They beat out the likes of Spiritbox, Devin Townsend and other bands you’ve probably never heard of (PSYCH!).
Two days ago, Anciients initiated their first U.S. tour in eight years, dubbed “Quest Beyond Our Minds,” in Seattle. Call it a victory lap celebrating all the awards they’ve accumulated, a refresher course in their three reputed Season of Mist records and/or a jaunt serving to boost their latest Beyond the Reach of the Sun single, “Is It Your God,” their performances are a must-see for anyone who even remotely has an affinity for Anciients or their kindred spirits Opeth.
The Bad Penny touched base with Anciients vocalist/guitarist Kenny Cook mere hours before they took the stage in Seattle to pick his brain about various matters, including their concert tonight in Boise, which will mark the first time they’ve played in the potato pueblo in a dozen years.
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Even fans of Scandinavian underground music may have missed one of this year’s overlooked gems, Still Quiet (Voices of Wonder), a transfixing and truly original work of experimental erudition that vacillates between post-metal and post-rock while lacing the pacifying musical passages with male and female vocals.
The release came out a few months back courtesy of The Soundbyte, a more adventurous project led by Trond Engum. The guitarist and composer is better known for his more popular band The Third and the Mortal, which activated last year following a 19-year break, much to the delight of rock fans titillated by forays into melodic doom metal, darkwave, atmospheric alternative-rock and even trip-hop.
The Soundbyte is arguably even more daring in its compositional capacities, and Engum’s project hasn’t paused since he incepted it in 1998. If this all sounds like a lot to digest, join us as we delve into the mind of one of Norway’s most cherished musicians, and take a gander at some Still Quiet selections along the way, in The Bad Penny‘s most extensive interview of 2025 thus far.
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Solution here.
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RIP duders.
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For previous rebuses (rebi? Reba?), give these a go:
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Cory Hanson, now four albums deep into his career with Drag City Records, is one of the label’s alt-rock/folk/psyche/psychedelic rock artists du jour. He’s performing selections from his recently released full-length I Love People with the same grace as if they had been in his oeuvre since the very start of his career. He never appears like he’s trying to sell his new material to the audience or convince them to stay watching instead of getting a refill at the bar. Read my full review of his recent gig in Boise via Music Connection.
