Vile Apparition’s Malignity is so terrifying that you’ll immediately run through your home to make sure your kids are safe before you realize you don’t actually have any. This is only the second record by Vile Apparition, but it’s unimpeachable proof that these guys already know damn well what they’re doing. Go to Post-Trash to read my full review of Vile Apparition’s Malignity as part of the outlet’s “Year in Review: The Best of 2025” roundup.
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What do punk-rockers Psychic Pigs have in common with The Simpsons? The band’s name is a derogatory slur toward cops and their streak of brutality, and the long-running animated TV show features a piggish cop, Chief Wiggum, as one of its central characters. But don’t make the mistake of thinking Psychic Pigs are haters; Brandon Welchez adores cats, as he revealed to The Bad Penny this week as part of our Pet Sounds series.
Based in L.A., Psychic Pigs put out a new album in May 2025 through Slovenly Recordings (quite a coincidence considering that “slovenly” is a commonly used descriptor of pigs). Welchez, formerly of psych posse Crocodiles, crafted the self-titled effort – one of last year’s best psychedelic records – in a mere four days. While we could’ve picked Welchez’s brain about pigs and crocodiles, we focused on his cat, Henry, as Pet Sounds revolves around musicians and their pets.
Here’s how our conversation played out:
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Strapped for cash but hungry for great music? Don’t worry, The Bad Penny has your back. Here’s a rundown of 10 rad releases, most of them recently issued, that we came across on Bandcamp this week.
(Note: If you do have some green to spare, please show your thanks to these deserving artists and labels.)
1. Various Artists’ Transcending Obscurity 2026 Label Sampler
Mumbai, India-based Transcending Obscurity, which The Bad Penny profiled extensively last year, has outdone itself with this year’s edition of its annual label sampler. The freebie corrals 26 blistering songs by extreme-metal bands from across the world, not the least of whom are Veilburner, Haxprocess, Endspace, Verdun and Death Obvious.
2. In Lieu’s Failing in the Right Direction
Our ears are still ringing from listening many times to Hooligan, the solid record that Minneapolis noise-rock band In Lieu unleashed upon the masses in October. In delving deeper into the group’s catalog, we discovered their debut record, Failing in the Right Direction, which the band made when it was only a two-piece. Sure, it’s not as well-crafted as Hooligan, but given that vocalist/guitarist Nicole Post and drummer/bassist Lucas Margulies were basically kids when they made the record, it tickles and titillates.
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Feast your eyes on that lovely smile. Those pearly whites. The jacket made out material that could probably fund health care coverage for 100 Americans. (That’s conjecture, but you get the drift.) Meet Dave Koz, the prolific jazz saxophonist who, since launching his career in 1990, has never won a Grammy. Don’t get him wrong, though: He’s a hard “worker,” in that he appears to have had a lot of cosmetic work done to his physical appearance.
Don’t knock The Bad Penny for pointing this out; The Kozman is proud of his accomplishments. In May 2020, he raved to no one in particular about his beauty in a textbook-oblivious Facebook post, saying, “Well, it’s been 3 years since I actually saw my full face. Today was the day to shave. 😊 Not sure if I’ll keep it this way, but man, my face feels like a baby’s bottom…SO good! What do you say, beard or no beard?!”
“Stranguliatorius” might not be as difficult a band name to spell and pronounce as “Sanguisugabogg,” but you’d be a fool to wager against the former band’s comparable ferocity. Hailing from Lithuania – name another music act that comes from that country, and we’ll buy you a horse – the ear-shattering, crusty death metal quintet drops its new album today via Horror Pain Gore Death.
The five-piece band, which also laces its songs with grindcore, consists of Iggy (vocals), Švedas (guitars), Mr. Adam (guitars), Dr. Dovis (bass) and Kaplerėzas (drums).
They recently told The Bad Penny in an exclusive statement that, on their third go-’round making a full-length, “Working together again felt natural – a familiar process with people who know how to let the music speak for itself and help bring it out the right way.”
The equally generous and grotesque gang granted The Bad Penny the opportunity to premiere one of the songs on the Flies Don’t Lie, named “When I Lift the Coffin Lid.”
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Beyond the Black – Break the Silence (Nuclear Blast)
Bullet – Kickstarter (Steamhammer)
Calling All Captains – Things That I’ve Lost EP (New Damage)
Deadwood – Rituals of a Dying Light (Innerstrength)
Dry Cleaning – Secret Love (4AD)
Iotunn – Waves Over Copenhell (Metal Blade)
• Iotunn Guitarist Brings Us Along for Journey on New LP, ‘Kinship’
We’re a bit late with The Bad Penny’s collection of best new videos this month. (Thanks a lot, Obama Santa!) That said, viewers who grew increasingly anxious awaiting our Best New Music Videos for December should be most pleasantly surprised, now that the post is finally live.
This week, we cobbled together 10 new and – for the most part – zany clips by Earl Sweatshirt, Nothing, Darsombra, The Zenith Passage, Ponte del Diavolo, Juni Habel, Gavial, Infinity Knives x Brian Ennals, Prune Carmen Diaz and Florence Road.
Happy viewing!
1. Prune Carmen Diaz’ “Arcadia”
2. Darsombra’s “Mellow Knees”
The numbers are in, and boy are … the numbers in.
What the ranking of The Bad Penny‘s most popular posts of 2025 indicates about this website can be interpreted in any number of ways. Would you like us to prattle on and on with theories and statistical data backing the sharp uptick? Yeah, we didn’t think so.
Instead, let’s cut straight to the (Chevy) Chase. Ergo, we bring you the rundown of The Bad Penny‘s most popular posts of 2025:
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VoidCeremony’s org chart of employees is messy as all hell. But you’d never guess that from the expertly sequenced and coherent Abditum. As with practically every great metal record, interludes and samples sometimes tie together what could be disparate components to the record. But the real glue is the band’s mastery of tone, texture and melody; seamless time changes; and sheer ferocity throughout. Read my full review courtesy of Post-Trash.
The Bad Penny (beta) 