Archive for Chairmaker

Top 10 Best Scottish Underground Metal Bands, According to Homegrown Grindcore Guru Chairmaker

Posted in Interviews, Lists, Videos with tags , , , , , , , , , on 11/09/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

If you aren’t listening to Chairmaker, then seriously, what are you doing with your life? If you missed the Scottish grindcore multi-instrumentalist Neil Erskine’s fiery installment in The Bad Penny‘s ongoing On Tyranny series late last year, go read it now and then heave your rear end back over to this page to consume our second feature involving the bloke with the most.

Still hyping his scintillating, breathtaking and euphorically exhausting LP from last year, Leviathan Carcass, Erskine did The Bad Penny another solid by taking a respite from his dedicated mission to destroy every eardrum on the planet to share what he considers to be the best bands that his Scotland homeland has to offer.

(Erskine also obliged us by taking a break from mixing the debut album by his new death-metal band, Suffering Rites, with Black Sun frontman Kev Hare. Expect that release to hit the racks early next year.)

Enjoy the read, because if you don’t, either he or The Bad Penny will hunt you down and set you straight.

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On Tyranny: Scotland Grindcore Artist Chairmaker Channels Anger Over Fascism Toward Helping Immigrants

Posted in Features, Interviews, On Tyranny, On Tyranny with tags , , , , , , , on 10/23/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

Scottish multi-instrumentalist Neil Erskine pours his blood, sweat and tears into his band Chairmaker for two reasons: to create the best grindcore his impressive abilities will allow; and to use that music as the soundtrack to his assault on late-stage capitalism. So, naturally, The Bad Penny was morally obligated to invite Erskine to participate in our ongoing On Tyranny series. He accepted wholeheartedly and jumped on a provocative video chat with us a few days ago.

We caught up with Mr. Chairmaker about three weeks before the release of Leviathan Carcass, a record he’s self-releasing on his Bandcamp page on Nov. 14. Watch The Bad Penny‘s conversation with the hyper-enlightened Erskine, and maybe you’ll learn a thing or two – if nothing else, that the new wave of authoritarianism destroying America is causing similar destruction across the pond and elsewhere in the world.

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