Tool’s Maynard James Keenan Fantasized About Los Angeles’ Annihilation Years Before Trump Did

Posted in Essays, Sound Off with tags , , , , , , , , , on 10/09/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

This post will justifiably piss off a lot of people – and if someone else had published it, yours truly would be among them. Tool is one of the bands most beloved by this site, as evidenced by The Bad Penny‘s extensive coverage of Maynard James Keenan and company over the years.

Here are some, if not all, of the Tool posts published on this site since its launch in 2008:

• Tool’s 68 Songs, Ranked From ‘Invincible’ to ‘Disgustipated’
• CONSPIRACY REVEALED: Tool’s Maynard James Keenan And David Yow Are Lizard People!
• Best Albums Of 2019: Tool, Idle Hands, Immortal Bird, Destrage, Enisum
• Tool Take The Wiltern: 8.13.01

That said, our music heroes should not be immune from criticism. And Keenan deserves at least some pushback for helping condition young American men in particular to embrace and normalize the nihilistic and destructive vision that MAGA has injected into the political discourse in the U.S.

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Inter Arma’s ‘Paradise Gallows’: Two Cent Review

Posted in Album Reviews, Reviews with tags on 10/09/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

Paradise Gallows, the third album by Inter Arma, saw the band aiming their post-metal cannon for the sky, letting loose upon unwitting metalheads a darkly ominous record with a huge sense of scale and blend of extreme genres that only Isis had successfully pulled off prior. 

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On Tyranny: Absolute Darkness Leader Blasts Trump for Making Life More Difficult for Bands, Says ‘Fuck That Guy’

Posted in Features, Interviews, On Tyranny, On Tyranny, Videos with tags , , , , , , , , , on 10/09/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

“If you love metal … there’s a reason to care about politics,” Absolute Darkness guitarist/ lead vocalist Ron Dorn says, voicing dismay at the authoritarian takeover of the U.S., in a recent interview.

Not only does Dorn lead the aforementioned Bay Area death/thrash metal band, he also develops 70K Bands, an unofficial app used by passengers of the 70000 Tons of Metal cruise/festival. In the latest installment of On Tyranny, he discusses the effects of the Trump regime’s obliteration of international relations, pointing to a decline in the proportion of Canadian users in the app’s data.

“By the time we sail, we get about over 2,000 to 3,000 people on the ship,” Dorn says. “With all the stuff going on with Trump attacking Canada, calling it ‘the 51st state,’ the tariffs …. Canada went from 12 percent of the cruisers to 8 or 9. And I don’t blame them. Why should [they] spend my money in the U.S. when all this is going on? [There are] real world consequences [happening], and now the event is having a harder time selling out.”

(The Canadian percentages Dorn cites are based on users of his unofficial app, rather than official passenger figures from the cruise.)

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Giraffe’s ‘Towering Inferno With Bongo Drums’: Two Cent Review

Posted in Album Reviews, Reviews with tags , , on 10/09/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

With nary a word spoken over the course of its 11 songs, on paper (sans the title), Giraffe’s Towering Inferno With Bongo Drums would seem to be for the jazz or jam-band set: It was recorded in one day after the four players had developed familiarity with each other by performing improv sets in their hometown of L.A. And while the bulk of instruments are ones you would spy in a jazz nightclub—12-string guitar, fretless bass, drums and the like—it’s the other tools that propel Giraffe’s debut record into the far reaches of outer space: electronics, a Clavinet, an electric sitar and samples galore.

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Photo Gallery: Mastodon and Deafheaven Level Boise at Adrenaline-Sapping, Ear-Splitting Show

Posted in Album Reviews, News, Reviews with tags , , , , , , on 10/08/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

Mastodon and Deafheaven let it riff in Garden City, Idaho, last night – a stone’s throw away from Boise, with the two metal bands at the topic of their game and finally touring on the same bill.

Here are some the images from the action-packed concert:

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Black Moon Cult Rising to the Occasion for First Boise Show, a Must-See for Fans of The Sword

Posted in Concert Previews, Interviews with tags , , on 10/07/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

Black Moon Cult bleed heavy psych rock. If you don’t believe that statement and live in Boise, your chance to prove us wrong is to catch them tonight at Neurolux, where they will be part of a loaded bill also featuring Kal-El and Goya (who are also pals of The Bad Penny).

While we typically don’t repeat accolades bestowed upon bands by rival websites, it’s worth noting that The Obelisk named Black Moon Cult’s self-produced Ophidian Future: The Children of Yig the best debut record of 2025. Expect the trio from Toledo, Ohio, to tap heavily into that record, issued by Atlanta’s Black Doomba Records, during their set.

Founded by guitarist and vocalist Kaleb Riser five years ago, Black Moon Cult – who are signed to Atlanta’s Doomba Records (Megaton Communion, Thunderbird Divine) – also features bassist and synth player Kevin Lewis, along with drummer and percussionist Jeff Vandebussche.

The Bad Penny caught up with Black Moon Cult en route to Boise on Wednesday and chatted them up about what they have in store for tonight’s sure-to-be-thunderous gig. Here’s what Riser had so say:

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Top 10 Best Russian Bands, According to Native Son Ovfrost of Malist and Crimson Crown

Posted in Exclusives, Interviews, Lists, Videos with tags , , , , , , , , , on 10/07/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

Bet you probably didn’t guess when we launched this series unofficially dubbed The Bad Penny Passport that our search for the best bands in countries around the world would include Russia, did you? We didn’t either. But thanks to one of our dearest friends, – mastermind behind badass black-metal projects Malist and Crimson Crown – we’re able to do just that, bringing you his list of recommended Russian bands we can virtually guarantee will not ring a bell (to you, at least).

In one of our more treasured entries in this series, we hand over the reins to – who remains anonymous for obvious reasons – to inform us about what he considers to be the greatest heavy bands spanning the country that spans more than 6.6 million miles and boasts a population of anywhere from 143 to 146 million citizens, depending on whether you consider Crimea to be part of it.

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Spacemoth’s ‘Inward Eye’: Two Cent Review

Posted in Album Reviews, Reviews with tags on 10/07/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

By and large, Spacemoth’s Inward Eye is an autobiographical affair that multi-faceted artist Maryam Qudus created in tandem with digitally archiving her family’s home movies using a VCR that she left running repeatedly in her abode. While that might drive just about anyone nuts, Qudus exhibits no signs of erratic behavior on Inward Eye, a chill record in the vein of late-career Flaming Lips. 

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Green Lung’s ‘Necropolitan’: Two Cent Review

Posted in Album Reviews, Reviews with tags on 10/07/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

Whereas most artists put blood, sweat and tears into ensuring that their records bear a consistent sound, theme, story line—or all three—Green Lung torched that handbook well before creating Necropolitan. If you thought Black Sabbath threw curveballs with “Changes,” “FX” and “Laguna Sunrise” on Vol. 4, you’ll be agog by what’s in store when you listen to Green Lung’s fourth album for the first time.

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15 Albums David Bowie Said Shaped Him as an Artist

Posted in Lists with tags , , , , , , , , , on 10/07/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

David Bowie never named a single album that he considered to be his favorite, according to Vanity Fair. However, a 2003 edition of the same publication did publish a Bowie top albums list and albums that influenced David Bowie. The lengthy article name-checked 25 albums considered to be Bowie influences; we’ve narrowed down the list to 15.

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