IAN BLURTON'S FUTURE NOW - IMPERIAL FILTH
On Ian Blurton's third Future Now LP in four years, and twentieth career album in forty years, the Canadian rock institution delivers a perfect soundtrack to the dystopian times in which we currently find ourselves. Opening with the menacing, ominous "Gallery of Scars," featuring none other than Ace of Wands' Lee Rose on strings, the song unfolds like the opening scenes of a horror film before revealing the full force of the Future Now band in all their Black Sabbath-inspired glory. The use of the string section to open the album is extremely effective, much like the inspired performance by the C'mon Community Orchestra (Pallett, Penner, Posen and Storring) on 2007's "All Time High", only the overall vibe in 2026 is considerably less celebratory and decidedly more doom and gloom.
Hot on the heels of "Gallery of Scars" is the equally excellent "You Better Get Ready", featuring yet another surprise guest performance on guitar from Tumble's Liam Deak. Probably the most urgent call-to-arms of Blurton's entire career, the song's refrain of "You better get ready for a fight!" recalls Elton John's "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" played at twice the speed by the world's best Motorhead cover band. However, arguably the centerpiece of the entire album is the standout track "Heaven is a Long Way From Home," which picks up beautifully from where 2024's "Half Way Between Heaven and Hell" left off. Clocking in at six-and-a-half minutes, this is a Blurton epic in the same vein as "Second Skin," "The Mountain" and "Fortress of the Night," and needless to say it does not disappoint!
The album's second half is equally engaging, opening with the lead single "Siren of the Song," which delivers no less than three guitar solos in three minutes while still retaining all the requisite qualities of a catchy rock radio staple. However, it isn't until the excellent "Settlers Forge" that that the true depth of Blurton's songwriting development is revealed. Beginning like any other paint-by-numbers classic rock anthem, the song is effectively turned on its head at the midpoint, revealing a subversive groove not heard since his days in Public Animal. The song also boasts arguably one of the best lyrics of his career: "When the crowd loses patience and the thrill is getting old/ And your finger's on the trigger of the space between yes and no."
The press release for Imperial Filth goes to great length to stress the complete lack of AI used in the production of this album, an acknowledgement of the sad state of affairs in the music industry in the year 2026 that unfortunately still needs to be underscored. This is the sound of four human friends who have been making music together since 1992 in the case of Blurton and drummer Glenn Milchem, whose other gig involves hitting the skins for Blue Rodeo when he's not laying down the most bad-ass earth-shaking drum intros since Van Halen's "Hot For Teacher" (case and point, the epic intro to "Death Becomes You").
With three Future Now albums under his belt, not to mention last year's expectation-defying Change of Heart reunion album In the Wreckage, it's impossible to predict where the muse will take Blurton next. Only one thing can be certain in these uncertain times: it will rock!
-Leks Maltby