Canadian noise band Metz have a history of releasing punishing, explosive rock 'n' roll music. Their first two albums Metz and II proved that a that three guys can make a huge sound. On their new album, Strange Peace, Metz take the sound they have established and added a few new ingredients.
Their aggressive, almost feral sound, was aided by Steve Albini who recorded the band straight to tape at his recording studio Electrical Audio in Chicago. The trio worked with the legendary engineer help capture their energy by recording the album live to tape.
Strange Peace starts off like any Metz album. "Mess of Wires" starts the album off on a high note. Drummer Hayden Menzies (angry Dave Grohl as I like to call him) punches the listener in the gut with pummeling drums. Guitarist and frontman Alex Edkins matches Menzies drums with frantic dirty guitar riffs.
For the most part, the first three songs on Strange Peace are your typical Metz songs. They're aggressive and make you want to break stuff; however, the fourth song "Caterpillar" is where the album takes a turn. The track starts off with a dissonant guitar line. Alex rarely plays straight up bar chords in this song. Alex matches the off putting guitar riff with a very distant vocal performance. The vocal almost comes off as childish with how sing-songy it can be. You almost expect "Caterpillar" to explode into a jam, but it never does. It just leaves the listener on the edge of their seat, blue balling them.
Another reason "Caterpillar" is off putting is that it does not have any percussion. It is completely void of Menzies signature drums. Instead, it relies on the rhythmic nature of the guitars.
Do not fret listener. The drums are back on the next track "Lost in the Blank City." This track is almost the answer to "Caterpillar." The song takes the rhythmic nature of the previous song and amplifies it. Menzies kick drum never stops pulsing underneath the guitars and bass. It pushes the song forward, never letting it get bogged down.
Bassist Chris Slorach plays a simplified bass line with this song. His bass lines have the difficult task of trying to bridge the gap between the drums and the dissonant guitars. Slorach's bass tone is the guiding force in this task. He runs his Gibson RD bass through a fuzz pedal to give it a trebly quality while letting you know its still a bass. For "Lost in the Blank City," Slorach locks in with the drums to add to the tribal nature of the song.
The experimental nature of the middle songs in Strange Peace does not stay for long. With the song "Mr. Plague," the band was back into face melting territory.
For the last half of the album, Metz is at their typical Metziness (yes, it's a word). The song "Escalator Teeth" sounds like a song from their debut self titled album Metz. The song is short 47 seconds and is over almost before it begins.
The final song on the album, "Raw Materials" is the perfect wrap up to the album. Kicking off with an atonal guitar riff, this track rips. It's like the final drop on an intense rollercoaster. The longest song on the album at 5:56 "Raw Materials" does what you expected on the song "Caterpillar." It goes into an atmospheric (or as atmospheric as Metz can get) section that then explodes into chaos.
This section builds, adding layers of arpeggiated guitars and drums. Slorach's energetic bass helps push the tune over the edge. The instrumental builds until it returns to the hook riff then comes screeching to a halt.
Strange Peace is a slight break from the Metz's typical sound to keep the band sounding fresh. If this is your introduction to the band, I would not recommend starting here. Listening to II or even their debut Metz will give you better idea of the band is doing on Strange Peace. The album is almost sounds like a transition album. Which makes one wonder where they're going to go from here.
You can find this album on iTunes, Bandcamp, and where ever indie records are sold.
Strange Peace is out on September 22nd via Subpop Records.
Listen to the album stream below.
Comments
Post a Comment