The current political climate has been a spark of inspiration for many musicians. A growing number have written lyrics that call attention to important issues, while others have less directly alluded to more general concerns. Metz, though, have bottled up all that anxiety in order to sell it back to us in the form of their third album, ‘Strange Peace’.
Recorded in Chicago by Steve Albini and then polished back in the band’s hometown, Toronto, with additional home recordings and added instrumentation, the record does less to make you think and more to make you feel.
Tracks like Mess of Wires and Drained Lake are forceful attacks on the senses, immediately filling us with a sense of dread and panic that is unrelenting.
Hayden Menzies’ drumming is driving and persistent, Alex Edkins’ guitar is sharp and his vocals sneering, while Chris Slorach’s ominous bass is an unnerving force.
Opening up their sound, Cellophane is grungier and more melodic, ending in a chaotic mess of dissonant noise, with Edkins questioning: “How will I know it’s real?”
Albini’s influence is most apparent on Caterpillar, a sparse track featuring Edkins singing, rather than shouting, words that become less audible as the guitar's discordant melody gets louder. It ends in an unsettling rattle that sounds like Stranger Things’ monstrous Demogorgon.
Lost in the Blank City also features a range of interesting noises, and runs away from itself any time it gets close to anything resembling a pleasant melody. Again, that leaves us constantly uncomfortable. Sink, too, has a rising three note guitar pattern that derives tension from its monotony.
Near the end of the record, the tracks start getting angrier and shorter, but it culminates in the almost six minute epic Raw Materials. By this point the band have found some sense of peace within the chaos. They completely divert from the sharp bursts of power that they’ve become known for and fall into a hypnotic flow that really does evoke a strange sort of peace.
The record’s pervading sense of anxiety is perhaps created by the fact that the band sound like they are pulling themselves in two opposing directions. They want to retain the primal fury of their early recordings, while they also want to explore melody and more complex instrumentation. It seems strange that they would work with someone like Albini, who is so known for a particular bare-bones style, and then add to those recordings, stripping them of their essence.
‘Strange Peace’, though, does well to encapsulate the sense of dread we all feel every morning, never knowing what form of attack will harm innocent people or which rights our governments will threaten next.
Metz Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Wed November 22 2017 - LONDON Garage
Thu November 23 2017 - BRISTOL Fleece
Fri November 24 2017 - LEEDS Brudenell Social Club
Sat November 25 2017 - BRIGHTON Haunt
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