Metz are changing as they age. You might remember the Canadian trio being noisy for the sake of it in their early work, but now they have a relationship with the more aggressive elements of their sound that is caustic but tempered by greater textural ambition. Their fifth album ‘Up On Gravity Hill’, for example, is their most refined work to date, with core elements still firmly in place but subject to some judicious self-editing.
The opener No Reservation/Love Comes Crashing stops just short of being truly crushing, packing anthemic, driving force, while the singles 99 and Entwined (Street Light Buzz) are twin highlights that compete for attention.
It’s the latter that edges it, its sense of longing and desire situated alongside a reined-in stringy bridge before a send off to suit the scuzziest of dive bar pits.
The final song, Light Your Way Home, totally subverts the precedent set by the preceding seven tracks. Its confusing sadness melts and hardens like a wax, guided by a guest spot from Black Mountain’s Amber Webber.
It’s exactly a record like ‘Up On Gravity Hill’ needs — conflicted and bittersweet, wrestling with midwest emo fuzz of the sort that will blow a band up these days. Metz have mastered this sort of thing, coming to a place of refinement and dynamic shine that their raucous past only hinted at.
Metz Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Mon November 25 2024 - BIRMINGHAM Hare And Hounds
Tue November 26 2024 - LEEDS Brudenell Social Club
Wed November 27 2024 - BIRKENHEAD Future Yard
Thu November 28 2024 - BRISTOL Bristol Strange Brew
Fri November 29 2024 - LONDON Village Underground
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