Genre : Noise rock, Alternative rock, Post-punk, Shoegaze, Post-rock
Released : April 12th, 2024
Label : Sub Pop Records
FFO : Shellac, Gilla Band, My Bloody Valentine
The first time I ever came across METZ was seeing Gilla Band's (then Girl Band) guitarist Alan Duggan rock one of their t-shirts during their KEXP live session in Reykjavik ten years ago. Without even having heard a second of METZ's music, for whatever reason, this immediately established them in my mind as this revered and influential act for any band susceptible of being branded as "noise rock", whether they leaned more into the rock or metal side of the spectrum.
And as it turned out, my hasty assumption was right on the money as you would be hard pressed to find any band that relishes in being as loud as can be, not cite METZ as an influence in high regards.
Their latest effort Up On Gravity Hill is a testament as to why that is, given how over the span of just over a half-hour, METZ seem to effortlessly blend the loud and angular chaos noise rock is beloved for with the more accessible and instantly enjoyable appeal of alternative rock,
with each track boasting at least one massive vocal hook to easily latch on to.
As much as it has become a bit of a stereotypical trope when an artist softens their sound to varying degrees and as a result, are described as "maturing" or being at their most "vulnerable", that is very much so the case here, yet, unlike in many other unfortunate instances, this isn't a poorly disguised trade of creative spark, bite and flair in exchange for broader commercial appeal.
This might just be the best album to introduce potentially reluctant listeners to noise rock,
to whom the genre's abrasiveness and off-kilter technicalities may seem too daunting at first.
Up On Gravity Hill has all of noise rock's qualities without ever being overbearing while also managing to balance raw power with approachable and empathetic genuine emotion.
Speaking of emotion, this is easily METZ at their most sensitive and "humane", lifting the perhaps cold and more reserved curtain put in place by a previously more technical and confrontational style of songwriting to reveal the band's honest heart.
And that heart is perhaps best displayed by the shoegazy album closer "Light Your Way Home" which also features vocalist Amber Webber of Black Mountain for a poignant send-off.
At the time of writing this short review, months after the album's release, the news of METZ's decision to go on an indefinite hiatus makes the finality of "Light Your Way Home" and the album's overarching theme of life's impermanent and fleeting nature hit that much harder.
Enjoy what you have while it's there, and if METZ' s curtain call should be your introduction to their fantastic catalogue, then paradoxically I would say it's never too late...until it is.
But such is the nature of the cycle of life, is it not?
Favourite tracks : "No Reservation / Love Comes Crashing", "Entwined (Street Light Buzz)", "Light Your Way Home"
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