Metz
II
***and1/2 out of *****
On the Toronto, CA based trios first album Metz slammed with heavy noise and from the replicated cover art and numeric title you probably figured correctly that more of the same is coming to assault your eardrums on II.The cover art for both the bands albums have people who look like they are in pain, heads down slumped over; pretty accurate description the the thumping contained within. The disk opener "Acetate" blisters the speakers/headphones while "Landfill" puts that power into more of a song form and "Eyes Peeled" cooks up a storm with one of the few album guitar solos.
Booming drums and metallic groove kick off "Spit You Out" with angst and swagger acting as the closest thing to a single the band can offer and "Wait In Line" takes a verse chorus approach as well but isn't as successful. On this release it is "The Swimmer" that once again brings an industrial edge to the chaos with it's repetitive clangs in the vein of Ministry.
Even their quirky (some would say pointless) instrumentals are still here ("Zzyzx") but the group does show a bit more song oriented leanings such as the jangle of "I.O.U" which has a touch of Pixie noise pop shimmer. "Nervous System" packs a huge punch into it's two minutes run time, giving a schizophrenic power to the punk.
It is fitting this band is on Sub Pop as their number one clear cut influence is Bleach era Nirvana, so much so it took great restraint not to mention it until now. II (like the self titled debut) could masquerade as outtakes from that famous groups pre fame era.
While Metz slightly expand on their sound with a few keyboards, and tape loops the crux of Metz force is in their searing straight ahead repetitive punk noise slamming. Kurt and company would be proud, well, before they teamed with Butch Vig I guess.
___________________________________________________________If you liked the first one, and we did, you will dig this one.
Support the band here, buy the album here, stream it on NPR for a limited time and peep some video below:
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