Canada’s METZ arrived in the early 2010s in what seemed like a resurgence in the post-punk community. Along with fellow Canadians Preoccupations(formerly Viet Cong) and the Motor City’s Protomartyr it seemed as if post-punk was getting a 21st century kick in the pants.
METZ was the loudest of the three, with singer/guitarist Alex Edkins guitar sounding like power drills devouring shards of glass, while drummer Hayden Menzies pummeled his drums into supersonic submission. Bassist Chris Slorach slugged it out with the guitar and drums like a drunken prizefighter with nothing to lose.
Underneath all the jagged noise and atonal chaos there was a band that could write catchy melodies and earworm hooks. After the one-two roundhouse to the chin that was their self-titled and sophomore album II, METZ put out Strange Peace. The album put more emphasis on those melodies and less on blowing our eardrums. Atlas Vending followed with darker hues but showing more mature songwriting.
We now have Up On Gravity Hill, an album that allows flights of chaos but only when it serves the song. With cleaner production and a mix that doesn’t cause Tinnitus, this may be METZ’ most cohesive album yet.
Back in 2022 METZ’ front man Alex Edkins released a solo album under the name Weird Nightmare. Edkins’ voice instantly brings up METZ, but musically this was a different beast. A mixture of shaggy college rock like Replacements, Bob Mould, and Dinosaur Jr was where this project was sonically. Loud, fast, sweet, and just a pinch of melancholy for good measure. Some of that solo project can definitely be heard on Up On Gravity Hill. The guitars are still loud and jagged, but laid more evenly in the mix. METZ seems to be riding a very razor thin line between the underground and a mainstream sound. And they ride it expertly.
The album opens on the epic “No Reservation/Love Comes Crashing”, a brutal guitar assault that makes great use of METZ’ knack for blending dissonance and harmony in a beautiful way. Guitars wail like air raid sirens while Edkins’ vocals land between a taunt and a threat. “Glass Eye” blends early Cymbals Eat Guitars and In Utero-era Nirvana perfectly. “Entwined(Street Light Buzz)” builds on jangled guitar notes and a killer breakdown that sums up the influence of most college rock guitar heroes like Mould, Mascis, and Malkmus.
Elsewhere “Superior Mirage” pulls you in with its earworm hooks and Edkins’ Jello Biafra-like mannerisms. “Never Still Again” is an all-out frontal lobe melter with a great, buzzing bass line and the kinetic drumming of Hayden Menzies. Album closer “Light Your Way Home” is a slow-moving, dreamy track that brings to mind the darkly-lit shoegaze of bands like Nothing, Whirr, and Deafheaven.
Up On Gravity Hill sees METZ honing and refining their blitzkrieg guitars and explosive drums for a more palatable sound. But don’t worry, your ears will still be ringing long after the last song ends.
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