Strange Peace

by 
AlbumSep 22 / 201711 songs, 36m 13s
Noise Rock
Popular

The first thing one hears on METZ’s *Strange Peace* is an engineer’s announcement that tape is rolling. The second is what sounds like a construction site settling into a pretty good groove. The band rarely lets up from there, grinding out post-punk so noxious and ugly it ends up feeling strangely cleansing—like a bath, but with bleach. There are plenty of hooks buried in the noise, but the band’s bedrock remains rhythm, from the propulsive “Mr. Plague” (which sounds like Nirvana at their meanest) to the asymmetrical assaults of tracks like “Mess of Wires” and “Lost in the Blank City,” which jerk like trucks stalling hypnotically on repeat.

45

7.6 / 10

The Toronto-based trio Metz have incorporated harmony into their heavy sound on their third full-length. They shift away from all-out abrasion, adding color to their eruptions.

B

The union of ferocious post-hardcore band Metz and cantankerous producer Steve Albini seems foretold in The Great Book Of Rock ’N’ Roll Inevitabilities. The Canadian trio specializes in a sound that’s both cutting and pummeling, and Albini famously has a knack for capturing bands at their grittiest. Not to mention…

8 / 10

Metz's new album still has one foot rooted in the best of their past, but sees the other stretching forward into a future that is just as riotous.

7.8 / 10

More intense, more melodic, more brutal, more confident.

METZ seemingly set a new standard in taut, exacting ferocity on their second album, 2015's II.

9 / 10

Though Toronto's METZ are still generating caterwauling hurricanes of sound, these days, primary lyricist/guitarist/young dad Alex Edkins is...

7.0 / 10

Like II, the third entry from METZ makes no compromises.

7 / 10

Canadian trio METZ took themselves to Chicago to record their third album 'Strange Peace' with Steve Albini - it's a muscular creation.

8 / 10

Photo: Ebru.

7.0 / 10

The third record from noise rock trio METZ follows the same formula as their previous two, for better or for worse.

7 / 10