Pre order the new limited METZ 7″, the vinyl is awesome!
As explained on METZ’s Subpop artist bio, “‘Change is inevitable if you’re lucky,’ says guitarist/vocalist Alex Edkins while talking about Atlas Vending, the fourth full-length album by Toronto’s METZ. ‘Our goal is to remain in flux, to grow in a natural and gradual way. We’ve always been wary to not overthink or intellectualize the music we love but also not satisfied until we’ve accomplished something that pushes us forward.’ The music made by Edkins and his compatriots Hayden Menzies (drums) and Chris Slorach (bass) has always been a little difficult to pin down. Their earliest recordings contained nods to the teeming energy of early ‘90s DIY hardcore, the aggravated angularities of This Heat, and the noisy riffing of AmRep’s quintessential guitar manglers, but there was never a moment where METZ sounded like they were paying tribute to the heroes of their youth. If anything, the sonic trajectory of their albums captured the journey of a band shedding influences and digging deeper into their fundamental core—steady propulsive drums, chest-thumping bass lines, bloody-fingered guitar riffs, the howling angst of our fading innocence.”
“Acid/Slow Decay” was initially released digitally on May 1st, 2020. It is now being physically released for the first time on March 12th via Three One G Records, limited to 1000 copies, with one side of the 7” vinyl being specially printed by The Black Moon Design, and featuring cover art by Jonathan Bauerle. Preorder, here.
Recorded by Steve Albini at Electrical Audio
Additional recording by Graham Walsh at Baskitball 4 Life
Mixed by Alex Edkins
Mastered by Matthew Barnhart at Chicago Mastering Service
Cover art by Jonathan Bauerle
Layout by Hayden Menzies
METZ have once again formed a noisy symbiosis with Three One G, releasing their second 7” with the label six years later. Shortly before the release of their latest LP, “Atlas Vending,” the Canadian trio honed in on their ever-evolving, nuanced approach to pummeling rhythms-meet-off-kilter melodies with “Acid” and “Slow Decay,” recorded by Steve Albini. Of track “Acid,” the band describes it as “a song about having a fresh perspective, a newly widened outlook on the world and one’s life. Being shaken awake from a malaise and realizing there is no time for petty bullshit. Love what you love, love who you love! Embrace it and don’t wait.” Indeed, a fresh perspective and a sense of urgency is something METZ always manages to offer.