METZ – Up On Gravity Hill – Album Review
by Killian Laher

Canadian noise-makers METZ have returned with their first album in four years, and their fifth overall.  On the opener No Reservation they seem to have incorporated some My Bloody Valentine-style wooziness into their sound, a six-and-a-half minute journey ending with Alex Edkin repeating “feel like crashing down” over and over pummelling drums and spiralling guitars.  Songs like Glass Eye, 99 and Superior Mirage won’t disappoint any fans, all hard-hitting drums pounding over trashy guitars but they aren’t especially memorable.  Wound Tight rocks quite hard, expending a lot of gauzy, grungy energy.  Like much of the album, it will have you nodding along but you won’t rush to listen to it again.

The pounding Entwined (Street Light Buzz) is one of the strongest songs here, with driving guitars, a shout-along chorus. and a dark midsection made for Edkin to repeat the refrain “Where did you go”.  The final track Light Your Way Home sounds like a metal-Morrissey tune of all things with its melancholic chorus.  It’s a relatively short album with eight songs lasting just over 35 minutes.  Guitars and drums hit as hard as ever and there’s no letup across this album, but there’s a lack of a real standout here.

Entwined (Street Light Buzz)