Metz unites with Steve Albini to expand its attack on Strange Peace

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 Metz bears the influence of Albini’s band Shellac, and all signs point to a perfectly symbiotic partnership.

Strange Peace bears that out. The band recorded the album live to tape at Albini’s Electrical Audio studio in Chicago, which the first track makes plain: A distant voice says, “You are rolling,” then Metz leaps into one of its most ferocious songs ever, “Mess Of Wires.” Albini’s hand is immediately clear: a massive-sounding rhythm section—all booming drums and sinewy bass—and guitars with serrated distortion. Albini’s style can flatten guitars into tinny noise, but here Alex Edkins’ guitar tracks—and there appear to be a few per song—stand on the level of Metz’s ace rhythm section of drummer Hayden Menzies and bassist Chris Slorach.