How To Cope With Death, Drugs And Social Media

Canadian noise-rockers Metz burst onto the scene in 2012 with their eponymous debut album, an abrasive assault on the senses that was as tight and well crafted as it was ugly and cacophonous. Now, honed by two years of relentless touring, the three-piece are back with Metz II, a collection of aural bombardments which expands on its predecessor’s palette with compromising the power and intensity that made their opening gambit do visceral and imperative.

“I think all three of us are really satisfied and feel that we’ve made something that we’re proud of,” Edkins enthuses. “We just wanted to more or less make the record that we felt we would have made regardless of the circumstances – regardless of whether anyone was going to listen or not – and just make the honest music from the gut that we’ve always made. We’re pretty stoked.”

"We use the fact that it’s just the three of us as these limitations to our benefit and try to just work with the three main ingredients and make that work."

Edkins explains that how a song might go over live is a massive consideration during Metz’s creative process. “I think it’s actually one of the main criteria – that’s what decides whether it’s good enough to be on a record,” he tells. “It’s the first thing when we’re arranging it and writing it – does it feel good with just the three of us playing it, and will it be able to translate in the same way on the album? I think it’s really tempting in the studio to layer tons and tons of instruments and just experiment – I’ve seen a lot of bands do it where they’ve got this really lush, amazing, crazy album but when it comes time to perform it it’s a disaster because they’ve bitten off more than they can chew. For us it’s the reverse of that – we use the fact that it’s just the three of us as these limitations to our benefit and try to just work with the three main ingredients and make that work.”

The scabrous vocals on Metz II aren’t enough to conceal Edkins’ adroit way with words, and he admits to some literary influences that may not be immediately apparent. “I kind of think of it as just how I and how we in general relate to the things around us – loved ones, romantic relationships, social media, government, pharmaceutical drugs, how do we cope with death and how do we cope with depression and things like this,” he explains of the album’s themes. “It’s wide as far as the things it covers, but I always aim for a more cinematic approach where I don’t get too specific, instead I try to paint a little picture like a couple of scenes from a movie or something – that’s my aim at least. I don’t want to tell people the beginning and the end of a story, I just want to tell them part of it. I’ve been reading a lot of Raymond Carver short stories and he’s the master of doing that – he’ll introduce you to this really amazing story line and cut you off right when something monumental is about to happen.”