METZ roars back with Up On Gravity Hill album out April 12

METZ enlisted Owen Pallett and Black Mountain's Amber Webber to realize their long awaited new album, Up On Gravity Hill. 

Here's the scoop from Sub Pop HQ...

On April 12th, METZ will release Up On Gravity Hill, their first album in 4 years, on Sub Pop for the world and in Canada on Dine Alone. The album was engineered by Seth Manchester (Mdou Moctar, Lingua Ignota, Battles, The Body) and features guest performances from Amber Webber of Black Mountain and composer/string arranger Owen Pallett.

METZ, a band once known for blowing out eardrums with songs of joyous rage, have, over their past few records, begun exploring ways to turn abrasiveness into atmospherics, the evolution of their sound not only a reflection of the maturing of the band themselves but also of a changed world that demands nuance and compassion to comprehend and to survive. This is so on their latest effort, Up On Gravity Hill, which finds the band continuing to bend the raw power of rock music to its most delicate, intricate ends. Delivering a deep, detailed, and unyieldingly personal collection of songs that are fused together to form not only METZ’s most powerful record to date but also their most beautiful.

To spotlight this evolution, the band has shared two new contrasting singles: the stomping motorik “99,” and the charging and deeply melodic, “Entwined (Street Light Buzz)”, that offers a dreamier Swervedriver-esque guitar sheen never before utilized by the Canadian trio. 

 METZ frontman Alex Edkins says, “These two songs couldn’t be more stylistically and thematically dissimilar. ‘Entwined (Street Light Buzz)’ is a song about the deep connection humans can foster with one another and how we carry people with us forever, even after death. ‘99’ is about the scourge of corporate greed and bottom-line thinking that runs rampant in modern society. Anything for a buck is the message being sent to younger generations.”

 METZ is also announcing headlining international tour dates supporting Up On Gravity Hill, with dates in North America from April 17th to May 17th, when they'll play a triumphant Toronto show at the Danforth Music Hall. Then it's off for a run of UK and EU festival performances in August, including stops at The Green Man Festival in the UK, La Route Du Rock and Cabaret Vert Festival in France, and the Canela Party in Spain followed by a UK and EU tour in the fall.  

Pre-order a copy of METZ's Up On Gravity Hill album from Sub Pop right here. Listen to "Entwined (Street Light Buzz)" and "99" below.