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“Bold, unsympathetic and brutally effective.” – NME
“These mild-looking Canadians revive the golden age of early Nirvana and ’90s grunge”
–Entertainment Weekly
Forget everything you know about noise.
METZ is what happens when a seemingly irresistible force meets an immovable object. It’s heavy, dark, sloppy noise punk. Their sound is a “punch in the gut…followed by a kick to the teeth.” [Vice]. It’s monstrous, exhilarating. LOUD. It’s “one of the best live acts in rock [music] today.” [Chicago Tribune].
Split Works is bringing the noise with METZ’ first China tour this coming February 2016. They’ll be playing two smashup shows –, Shanghai on Feb 19 (Yuyintang), Beijing on Feb 20 (MAO Livehouse). The guitars will be titanic, the drums ill-tempered, the vocals chilling, and the volume on the edge. Did we mention they were loud?
METZ formed in 2007, fueled by a desire to return to everything that’s good about loud, ferocious live music; a frantic nod to bands like Nation of Ulysses, Shellac, The Pixies, The Jesus Lizard, and Public Image Ltd. at their most vicious, while carving out some heavy new business. “I look at it like this,” METZ frontman Alex Edkins says. “You start a band, just as something to do, because music’s what makes you tick, the thing you dream about and think about and that’s it. You never think that you’ll be able to do it all the time.”
METZ, the band’s self-titled and formidable debut full-length came out in 2012, was shortlisted for the Polaris Prize, and received much critical acclaim. Both live and on record, METZ articulated with deafening clarity what we’ve known for some time: The world of good music needed a new power trio, and they were it.
Three years and almost 500 gigs later comes II, the concussive new full-length from a band that has become arguably North America’s finest touring rock band. Written and recorded in 2014, II is METZ at their most true to form—as pure an expression of what they do as can currently be committed to tape. Though they incorporated new instruments, (baritone guitar, tape loops, piano, synth, found sounds) and stretched out the arrangements, they still managed to “stay true to what made us tick in the first place: that immediacy,” Edkins calls it. “If it punches you in the gut.”
And does it ever. From the exhilarating grind of “Spit You Out” to the blunt-force thrills of “Landfill,” herein reside 10 songs uncompromising in their ferocity and abrasiveness. While their debut was often “clean and clinical,” II is what Edkins describes as a “much heavier” affair, with many of its roughest edges and ugliest tones kept intact.
What we’re left with is the sound of an already monstrous band improving in both subtle and terrifying ways. “We take our noise and our feedback very seriously,” Edkins says. “The more we do this, the more we realize there’s no such thing as right or wrong in music. It comes down to feel. And if it feels good, it works. This time we sorta said, ‘This is who we are. We are not going to clean up our sound, we are not going to hire a big producer, we are not going to try to write a radio song.”
No radio could handle the ear-splitting, high-octane energy of a METZ gig. But Yuyintang and MAO Livehouses have bravely volunteered, so we’ll see you down in the pits on Feb 19 (Shanghai) and 20 (Beijing).
Show Information
【SHANGHAI】
Date: February 19, Friday
Venue: Yuyintang
Address: 851 Kaixuan Road near West Yan’an Road (凯旋路851号,近延安西路口)
Time: 9pm
Tickets: 120 (Door) / 100 (Presale)
* Pre-sales end on 12 noon, Feb. 19th, 2016
Pre-sale link: https://yoopay.cn/event/metzShanghai
【BEIJING】
Date: February 20, Saturday
Venue: MAO Livehouse
Address: 111 Guloudong Dajie, Dongcheng District (东城区鼓楼东大街111号)
Time: 9pm
Tickets: 120 (Door) / 100 (Presale)
Support: The Eat
* Pre-sales end on 12 noon, Feb. 20th, 2016
Pre-sale link:https://yoopay.cn/event/metzBeijing
Links
Split Works Official Website：www.spli-t.com
METZ Official Website: http://www.metzztem.com/
About Split Works:
Split Works has been rocking in the free (ish) world since 2006. Working with inspirational artists from across the globe, the good people at Split Works HQ have been a key contributor to the continued rise of China’s music scene.
Split Works has launched five music festivals and promoted over 400 tours to 30 Chinese cities, always striving to stay true to a familiar refrain: the music has to be special, every single time. From Godspeed You! Black Emperor to Sonic Youth, from Thee Oh Sees to Mac Demarco and Shabazz Palaces, from Black Rabbit to JUE and Wooozy to Echo Park and More Music. We love music, we love China and we love you.[:zh]
“大胆的、绝情的、影响巨大而深远。”——NME
“这几位看起来温文尔雅的加拿大人复兴了早期Nirvana和90年代Grunge音乐的黄金时代。” ——Entertainment Weekly
SUB POP旗下的加拿大乐队METZ，就好比是一股势如破竹的力量遭遇坚物时的产物。他们是黑暗沉重、急劲暴裂的噪音朋克；他们对90年代西雅图Grunge音乐的暴戾重建——得名“被疯狗咬过的Nirvana”而被大家津津乐道。好莱坞巨星基努·里维斯（Keanu Reeves，代表作《黑客帝国》）曾在采访中极力推荐METZ：“他们的专辑包含新鲜的、原始的硬核风格。”
2016年2月，Split Works开功将METZ的噪音带到中国，在上海和北京展开首次国内巡演。届时，他们的失真吉他将急促地响起，加之快狠的鼓点、冷酷的人声，和令人不安的音量。难道……我们之前没提醒你他们有多噪吗？
METZ成军于2007年，他们来势汹汹的首张同名专辑《METZ》在2012年推出时就获得圈内权威媒体的大力推崇，得到Pitchfork（8.5/10）高度评价且不说，并被其力赞为“是一支经过长时间练习、不断完善技术的乐队”。而后这张处女作成功入围加拿大Polaris Prize，并荣登Pitchfork 2012的Top 50。主唱Edkins在接受采访时曾说道“我们三个人最兴奋的就是可以把我们的音乐带给各式各样的陌生人。”的确，他们做到了，无论现场表演还是录音室专辑，他们代表的曲风正是如今市场上最为稀缺的，他们震耳欲聋的音乐无时无刻不在提醒着世人——当下音乐界需要一支全新的三人乐团，那就是METZ！
其后三年，在历经了近500场演出的磨砺之后，METZ在2015年带来全新专辑《II》，这支已然被誉为“北美最佳现场“的乐队的新作所带来的震撼是不言而喻的。在主唱Edkins混沌的嘶吼中，从充满内敛压抑感的《Spit You Out》，到令人热血沸腾的《Landfill》，专辑里的10首歌里无不充斥着嘈杂、狂躁、和泥泞 。Edkins形容《II》较《METZ》而言“更为沉重”，并一脉相承了后者强大的破坏力。
2016年2月19日（上海）和2月20日（北京），等着METZ来轰炸你的耳膜，震翻全场吧！
演出信息
【上海站】
日期：2月19日 周五
场馆：育音堂
地址：凯旋路851号，近延安西路口
时间：21:00
票价：100元（预售）/ 120元（现场）
嘉宾：Schoolgirl ByeBye
*预售将于2016年2月19日，中午12点结束！
预售链接：https://yoopay.cn/event/metzShanghai
【北京站】
日期：2月20日 周六
场馆：MAO Livehouse
地址：东城区鼓楼东大街111号
时间：21:00
票价：100元（预售）/ 120元（现场）
嘉宾：The Eat
*预售将于2016年2月20日，中午12点结束！
预售链接：https://yoopay.cn/event/metzBeijing
相关链接
Split Works官网：www.spli-t.com
METZ官网: http://www.metzztem.com/
关于Split Works
Split Works是一家基于上海和北京的外资音乐演出公司，一直和诸多国际品牌进行合作，始终围绕音乐、品牌、创意和青年文化组织和推广各类活动。2006年成立至今，Split Works已为Sonic Youth、Diplo、Owl City、Jose Gonzalez、Ghostface Killah、Andrew Bird等众多艺术家举办过中国及亚洲地区的演出，并成功举办了2007年 “十跃”音乐节以及2011年在北京上海跨城上演的黑兔音乐节。从2009年起，Split Works每年春季主办的《觉》音乐+艺术节是一个为期三周的，将国内外的优秀音乐人、创意艺术家和爱好者聚集在一起的开源城市音乐艺术节。
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