Chat Pile

Under – What Happened In Roundwood Review

Under – What Happened In Roundwood Review

“There’s something tantalizing about the brand of metal-adjacent noise rock that’s experienced a renaissance in recent years. It’s ugly, it’s loud, and it doesn’t give a damn if you’re comfortable. You’ve got breakout stars Chat Pile dragging nü-metal’s bloated corpse through the mud, Couch Slut dishing out dissonant, riff-heavy nightmare fuel, and Intercourse sounding like a feral animal tearing flesh for fun. This isn’t “revival” music; it’s bands weaponizing noise, smashing metal’s brute force into punk’s emotional hemorrhaging, and then deliberately breaking whatever’s left just to see it scream. Enter the UK’s Under, stepping into this mess with zero interest in playing nice.” Under the thunder.

Agriculture – The Spiritual Sound Review

Agriculture – The Spiritual Sound Review

“Black metal is rooted in extremity—a core toolkit of visual aesthetics, speed, power and atmosphere that naturally imbues it with an inherent spiritual essence. But that essence often collapses into a monochromatic buzz of tremolo and constant tempos. Los Angeles-based quartet Agriculture challenges this expectation with their second LP, The Spiritual Sound, moving beyond the solely dark and brutal in search of presence and illumination.” Digging in the hurt.

Today is the Day – Never Give In Review

Today is the Day – Never Give In Review

“When we last heard from noise mastermind Steve Austin and his legendary project, Today is the Day, it was with No Good to Anyone, a partly seething, partly mournful, and all-too-sincere portrait highlighting loss, despair, and anger that also possessed an undercurrent of hope. I dug the album considerably, and still view it as an album that should have, by all intents and purposes, brought new eyes and ears towards the band’s direction. Sadly, No Good to Anyone released in early 2020, just as the world was shutting down while Austin and company were on tour for that album. This would understandably send Austin into a depressive tailspin, but one he would claw his way out of, not only by re-opening his label, SuperNova Records, and buying back his entire catalog, but also with the middle finger to adversity and depression, Never Give In.” Never surrender to the day.

Chat Pile – Cool World Review

Chat Pile – Cool World Review

“Two years ago, I named Chat Pile’s debut full-length God’s Country my Album o’ the Year, at considerable risk to myself. You see, the senior partners at AMG and Sons, LLC have no love for the Pile or for the greasy noise rock/post-hardcore/sludge these Oklahoman’s produce. After submitting my year-end list, I endured all manner of verbal abuse, which would have been fine had it not been followed closely by physical abuse. A hulking ape branded a large “P” on my chest, after which a gang of masked n00bs beat me senseless. Two years have passed, and Chat Pile’s sophomore release Cool World has arrived.” Pile on the abuse.

The Turin Horse – Unsavory Impurities Review

The Turin Horse – Unsavory Impurities Review

“Just look at that cover! I didn’t quite care what it ended up being when I saw that brazenly bright, composite-faced figure with its many mouths open in… anguish? Excitement? Both? Of course, I knew it had to foreshadow noise to some degree—something so frighteningly stitched could only be the result of frequencies scraping the boundary between pique and pleasure.” Horse show.