Review: Metz @ Strangebrew

By Amélie Peters, Music Sub-Editor

Dissonant sound plays through the speakers as a trio of musicians take the stage, lit in orange, the Metz final ever performance in bristol is anything but sorrowful. 

Singing in unison the band have an intimate frequency, that only comes from both knowing and playing with one another for years. It's a dynamic that stretches beyond the realms of friendship into a familial bond. Similarly, they stand face to face with an audience so obviously filled with adoration for the band and the musical journey they have been taken on. 

I have come to understand that a chameleon effect takes place amongst gig audiences, they are never as they first appear to be. At first the assembled Metz crowd seems to be a cacophony of Cagoules and ponytails, the first chord sounds, and the crowd seems to transform from the middle aged and bored to a sea of crowd surfing mohawk wearers with a frankly enjoyable amount of eyeliner. 

Harsh and rasping vocally lead singer Alex Edkins is anything but what he outwardly presents, looking like a BBC one presenter the ferocious and powerful sound, he creates is a fantastic juxtaposition. 

Set up in a triangular format, the stage places the two guitarists in equal positions at the front on either corner. Initially something perplexed me about the staging, as the set progressed it's easy to see why. Each band member is an equal part of the organism that is the band, the symbiotic harmony between the three creates an equality from percussion to vocals, whilst unusual is something lovely to see. 

Molten since their inception, Metz has always been a band you can't listen to at full volume if you wish to keep your hearing bast forty. The latest album whilst fiery to the extremes has a slightly lighter touch.  

Drummer Hayden Menzies delivers what I sincerely think is his best work yet, heavy yet wickedly timed and skilled beyond many in the profession. 'Glass Eye' sees a man who lives for the sound he creates and delivers a maelstrom of brilliance. 

Dressed in a t-shirt jean combo Jason Sudeikis would be jealous, the band askew the costume esq dress that more modern punk bands seem to obsess over. The lack of aimed aesthetic comes across genuine and places the focus back onto the music other than a persona driven media push that is all too common in the industry. 

Cynical and edgy to the extreme the lyrics of ‘Entwined Street like buzz’, have a gloriously miserable and classically emo tone. Repeating the phrase ‘Where did you go’, an appropriately intense thirteen times. 

Screaming down the microphone, the notion that Metz are anything but a screamo punk band can quite safely be quashed. The 13-year-old me sat on the bus listening to MCR, thinking i was different, and was finally satiated by Metz and their alternative edge. 

And with that Bristol says goodbye to the Metz for the final time. 

How much will you miss the Metz?