On April 12th, METZ will release Up On Gravity Hill (Sub Pop and Dine Alone in Canada), their first album in 4 years. 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)”, which 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 and a run of UK and EU dates in the fall from November 3rd through November 29th. The band also has a series 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. See below for a full list of shows.

North America
Wed. Apr. 17 – Boston, MA – Crystal Ballroom at Somerville Theatre $
Fri. Apr. 19 – New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom $
Sat. Apr. 20 – Philadelphia, PA – Underground Arts $ *
Sun. Apr. 21 – Baltimore, MD – Ottobar $
Tue. Apr. 23 –  Atlanta, GA – The Earl $
Thu. Apr. 24 – Birmingham, AL – Saturn $
Fri. Apr. 25 – Fayetteville, AR – George’s Majestic Lounge  $
Sat. Apr. 26 – Austin, TX – The Parish (Austin Psych Fest) $
Sun. Apr. 27 – Dallas, TX – Sons of Hermann Hall $
Mon. Apr. 29 – Sante Fe, NM – Meow Wolf $
Tues. Apr. 30 – Phoenix, AZ – Valley Bar $
Wed. – May 01 –  San Diego, CA – The Casbah $
Tue. May 02 – Los Angeles, CA – 1720 $
Wed. May 03 – San Jose, CA – The Ritz $
Thu. May 04 – San Francisco, CA – The Chapel $
Mon. May 06 – Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom $
Tue. May 07 – Seattle, WA – Neumos $
Fri. May 10 – St. Paul, MN – Turf Club $
Sat. May 11 – Chicago, IL – Bottom Lounge $
Thu. May 16 -Montreal, QE – Theatre Fairmount $
Sat. May 17 – Toronto, ON – Danforth Music Hall $
 
$ w/ Gouge Away
* w/ Rid of Me

UK/EU
Thu. Aug. 15 – Crickhowell, UK – Green Man Festival
Fri. Aug. 16 – St Malo, FR La Route Du Rock
Sat. Aug. 17 –  Charleville-Mezières, FR – Cabaret Vert Festival
Fri. Aug. 23 – Malaga, ES – Canela Party
Sat. Nov. 02 – Rennes, FR – L’Antipode
Sun. Nov. 03 – La Rochelle, FR – La Sirène
Mon. Nov. 04 – Paris, FR – La Maroquinerie
Tue. Nov. 05 – Clermont-Ferrand, FR – La Coopérative de Mai
Wed. Nov. 06 – Lyon, FR – Le Transbordeur
Thu. Nov. 07 – Zurich, CH – Bogen F
Sat. Nov. 09 – Prague, CZ – Futurum
Sun. Nov. 10 – Budapest, HU – Turbina
Tue. Nov. 12 – Krakow, PL – Klub Zascianek
Wed. Nov. 13 – Warsaw, PL – Klub Hydrozagadka
Sat. Nov. 16 – Berlin, DE – Hole44
Mon. Nov. 18 – Copenhagen, DK – Loppen
Tue. Nov. 19 – Hamburg, DE – Hafenklang
Wed. Nov. 20 – Amsterdam, NL – Paradiso
Thu. Nov. 21 – Groningen, NL – Vera
Fri. Nov. 22- Antwerp, BE – Trix
Sat. Nov. 23 – Lille, FR – L’Aéronef
Mon. Nov. 25 – Birmingham, UK – Hare & Hounds
Tue. Nov. 26 – Leeds, UK – Brudenell Social Club
Wed. Nov. 27 – Birkenhead, UK – Future Yard
Thu. Nov. 28 – Bristol, UK – Strange Brew
Fri. Nov. 29 – London, UK – Village Underground