Its 1 a.m. on a Thursday night and I’m blasting my ears full of a record that’s definitely going to change my life. But before I get into that, let me ask you a question. Have you ever gone to a show that punched you in the face? And I don’t mean the kind of punch you get from a random dude in a mosh pit. I mean that the music was so punishingly loud it slammed you over and over, right in the kisser, leaving you smiling like an asshole. That’s what seeing Toronto’s METZ was like.

The decimating three-piece punk group played a short and sickly sweet 40-minute set at Baltimore house this past Tuesday and if you weren’t there then you best get started on that time travel machine.

The opening act were Hamilton punk locals WTCHS whose extremely angular brand of noise punk was a well suited choice for the bill. They recently released an EP, and were the perfect lead up for the thunder that was to follow.

While they aren’t a band for everyone, METZ is the kind of band the music industry needs. Combining angular punk rock from the world of bands such as Drive Like Jehu and the pop infused punk of Nirvana, METZ is a band that you can’t say no to.

METZ opened with “Knife in the Water,” starting the set with a bang worthy of an entire powder keg. The immediate intensity left the crowd standing with mouths wide open in shock, but once it wore off the crowd was manic. Heads bobbed, fists pumped and beers were raised in ecstasy.

Ominous white lighting protruded from behind their amp stacks and blasted through the gigantic drum set of Hayden Menzie. The combination of the most bombastic drumming I’ve heard and the unity of Alex Edkins guitar and Chris Slorach’s thick bass tones left no gaps in the wall of sound. Some friends described the show as “sweet, pummeling noise candy,” “technically flawless without care” and “fucking mind blowingly relentless.” If this doesn’t make you want to see or listen to METZ then you just aren’t a music fan. Period.

After the set I thanked the band for destroying my body with their thunderous noise and drooled over their new self-titled LP, which is pressed on marbled-white vinyl and a visual treat for any record collector.

Back home, in a drunken stupor, I couldn’t resist playing the record immediately. It’s just a bombastic and satisfying as their live shows and a must have for any one looking for new music. METZ might just make you think differently about music and yourself. Or at least fill you with good vibrations that won’t quit.

After my fifth listen I decided to call it a night. If METZ is playing your town, you better be there.

- Kyle Fisher