Chat Pile, like many metal bands, are known for making their commentary of American society and politics. The hand they deal is heavy as well as their music. And boy howdy, is this heavy. Crushing to say the least, the genre they’re in sludge metal. I had to look up this sub-genre of metal and fell into a deeper rabbit hole, which according to a dissertation from UC San Diego sludge is derived from hardcore punk and doom metal (https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7bq7387s). I wanted to dive into one of my favorite tracks from last year as it is a whole world that I am so unfamiliar, but spellbound by to the point that it is exciting and frightening.
There are two dimensions of the title. It’s a play on words of mask and masculinity. This dark track talks about our protagonist who is in torment from not being reserved and not vocal of the pain they are in. The mask they put on to laugh at themselves when they’re the butt of the joke and to act like a tough guy to take the beatings that doesn’t need to be physical. The facade is held even when the song ends and the character accepts their fate just so they don’t feel laughed at or compromise with their toxic significant other. It’s not just the cacophony, the tortured vocals, or the heavy drums that makes this so harrowing, but the character being so relatable is the most damning of all.
The album this song was featured on Cool World, is so memorable. One day on this blog, I do wish to revisit the album in general and go into a deep dive. I want to make album overviews a thing. Any metal fan should know who this band is, and I can see why. Because the monsters of this Earth aren’t orcs or dragons. They’re fantasy. But the monsters that tears us from the inside, are genuinely real.
You can purchase this album on Bandcamp and their catalog is available on streaming.
https://chatpile.bandcamp.com/album/cool-world
A Lot on My Crate 