Photo by Ryan Lawson

Converge guitarist Kurt Ballou recently visted Suicide Silence guitarist Chris Garza’s podcast to explain how the Boston metalcore vets’ new album, Hum of Hurt, is basically just filled with Sonic Youth riffs in the tuning of Slayer. “Deep Blue”, the lead single from Chat Pile, is along those same lines, with frontman Ray B. namedropping classic rock legends Boston and Billy Squiers on their inspo board this time around. Of course, when filtered through the Oklahoma City noise rockers’ damage-heavy distortion and industrial mechanics, that which is more than a feeling in the state of this world amounts to absolute existential numbness even when the hits pop harder. “Break my face and call me your friend / And tell me one more million lies,” he sputters from the deep end. “And keep my world in a tailspin / Feed me candy when I’m good and comply.” This band’s sound may never go down as easily as anything from the sugar-coated era of hard rock and metal, but it’s fun to indulge in tiny hints of it, if at least to put up with another day here on this Earth.

Directed by: Stephen Mondics

Chat Pile’s Who Loves the Sun will be released September 10th on The Flenser.