Chat Pile, Nightosphere, Gouge Away [outside]

“Hammers and grease;” “more screaming than you’d think” – Raygun Busch opened Chat Pile’s 2022 debut God’s Country with exactly the type of gnarly imagery you’d expect from a sludge metal quartet. October follow-up Cool World isn’t all sunshine and rainbows, of course, but the pseudonymed OKC rockers did infuse the LP with catchier melodies, especially on indie-leaning track two, “Shame.” As guitarist Luther Manhole explained in a press release, “I wanted it to sound like you’re at a party during the apocalypse.” Dismal current events in mind, that’s an apt description. Gouge Away and Nightosphere open this timely Mohawk get-together. – Carys Anderson