Wasting little time in confirming further acts for the 2015 Le Guess Who? the festival have now revealed that METZ (returning after their 2013 appearance), A Place To Bury Strangers, Viet Cong, Lightning Bolt and Protomartyr will be amongst those providing distortion and thrash in Utrecht this November.

Elsewhere over the course of the festival its celebrated variety of musical styles will be bolstered by shows from Kamasi Washington, Tout-Puissant Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou, Ariel Pink, Josh T. Pearson, Adrian Younge & Friends, Suuns & Jerusalem In My Heart, Titus Andronicus, Songhoy Blues, Baba Commandant & The Mandingo Band, Mustafa Özkent ve Belçika Orkestrasɪ, Okay Temiz & La Fanfare Du Belgistan, Gaye Su Akyol, The Space Lady and Laura Cannell.

A clear highlight of the festival comes with the news that Mikal Cronin will be appearing live with strings & horns, all the better to bring out the best in the songs from recent releases MCII and MCIII.

Keep an eye on the Le Guess Who? website here for future line-up announcements and for all your ticketing needs.

Musing and meditating on the theme of relationships in the wider sense of the word (the ones we have with the media, politics, dreams, fears etc.) METZ’s Alex Edkins arrived at the point of origin for the ten tracks which make up the Toronto band’s second album.

Thematically I’ve no idea if the above represents a departure for the band or not as musically they’re happily sailing the same seas of power, pace & distortion as they cruised through on their self-titled debut. Which is perfectly fine with me. Thrashing away for the most part, hollering at the top of their lungs – what are they saying? No idea. Would I read the lyrics if I had a physical disc, box & booklet in my hand? Probably not. Theirs is the kind of music with which you first get the emotion and energy & where the reasoning and words reach you as much through osmosis as through actual hearing.

Having managed to miss the band at the 2013 Le Guess Who? they’ve been on the list of current acts that strike me as worthwhile seeing live for the last couple of years and the quality & sheer verve displayed on II mean that intention remains as strong as ever. It’s an album that will be played repeatedly as the year progresses for the sheer pleasure of it or as the perfect antidote to a shit day in the office or wherever. METZ have provided the music loving public with a perfectly formed 30 or so minutes of catharsis in musical form.

II is available from amazon & iTunes.