II is the second studio album by Canadian noise rock three-piece band METZ. It was released on 4 May 2015, via Sub Pop. Recording sessions took place at Basketball 4 Life, The Dream House, Candle Recording and Taurus Recording in 2014.[3] Production was handled by METZ themselves.[4]
II was met with generally favourable reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 78 based on twenty-three reviews.[6]
Matthew Davies Lombardi of DIY praised the album, calling it "an advert to be a whole new generation's Sonic Youth or Nirvana and on this performance, you'd be foolish not to buy in".[8] James Appleyard of The Line of Best Fit stated: "with II, Metz have done more than enough to cement themselves as the new kings of transgressive hard rock, and that's a crown which is going to be difficult for anyone to wrestle from them".[16] Marc Burrows of Drowned in Sound called it "beautifully brutal weirdo punk".[9] Jibril Yassin of Exclaim! wrote: "it's a bleak listen, but there's something comforting about hearing three musicians playing punishing music as a complete unit, knowing there are few that could do it like them".[10] Ian King of PopMatters found the album "does find the band more often playing to their strengths than looking for ways to expand their horizons".[12] Colin Joyce of Spin wrote: "II, like the record that preceded it, is still a seasick and unyielding document of brutalist experimentation. But because the trio is willing to explore different avenues, there's more corners to get lost in".[14] Dusty Henry of Consequence of Sound resumed: "it may take a few listens to soak in all the vitriol and venom, but it's worth the effort".[7] Carl Williott of The A.V. Club wrote: "if that self-titled first outing was like picking at a scab, Metz's second effort is equivalent to ripping off a Band-Aid. Either way, it's still music to bleed to".[15] Brandon Geist of Rolling Stone wrote: "singer-guitarist Alex Edkins flirts with full-on nihilism, but there are hooks hidden in the onslaught, and Edkins' fever-pitch angst never feels less than honest".[13] Paul Thompson of Pitchfork stated: "by sticking so closely to the script laid out by their debut, II is the one thing punk rock should never be: careful".[11]
