For their second album, Chat Pile have zoomed out. Their 2022 debut LP “God’s Country” saw them taking a look at the dark underbelly of American society, and “Cool World” goes global by looking at disasters all around the world and how they affect each other and, ultimately, us. It’s a theme that hit especially hard this year, and Chat Pile match their global dread with a backdrop that’s even bigger, heavier, and harder to pigeonhole than their beloved debut. It ranges from somber, gothy moments to sludgy noise rock to straight-up extreme metal, with lots of other ground covered in between. In a time where it feels like things just keep getting worse, this album makes for a perfectly bleak soundtrack.
Cool World had its work cut out, following in the footsteps of “God’s Country“, one of the most lauded noise-rock records in recent memory. With its thundering mix of sludge, metal and post-punk – centred around eerie, dissonant riffs and the guttural, anguished vocals of Raygun Busch – the album channels emotion in a more widescreen format than its predecessor. Songs like “Masc” are haunting and cathartic, blending a deepening exploration of surreal lyricism with raw, unfiltered energy.
The production is deliberately claustrophobic, intensifying the sense of unease while offering only fleeting moments of relief. “Cool World” is an unsettling, thought-provoking trip that continues Chat Pile’s exploration of existential dread, delivering a sonic experience that is as challenging as it is compelling.
Like the towering mounds of toxic waste from which it gets its namesake, the music of Oklahoma City noise rock quartet Chat Pile is a suffocating, grotesque embodiment of the existential anguish that has defined the 21st Century. It figures that a band with this abrasive, unrelenting, and outlandish of a sound has struck as strong of a chord as it has. Dread has replaced the American dream, and Chat Pile’s music is a poignant reminder of that shift – a portrait of an American rock band moulded by a society defined by its cold and cruel power systems.
The Fat Angel Sings 