Even as a resident music journalist of Chicago for most of the past decade the city never quite felt like a hub for metal, overshadowed as it is by its legacies tied to jazz, hip-hop, and whatever secret third thing Wilco fits into. Yet the city is teeming with artists experimenting at the fringes of metal subgenres, with the thrash of Oozing Wound, the sludge of meth., and the mathy death metal of Wretched Blessing becoming common sites onstage at nearby venues, to say nothing of the politicized metalcore of the recently revived Racetraitor putting Chicago on the map for heavy rock subgenres.
It’s fertile soil, then, for post-metal quartet REZN, whose blend of death- and stoner-metal has quickly evolved since arriving on the scene nearly a decade ago with a slightly more heavy-psych bent to their sound. The group hit their stride in 2020 with the release of Chaotic Divine before reaching new heights with the doomgazy Solace last summer, which they’re now following up with a companion piece of sorts in the form of the seven-track Solace LP. While the new record feels like a culmination of everything they’ve released to date, it also feels like the most unique collection of songs the band has cooked up from the moment the album opens with an entrancing psychedelic passage dispelled by vocalist Rob McWilliams’ cavernous bellow.
To hear all four band members tell it, this unique sound is the result of heavy influence from a wide range of artists within and outside the realm of metal, from the “hypnotic-but-heavy” tapestries of Swans, to the midtempo death metal percussion of fellow Midwesterners Ossuary, to the “accessible yet less common rhythms” of Finnish prog-psych surrealists Oranssi Pazuzu, to the “equal parts terrifying and hilarious” misery of NWOBHM figures Darkthrone.
With the new record landing tomorrow via Sargent House, check out their full playlist below along with descriptive notes on how each song they included shaped their sound. You can pre-order Burden here.
ROB MCWILLIAMS
Popol Vuh, “Hüter der schwelle”
I remember diving back into krautrock while we were writing the record, and I got quickly obsessed with the world-building that Popul Vuh does so well. The melodies are treated like mantras and the layers of instrumentation shift in focus from song to song. It’s excellent background music and infinitely complex foreground music when you take a closer look.
Spectral Voice, “Thresholds Beyond”
This band rips. We wanted to get heavier to add some depth to the Solace/Burden juxtaposition, and death metal was a big inspiration for the levels of hell we could conjure up. Spectral Voice makes my favorite flavor in the death and doom realm because it’s absolutely soaking wet in reverb, has brittle and decrepit guitar tones, and their vocalist sounds like he’s getting torn apart limb by limb.
Jon Hassel, “Moons of Titan”
Beautiful and hypnotic melodies that seem to drift in and out of the ether. The chord stacking and swirling textures in Jon Hassel’s music is amazing and feels like a fever dream.
Darkthrone, “Quintessence”
I was driving through a blizzard and felt like putting on a Darkthrone record I’d never heard, and when this song came on it made me want to floor it. The tempo is so heavy it’s impossible not to headbang. When we were writing I wanted to try a new riff that was around the same speed, and it ended up influencing the main riff in “Chasm.” The pure misery that Darkthrone channels is equal parts terrifying and hilarious.
PHIL CANGELOSI
Hum, “Folding”
Inlet came out as we were writing Burden. I was blown away at how great the guitars sound on this record, and I love how the vocals sit in the massive mix. This song (and the whole record, for that matter) has the perfect blend of heavy while also being somewhat peaceful and laid back. Patrick has always loved Hum, but this album was a big factor in us wanting to record at Earth Analog [Hum frontman Matt Talbott’s studio, where Inlet was recorded].
Nails, “Wide Open Wound”
This song is just so massive. I’ve loved Nails for the past 12 years or so, and this track just goes so hard. Whenever we make heavy songs that have that HM-2 vibe, I always want to try to make the guitars sound like this.
Grails, “Chalice Hymnal”
I was listening to this album a lot while we were writing Burden. I love the song structure and use of many different sounds/textures throughout. Grails also has such a good groove that I really wanted to incorporate with our writing style, as well. This record is so fun from front to back—I always find myself coming back to it.
SPENCER OUELLETTE
Dead Can Dance, “Cantara”
I’m a big fan of cinematically oriented music and vice versa. So after what was probably a decade-long obsession with Ron Fricke’s non-narrative films [Dead Can Dance appear on the soundtrack to 1992’s Baraka], I finally made a very rewarding plunge through Dead Can Dance’s discography, which now lives rent free in the REZN inspiration pool.
Oranssi Pazuzu, “Ilmestys”
I was raised on a lot of prog-rock, but it feels like these days a lot of what’s new and fits that description can just feel gratuitously complex without great effect. This Oranssi Pazuzu record [2020’s Mestarin kynsi] was a breath of fresh air for me in that regard. The whole thing feels so cryptic in a really fun way that doesn’t require a hundred relistens to get the gist of. The way they’ve married synths, thick walls of guitar, and accessible yet less common rhythms on this record was really a big inspiration to attempt to channel the same kind of chemistry when building up the tracks on Burden.
Swans, “She Loves Us”
The tapestry of cyclical phrases, dynamics, the insane concoction of timbres, and the sheer patience across this whole record was a total revelation for me leading up to the making of Burden. The hypnotic-but-heavy thing is a coveted target for us, so Swans is a natural reference. We’d decided to lay down some lap steel guitar here and there on Burden, and I think I just unconsciously tapped this Swans record [2014’s To Be Kind] the minute I sat down with that instrument.
PATRICK DUNNE
Om, “Meditation Is the Practice of Death”
Om was a big inspiration for us early on. And Emil Amos’s drumming has regularly been an inspiration to me, especially his fills. The dude has some of the tastiest fills on earth. And his style in general rides the line of rock energy, and Eastern angular-ness that I don’t see anyone else really doing these days. I have many fills that I ripped from Emil.
Tool, “Triad”
I’ve been a casual fan of prog rock for most of my life. Rush has always been one of my favorite bands, but in the last few years my love for prog has increased tenfold. Out of all the prog bands, though, Tool always felt the most psychedelic and mind-altering, which really appealed to a psych fan like myself. Dany Carey is obviously one of the greatest drummers on Earth, but his drumming style always felt more “rock-informed” to me, as well compared to drummers like Bill Bruford or Michael Giles, who were obviously brought up as jazz drummers. I love jazz, but as a fan of rock first, I immediately gravitated to Dany’s powerful grooves and driving fills. His very cyclical hypnotic patterns have really informed my parts over the years as well, including the parts on Solace and Burden.
Ossuary, “Seep Into the Moldering Void”
I was under the impression for years that good death metal had to be a combination of slow and very fast rhythms—the slow parts were only there so the drummer could take a break before going blisteringly fast again. As someone who loves death metal but doesn’t possess the skills to go very fast, this always felt like a barrier of entry to me until I heard bands like Undergang and Ossuary. This midtempo feel is just as brutal and abrasive as a blast beat at 200 bpm. This concept definitely informed parts on Solace and Burden. More mid-tempo death metal in the world, please.
