Noisy Toronto greats METZ have announced that, following their upcoming touring commitments overseas, they will be going on an indefinite hiatus.
"Our upcoming EU/UK Tour will be our last. We've collectively decided to close this chapter of METZ," the trio shared in a release. "The band will be on 'indefinite hiatus' while we take time to focus on other endeavours and enjoy more time at home with our families."
The statement continued:
For the last 15+ years, we've dedicated our lives to this band and have had the immense privilege and pleasure of touring the globe and seeing the world. It has been nothing short of life-affirming. METZ has brought an immeasurable amount of joy to our lives and it's our sincere hope it's brought you some joy too. We are so grateful to all of you who've joined us along the way and have made this life a reality for the three of us.
We are incredibly proud of the body of work we've created and thankful for the lasting friendships and experiences that our music has afforded us. A special thank you to Sub Pop Records for always believing in us and allowing us to chart our own unconventional path. Sub Pop continues to be a glowing beacon of what is good in this deeply flawed industry, and we will always be grateful for their support and friendship. To work with people we consider family has been a true blessing.
Together, we've released six LPs, countless singles, played hundreds of shows across the globe, and have far exceeded any goals or ambitions we could've dreamt up as basement dwellers in 2009. It's always been about the love of music and the beautiful mess that would seemingly manifest when we turned the amps up.
We've taken great pride in drawing outside the lines of convention and existing on our own terms. But no band is an island, and we never could've done a fraction of it without the inspiring and supportive network of family, friends, musicians, artists, labels, photographers, bookers, writers, journalists, independent record store owners, college radio DJ's, and music fans that make this symbiotic wheel keep spinning.
If you've ever attended a METZ show, you know it was more than a band to us. We gave every ounce of ourselves to METZ, and it will be very hard to let it go. The intangible feeling of connection, community, and inclusivity that music creates has always been at the heart of what we do and will inevitably be what we miss the most. We will miss singing, screaming, sweating, and dancing with all of you.
We hope you join us for our final shows and help us celebrate something we will always hold dear.
Love and Peace
Alex, Chris, Hayden
Earlier this year, METZ released Up on Gravity Hill — their first new album in four years — and ranked their five best songs for Exclaim!