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"Cool World" by Chat Pile
review wr1tten by marshall (chvselar)
Yesterday, 11 October 2024, Noise Rock/Sludge Metal outfit Chat Pile released their 6th release (not counting their split with Portrayal of Guilt and their cover of Roots Bloody Roots)
This album is an excellent follow to their release "God's Country", maintaining not only the musical but also the visual aesthetic and theme and it features songs contending to be their greatests. All my lyrical analysis are just how I interpret the lyrics and are not objective.
I am Dog Now
The first track off the album, titled "I am Dog Now" is an excellent introduction. It isn't very emotional and helps introduce the album in a way that is uniform, but doesn't feel watered down. I am Dog Now is exactly what a first track should be, gently placing you into the Cool World. I interpret the meaning of this song's lyrics perhaps as being one of drainage, having someone take away everything from you and watch your temple crumble.
Shame
Second track off the album, "Shame", is one that breaks off the ending heaviness of "I am Dog Now" and starts introducing the emotional clean side of this album. It is possibly one of my favorites, and the most notable. One notable thing about it is the fact that it somehow makes you visualize the lyrics without even paying attention to them, through sheer sound design. I take the meaning of this song to be one of doom. Having everything be lost before you can see it, parental issues. A child opening up their eyes to a broken world worth nothing, knowing that it's a shame not even god wants to do anything about it.
Frownland
Third track off Cool World, Frownland, has the most notable sound of them all to me. The intro is unforgettable, and the combined distorted sludgy tones alongside the clean tones in the main riff make it an unforgettable experience. Frownland, specifically, adds in some themes of hardcore into this album - being one of the heavier songs off the tracklist - . This is another song presenting real life situations through religious imagery and angst. To me, it presents an image of faking yourself to a larger crowd - perhaps, someone you'd plant much authority to -. It is an air of forced inauthenticity, of constant suffering.
Funny Man
Fourth track, Funny Man, keeps the heavy theming of Frownland going and ramps the speed up. To me, it is an amazing song, though it's not exactly my favorite off this record. Funny Man possibly represents an image of being sacrificed and eaten alive by people who believe that they are righteous in doing so. "Pearl and Onyx" is an interesting phrase taken from the lyrics: an Onyx represents a protector from evil, and Pearl represents wisdom and righteousness. More religious imagery to be had here, real world problems.
Camcorder
Camcorder starts somewhat heavy and then serves as to be one of the most emotion-driven, heart splitting tracks off this record. Ray's vocals on this track are simply perfection, possibly the most felt vocals I've ever heard ever. The guitars in this track are also beautifully syncopated and - while the drum playing isnt extremely notable in this record - it helps blend in everything together amazingly, which goes to show you're not required to display your skills 24/7 for them to be apparent. Camcorder could be adressing hypocrisy, change that seems to be more destructive rather than constructive. Change that brings suffering and grief to the shrieking world.
Tape
Sixth track off the record, easily the sludgiest and the perfect amalgam of both heavy and felt sounds this release has to offer. Tape has climbed the ranks as one of my favorite songs, not just off this release, but of all time. Tape could possibly be addressing Christianity alongside many other religions containing extremely harmful beliefs, and about how these beliefs are normalized and society puts the expectation on everyone to respect them.
The New World
The New World allows for the band's noise rock influences to show more clearer than other tracks in this record, being noticeably less sludgy. This track is a great showcase of Ray's heavier screaming range, and an extremely unique experience. This track - while maintaining a blend of unique and heavy in the likes of "Tape" - is extremely unique in comparison to any other track this album has to offer. Life sucks, and sometimes it gets worse. The New World could be talking about this feeling as if it is a literal New World being created eachtime change occurs. Eachtime life kills us.
Masc
Masc abruptly stops all suffering displayed at the end of "The New World" with some quite cheery tom playing, going into an extremely nostalgic sounding riff with plenty of sludge added. This song makes me feel as if I'm looking out the window of a moving car, carefully watching the rain play around it. Though, let's not get ourselves blinded by my perception of this song: this track's true meaning is one of discord, anguish, distrust, exile and lonelyness.
Milk of Human Kindness
I'm just going to be plain honest here. After the end of Masc, first couple seconds of this song completely broke me. This song is tired, bleeding, out of life in an extremely distinct and engaging way. This song is what I will always know this album for. Complete masterpiece. Milk of Human Kindness has lyrics written quite a lot like how a toddler would speak when crying. Broken up words, sentences. It is a song about betrayal, reminding me a lot of the 2nd World War for whatever reason.
No Way Out
It's over, this is the conclusion. Breakdown, this track tells you it exactly like how it is. An ending just as effective as how "I am Dog" was the intro. If you listen to "I am Dog" and then listen to this song, you'd probably be more intrigued in finding out what the fuck went on between. There's no way out of life, no matter what you believe in. No Way Out could be referring to the crushing feeling of how complicated life is and the temporary solution of supernatural belief.
TLDR + CONCLUSION
Cool World by Chat Pile is possibly one of the greatest albums to come out in 2024. It is extremely heartfelt and extremely listenable. It is nowhere near pleasant and also nowhere near being horrible. The only thing that peeves me about this album is the guitar tones sounding really same-y and the drums (as far as mixing and production goes) being quite underused. Inspiration from Nirvana's early work can also be clearly heard, though I believe "Cool World" is a million times better to the likes of "Bleach".
Overall?
"Must-listen regardless of if you're into rock/metal or not. Extremely unique experience, 9/10" - marshall
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