Chat Pile / Hayden Pedigo: In the Earth Again Album Review

In the Earth Again is set at a glacial pace, allowing each element to coalesce in its own time. The first two tracks descend into murky purgatory: Instrumental opener “Outside” is led by Pedigo, his plaintive guitar backed by additional axe work from Chat Pile guitarist Luther Manhole, Busch, and Cap’n Ron, who traditionally handles percussion but plays a powerslide lap steel on some of these songs. That track flows seamlessly into “Demon Time,” a hypnotic number in which Busch prophesies the burning of all the castles in the world and the return of every demon. “And they will find you/And they will fuck you up,” he sings, his voice low and even. Despite their tranquil sound, “Outside” and “Demon Time” are all tension, no release. So when “Never Say Die!” begins with a bulldozing power chord and a nuclear kick—the first percussion on the record—it’s pure catharsis. It’s the most characteristic Chat Pile cut on the album: sludgy, detuned, and merciless.

The rest of In the Earth Again alternates between vocal-centric songs and instrumental tracks. “Behold a Pale Horse” is a Pedigo/Manhole duet full of lovely counterpoint curdled by reverb. “Fission/Fusion” begins as a noisy, jolting scrum before settling into something more Metallica adjacent. And “I Got My Own Blunt to Smoke” finds Busch alone with his guitar, seemingly interpolating Timbaland. It’s only a five-note descending scale, but Busch draws out its melodrama to an almost cartoonish degree. It’s hard to imagine that, in light of the goofy cultural references he’s sprinkled across Chat Pile’s past work, he doesn’t know exactly what he’s doing.

Where field recordings and tape loops make indelible contributions to the record’s atmosphere, they fall flat on its eight-minute centerpiece, “The Matador.” “Things fall apart!” Busch yowls several times, and it’s here Chat Pile and Pedigo’s shared sensibilities hold together least. They open the song with nearly two minutes of tape loops before the drums, bass, and guitar build gradually into a monster lick. The music chugs ceaselessly but loses its punch on the home stretch. There’s a great four-minute song here, but the long closing guitar solo is gratuitous, as is the sluggish intro.