While most new artists who appear on my radar disappear into the ether of my memory almost instantaneously, I can still recall the exhilarated, ‘What is THIS?!’ moment listening to the sophomore LP METATONIA from Max Diaz. His latest rancorously kinetic track, CBT, digs into the volition of hardcore punk and tempers it with snarling, scuzzed, relentlessly rhythmic alt-rock.
If you step into the pit while this track is played live, you’d better hope there’s an ambulance outside. It’s an annihilation; the absolute epitome of cataclysmic catharsis as it screams through the frustration of being affronted with a medical system that’s in no way equipped to deal with the mental fallout of existing within a mind-twisting society. As a therapeutic tool, CBT may not help, but my fucking god, as a track, it slaps the disorder and disdain right out of your synapses.
Spitting fury from the cross-section of realism and nihilism, Diaz has garnered reverence by rupturing expectations with an unpredictable sonic signature that never stays shackled for long but always retains its cerebrally sardonic sting. Fresh off a sold-out 40-date North American tour and already primed to headline the Bullseye Tour this summer, Diaz’s DIY ethos doesn’t waver under the pressure of a growing spotlight. Before he hit the coast-to-coast grind, he was already commanding festival stages across Texas, colliding hardcore with alt-rock on his own terms.
CBT is now available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify.
Review by Amelia Vandergast
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