Chat Pile

Like the towering mounds of toxic waste from which it gets its namesake, the music of Oklahoma City noise rock quartet Chat Pile is a suffocating, grotesque embodiment of the existential anguish that has defined the 21st Century. It’s self-parody in its bleakest form and within that nihilism something undeniably alluring that four slacker okies would channel into a sound that has captivated the underground and beyond.

Formed in 2019 and adopting the aliases of Stin (bass), Captain Ron (drums), Luther Manhole (guitar), and Raygun Busch (vocals), Chat Pile generated an immediate stir amid a burgeoning Midwest noise rock renaissance and beyond, releasing two EPs, This Dungeon Earth and Remove Your Skin Please. Its debut full-length record God’s Country, released via The Flenser in 2022, would take the world by storm, receiving universal critical acclaim, numerous accolades including Pitchfork’s Best New Music and countless year-end lists, including Rolling Stone’s Best Metal Albums of the Year and SPIN’s Best Albums of 2022. Chat Pile would enter 2023 with a bang, in just the first six months alone, the band served as support for Lingua Ignota’s final run of shows, released Brothers In Christ, a split EP with fellow “Flyover-Country” noise rock outfit Nerver, and made its fiery international live performance debut at Roadburn 2023.

Evan Mester