When hailing from Toronto, you’re a band with plenty of hometown heroes. Historically, the biggest band to call Toronto their home might be Rush, but the list runs long with other massive groups — you’ll obviously also have to add The Band to the list. Indie darlings Broken Social Scene and Metric can still be found doing their thing to major success, too, and in a smaller scope, the independent industrial artist 22Hertz has been doing major work for the genre out of The Six, releasing a debut record and now a single called “Get the Hell Out.” The track breaks ground in a way few modern rock bands can, paying tribute to a genre long since thought gone through a contemporary, fired-up lens.
“Get the Hell Out” is a single that feels almost timeless in its presentation. The song clearly wants to pay homage to industrial legends Nine Inch Nails and Rammstein, and 22Hertz’s own Ralf Muller admits that NIN is the band’s biggest influence aesthetically — but there’s a bit more melody and punch going on from 22Hertz than you’d find in the latest from Reznor and company. “Get the Hell Out” manages to capture a sound from a bygone era and make it new, summoning the strengths of rock and metal forefathers to give new audiences a type of rock they might not be as familiar with.
22Hertz is a project performed and recorded entirely by Muller, forming after the untimely demise of his metal band Point Blank after their five-year run. Arriving on the scene with the band’s debut record Detonate, the time between projects has gone slow as all of the work falls on Muller’s shoulders; even with the space between the projects, though, the material is sure to blow listeners away every time. “Get the Hell Out” sees an evolution of sound and scope from Muller, not only as far as the songwriting process goes, and it delivers a massive new sound for the band to fully dissect and expand upon. Chugging guitars, explosive drums, and vocals that are sharp and perfect for the industrial genre are all on full display as 22Hertz gives what most would agree is their best single to date.
While the future of 22Hertz has been kept under lock and key, Muller has been known to take breaks away from the band to focus on his career in online marketing — that’s not to say that the band’s future is up in the air, but 22 Hertz is far from Muller’s only focus. It’s only a matter of time before a new album drops and reignites a new sector of industrial rock fans into action, but “Get the Hell Out” is a rambunctious single to help bide the time until then. Making Toronto proud every step of the way and delivering a sound that has been sorely missing from the mainstream rock sound overall, 22Hertz is the band to watch if you’re hoping for an industrial revival in a mainstream sense; Ralf Muller has been chipping away at the cause for years, and it sounds good.
Cleopatra Patel