The modern musical landscape generally glosses over the importance of rock music. For the last decade, most rock music has focused on channeling indie sounds and aesthetics, even when the bands are on major labels and couldn’t be further from being “indie.”
The popularity of lo-fi, bedroom rock has taken over the high-ticket stadium rock mindset, and as a result, bands have had to take stock of everything on their plate — however, there is a subset of rock music that has been able to continue keeping on with hardly any distractions or outside influence: metal, and all of its thorny subgenres. One such band under this umbrella, 22 Hertz, has made a great career happily chugging along within the industrial music bubble. It’s a niche, but it’s pretty infallible if the fans can find you, and with 22H’s new single “Get the Hell Out,” it seems like the band is still doing great work with its expanding fanbase.
“Get the Hell Out” is a single that continues the work established in 22 Hertz’s debut record DETONATE, shifting metal lyrics and industrial style into a catchy, radio-friendly distillation of the industrial genre. It taps into the late-aughts vibes of She Wants Revenge, who took a vaguely Nine Inch Nails sound in the band’s absence and made it more commercial and pop-driven. 22 Hertz is doing similar work now, expanding upon the landscape originally claimed by Nine Inch Nails, and the tandem energy of following both bands has made for a very interesting contemporary rock landscape.
There aren’t any twee, “ho-hey” crowd-chanting moments to be found in this realm of rock ’n’ roll, as “Get the Hell Out” focuses first and foremost on doubling down on lyrics that used to find themselves at home all over mainstream rock: “I will feed you things you crave to hear, I will justify all of your fears. I used to think that I was in control, but now there’s someone else in my soul.”
“Get the Hell Out” arrives with a music video that complements the single perfectly. The band performs in a broken-down, desolate industrial complex amongst a color palette of grays and blues — there’s the imagery of a dominatrix, body contortionists, and men in masks, and the overall vibe of the video is full of dark energy with sharp imagery and a well-crafted, well-shot video. Having hit over half a hundred-thousand views, it seems to be 22 Hertz’s biggest hit to date, and it falls in line with the critical acclaim the single seems to still be receiving.
There’s plenty still on the table for the band to tackle next, and the future of 22 Hertz has been quiet… which means something is likely to happen soon, at least in past experiences with other bands. There’s still plenty to get done, but seeing as 22 Hertz is the creative brainchild of Ralf Muller and Ralf Muller alone, there’s quite a lot to do for one man. “Get the Hell Out” is a knockout release from the band, and a comforting statement on what it means to thrive in the modern rock industry.
Mindy McCall
