The world is colder now. CHAT PILE’s new album, Cool World, feels like the final exhale of a planet in decay. Released today via The Flenser, this Oklahoma City noise rock quartet takes their signature apocalyptic sound to new, unsettling depths.
If their debut, God’s Country, was a local tragedy, Cool World widens the lens to show the entire planet on the brink. Every note, every dissonant riff, drags you further into the collapsing structures of modern life.
The title—borrowed from a forgotten ’90s film—carries a grim irony. There’s nothing “cool” about the world they depict. It’s a place of violence, not just in the raw aggression of the music, but in the very fabric of existence itself.
As Raygun Busch, the band’s vocalist, puts it, “My dream is that this album accurately reflects the anxiety and agony of living in 2024.” And it does. But it’s not a nightmare you wake up from—it’s a glimpse of the chaos lurking in every corner of modern life.
Musically, Cool World claws and scrapes through sludgy layers of noise rock, capturing a party at the edge of the apocalypse. Guitarist Luther Manhole wanted it to sound like just that, a celebration as the world burns.
The album’s 10 tracks are relentless, but not without hooks—catchy in their dissonance, as if the chaos itself becomes addictive.
Ben Greenberg’s touch on the mix adds another dimension to the band’s already outsider approach. His influence amplifies the suffocating tension that runs through every moment, helping CHAT PILE refine their apocalyptic folk-art into something sharper, more sinister.
Violence is the album’s core theme, woven not just into the lyrics but the very texture of the sound. It’s not the kind of violence that shocks, but the kind that feels disturbingly normal—the everyday atrocities we’ve learned to accept. From the opening track “I Am Dog Now” to the grim “No Way Out,” Cool World offers no comfort, only a reminder of the darkness we’ve become so numb to.
Cool World is available now. CHAT PILE will bring their bleak vision to North America soon, touring with bands like AGRICULTURE and GOUGE AWAY, with an appearance at Roadburn in 2025 already confirmed.
The world might be ending, but CHAT PILE isn’t going quietly.
