198: Chat Pile and Hayden Pedigo - Radioactive Dreams
Though it's not often reflected in the posts here, there are times when I get a yearning for something altogether heavier, a big old slap around the face from some big old riffs before I slink back into the softer edges of things. Such a feeling has often been offered up by Chat Pile, the noise-rock ("sludge metal" apparently) project from Oklahoma who have released a couple of excellent – and excellently boisterous – records since their 2022 breakthrough.
Great news for a more tentative listener like me, then, that a new collaborative album has just been announced with Hayden Pedigo, the instrumental guitarist from Texas who's already responsible for one of 2025's most captivating balms, in the form of his beautiful new album I'll Be Waving As You Drive Away, which was released back in June.
Having relocated from his Texas home, Pedigo is part of the same Oklahoma City DIY scene as the noisy quartet, which is where the seeds of this somewhat unexpected joining were first planted. That bond has led to In the Earth Again, an eleven-song collaborative album being readied for an October 31st release. "We all wanted to avoid the downfall you see in a lot of collab records," Pedigo said upon announcement. "We didn’t want this record to either end up primarily sounding like one of us more than the other."
Lead single 'Radioactive Dreams' is testament to that vision, sounding less like a natural meeting point of their two extremes and much more like a fully-realised new adventure; a whole new world for both to explore and embrace. Moody and downbeat, the track is heavy but always leaves enough space to breathe. The result is a wholly endearing start-point, a murky wash of dense textures and heavy emotion; a storm forming on the horizon; a hint at something potentially extraordinary in the distance.
In The Earth Again is released Oct 31, pre-order here
Watch the video for 'Radioactive Dreams' on GFP here
