Weird Nightmare – Weird Nightmare (Sub Pop)

As frontman of the pummeling trio METZ, Alex Edkins specializes in a thrilling brand of punk noise seasoned with a dose of Nine Inch Nails’ hard industrial crunch. On the equally exciting solo project Weird Nightmare, the volatile Canadian adds a pleasing splash of melody to the tumult, although the end result is often similar. But that’s a good thing. The tension between chaos and order sparks gripping theater on songs like “Searching for You,” a descendant of “Anarchy in the UK,” the grunge-inclined “Lusitania” and the atypical, eight-minute ballad “Holding Out,” which suggests an angsty sleepwalker. Whatever the groove, Edkins sounds like man on the verge of spontaneous combustion.