The Dirty Nil, Ontario’s rock ‘n’ roll torchbearers, have emerged with their fourth album, Free Rein to Passions, and it’s a return to form for the Juno Award-winning trio. After experimenting with some smoother, more radio-friendly sounds on 2021’s Fuck Art, the Nil promptly returned to the studio and got back to the basics of what their band is about at its core—thrashy riffs, bashed out drums, and levels-to-the-max volume. “Fuck Art had a lot of singing on it. There were not a lot of parts where you could just jam out on riffs,” says frontman Luke Bentham. “Free Rein to Passions is a bit of a nastier record where we didn’t sweat the small insignificant details. If it sounded cool, we went with it.” The band pays homage to some of their loudest, gnarliest influences on Free Rein to Passions, with subtle nods to everything from Power Trip to the Jesus Lizard. The album is a palate cleanser for the Dirty Nil, and a reminder for them to stick to the fundamentals of rock to stay true to themselves. “What was it LCD Soundsystem said about trading in guitars for turntables and synthesizers?” Bentham laughs. “I’d say that’s unlikely for us.”