Album Review: Gouge Away - Burnt Sugar (2018)

So…I haven’t posted an Album of the Week since Fantastic Negrito on the the 8th of July! That’s frankly ridiculous and my get your act together posts clearly didn’t do their job. Despite my lack of activity there’s been some great music out there and at some point soon I’ll do a catch up to cover all the albums I’ve enjoyed over the last couple of months. Now I’ve addressed my lack of posts let’s address the album that has broken that spell of inactivity and prompted me to act. That album is Burnt Sugar by Gouge Away.

I’ve been anticipating this album since I first heard the track “Ghost” a number of weeks ago and have been dying to hear it ever since. I was immediately hooked by the rumbling, rolling bass line, the restrained verse vocals and the huge chorus that comes thundering in with explosive guitar riffs and searing hardcore screams of “It makes me wonder if I’ve passed away or been invisible this whole time”. It’s absolutely irresistible and right up there rubbing shoulders with my favourite songs of the year.

After being knocked on my arse by “Ghost” I moved on to “Only Friend”, another single available prior to Burnt Sugar being released. At the time, I wasn’t as immediately hooked but still loved it’s raw sound and energy. It turns out “Only Friend” is the album opener and it’s an absolutely brilliant one at that, starting with a thumping but poppy drum beat before launching into a bouncy bass riff over chainsaw guitars. The vocals of front woman Christina Michelle have some serious clout and she has one of the most infectious snarls I’ve heard.

The bass and drums on this album are fantastic and sound especially chunky and really stand out throughout. You can look forward to pounding, satisfying, thuds, crashes and seriously tasty, metallic rumbles all bouncing along at a pace you can’t help but move to.

The vocals are an assault on the senses with those searing lead serrated snarls, and unavoidably contagious chants such as “hurt is a commodity!” on “Subtle Thrill” and “I’m so fed up with hope” on “Fed Up”.

Burnt Sugar is hardcore, heavy, aggressive and utterly in your face but at the same time it’s fun, bouncy and at times even poppy. There have been some brilliant alternative albums out this year and Gouge Away have come up with something that should be mentioned in the same breath as the very best of them. If that sounds like your kind of thing, you owe it to yourself to listen.

“Gouge Away” are currently touring the USA but are due to hit the UK mid-late October supporting “Culture Abuse” (another great band with a great album out this year). Check out the dates on their website.

See you next time.