{"id":70013,"date":"2018-09-26T17:00:02","date_gmt":"2018-09-26T16:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/?p=70013"},"modified":"2018-09-29T13:55:55","modified_gmt":"2018-09-29T12:55:55","slug":"review-gouge-away-burnt-sugar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-gouge-away-burnt-sugar\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Gouge Away – Burnt Sugar"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Depending on your knowledge of baking, the term \u2018Burnt Sugar<\/em>\u2019 will either conjure images of a black, disastrous mess, or a dessert syrup. Four-piece Gouge Away<\/strong> take the much cooler route and come out sounding like the most delicious blackened mess in punk rock right now. Embracing dissonant noise, incumbent riffs and abrasion, they pull every punch and go harder than we\u2019ve ever seen them.<\/p>\n

Opener \u2018Only Friend\u2019<\/em> is an ear-roasting lament on depression that sounds as aggressive as the lyrics are distressing. Vocalist Christina Michelle is a powerhouse on this album and this is one of her best moments. \u201cParanoia comes knocking, she\u2019s my only friend\u201d<\/em> is delivered with powerful, seething frustration. The repeated phrase is slowly surrounded with a cacophony of distortion, seeing the band come to together for an intense final burst of sound.<\/p>\n

Most of the songs here are under the two-minute mark but make up for that with pure power. So when they make things a little longer \u2013 like with three-minute long single \u2018Ghost\u2019<\/em> \u2013 things take a grunge-y turn. Swapping out fast-paced guitar patterns for sludgy riffs, it\u2019s a gloomy but passionate track that revels in its own darkness.<\/p>\n