Unpredictability is a certainty when it comes to Bristol four piece, Sugar Horse. The band has crafted and mastered so many sounds that it brings a genuine sense of intrigue as to what will appear when the next track starts. Even within songs the band has been known to fly from quiet to harsh, loud to blissful and many other combinations in between. Being able to build such suspense and then completely enthral with the results is a very rare skill which makes the band so special. For second album The Grand Scheme Of Things the sense of excitement for each new track is rewarded with some of the most beautiful and most ferocious the band has sounded. The nine tracks verge from ethereal spatial shoegaze to doomed post-metal volcanic riffs of rage, with vocalist Ashley Tubbs putting in one of the most breathtaking vocal performances in these genres.
The press release intimates a more direct and less metal album and as the first three tracks progress it feels just that. The opening run of ‘The Grand Scheme of Things’, ‘The Shape of ASMR To Come’ and ‘Corpsing’ is so mesmerising, euphoric and consistent that I almost felt the words from the press release were gospel. The three tracks swell in a calm beauty and amplify in rousing crescendos led by the aforementioned stunning vocals, and what the band saw as a more challenging songwriting effort has been mastered with absolute aplomb.
However, the album is far from the deathbed of the heavier side of Sugar Horse, if anything it’s got the heaviest album material to date. ‘Mulletproof’ and ‘Spit Beach’ have some very serious doom laden riffs, and my personal album favourite ‘New Dead Elvis’ is the perfect blend of the heavy and light of Sugar Horse. Its closing riff is going to see the end of quite a few of my brain cells when I can see it live. The overriding feel of the album does match to the dictate of the press release, the songs are shorter and more direct but in that approach the beauty is amplified as the focus on a style feeds directly to the listener. ‘Jefferson Aeroplane Over The Sea’ is up with those first three tracks making me want to burst into space to reach the heights of the emotive power the band creates.
As mentioned, unpredictability is a real factor as to why I love this band but the disturbing sense of humour is also a massive draw. Only in the land of Sugar Horse would an album that is more direct and takes a “much shorter amount of time to get to the point” close with a 25 minute song, of which 20 minutes is sustain and feedback with the preceding 4 minutes having one of the most contrasting beautiful and heavy vocal and musical displays on the album. Love it. With The Grand Scheme Of Things, Sugar Horse continue to sound peerless and it’s another majestic release in a growing catalogue of perfection.
