With tongues poking firmly out of cheeks, Bristol band Sugar Horse have included the following sentence in the PR for their third album Not A Sound In Heaven. “This album explores this kind of breezy, frivolous subject matter in a manner that will no doubt be uplifting to the listener and massively financially rewarding for the artist.” The subject matter in question is the impending implosion of the planet at the hands of merciless evil bastards who are hellbent on death and destruction for wealth and greed. Whilst acknowledging that life is hard in this part of the world they want to starkly remind you that there are those in greater need. Those who find that just surviving is a living hell. The self-proclaimed terrible band wanted “to capture the machinations of the geo-political industrial war machine and all the horrors that go with it, without sounding trite or crass”. Remember that.
The guitar tone on opening track ‘Fire Graphics’ is pure caustic, busted amp distortion making the song creak as a thunderous glam stomp beat threatens to derail the whole thing. The threat becomes reality halfway through as Ash Tubb’s voice starts to shred and we hurtle into a furious cacophony of shrieks and scorching guitars. If you thought the first track was vitriolic, well, that’s followed up with the raging ‘Secret Speech’ which has the sound of a band exploding as a chorus. Kind of reminds me of the scenes in Game of Thrones where the dragon lays absolute waste to everything it sees before it, wanton destruction and devastation. Given the inspiration, if that’s the right word, for this album, the band have somehow managed to create a horrific atmospheric.
‘Ex-Human Shield’ continues the horror with guitar sounds that recreate the sound of screeching missiles landing on the earth with brutal thumps. Yet from this extreme noise arises a shimmer of hope in the form of sporadic beautiful little melodic moments. ‘History’s Biggest T-Shirts’ unleashes keyboards (courtesy of Jake Healy) to dramatic effect bringing a little light to proceedings. Ash pulls in a sweet melody before gargling razor blades as the guitars swoop in to obliterate. Around the 3-minute mark of this sprawling epic the keyboards open up the song as heavenly voices soar for a blissful oasis of euphoria. Martin Savage’s choppy drums put an end to the calm but the melodies that flow over the lava-like guitar remain uplifting and joyous. Until they don’t…
Title track ‘Not A Sound In Heaven’ wastes no time in going for the heart with a gloriously uplifting melody and a seismic swell of distorted guitars and soaring keyboards. The heavenly choir swoop down from the clouds before the stunning eruption of noise and melody that ends the song on such a high. ‘Company Town’ etches into your head with a chiselling bass groove from Chris Howarth. Inventive guitar screeches ring out into the darkness and it’s just chilling. By way of release the song opts for a grand finale of drones and thumping beats. Album closer, the exquisitely named ‘Can’t Say Dallas Doesn’t Love You’ spans an epic 10 minutes. It’s in no hurry to get going as it claws its way up from the ether with a menacing bassline and dubby clattering percussion. With a mighty thump of the drum a bilious wave of distorted guitars spews forth. Ash shrieks with a venom of a black metal vocalist, such is his rage. When you think the atmospherics can’t get any more horrific, they ramp up the volume with a blizzard of heinous fuzz. Once passed we find ourselves wallow in the splendour of a mellow moment as those ominous basslines twist into hopeful tones. Jake’s poppy keyboards are the final sounds you hear as the album fades out leaving you calm yet upended by what you have just experienced.
Given the weighty subject matter this album makes for an uneasy listen, but that’s the intent of Sugar Horse. They pull off the unlikely feat of sounding like OMD and Ministry at the same time. Much like the aftermath of a heinous missile, some of the sounds on the album are ugly twisted metal. Comfort comes in small measures, as the overriding sound on the album is one of harsh abrasive noise. The band have absolutely nailed their vision for what this album should sound like. Wouldn’t it be great if their next album sounded a little lighter because the world had become a better place? We can only hope.
