Staff Pick: Gouge Away - Deep Sage

For fans of: hardcore without boundaries

What they say: When heavy bands branch out, it sometimes comes at the expense of their previous crushing chaos, but Gouge Away pursue new directions primarily in service of increasing their overall intensity. When they launch into the seasick hardcore riffs of “Spaced Out” or the queasy AmRep fuzz of “The Sharpening” (which features some of Michelle’s most unsettled vocals across any of the bands’ records to date) the impact is felt more directly because of the quieter moments: Each of Michelle’s shredded screams arrives with the hair-raising jolt of a jump scare. It's a new trick for Gouge Away, and an effective one—they force you to let your guard down for a moment, and then they shove your face straight back into the concrete. - Pitchfork

What we say: 6 years was worth the wait… Gouge Away returns with an album that’s otherworldly. I can’t wait to be at their Seattle gig in the pit pogo-ing and yelling “spaced out!” then promptly crying through all of Dallas. The fact that they recorded Deep Sage live to tape makes it even more astonishing, personally.