Sugar Horse are back with their new record Not A Sound In Heaven, written and recorded entirely live in a room together with no click tracks and ust one or two takes per song. The result is immediate and visceral and showcases a band unafriad to push their boundaries ever further and make a stong statement of intent at the same time.

It opens with a thunderous punch as the drums crash in with a marching intensity, while dense walls of guitar hit from every angle. When the vocals arrive, it’s unmistakably Sugar Horse, and Chris’s bass work is relentless packed with energy and barely contained anger. And that’s just the opener, “Fire Graphics’, the track notably draws lyrical inspiration from Killing Hope by William Blum, exploring the crimes of American foreign policy in the 20th century and their human cost. There’s even a surprising, almost disco-like rhythm woven in an unexpected but welcome twist that shows a band unafraid to evolve. 

Thematically the album embraces questioning accepted realities and confronting the illusion of dominant narratives in modern society.

“Ex-Human Shield” takes a darker turn. It’s aggressive and unsettling, with Tubb’s vocals shifting between grotesque screams and haunting choral passages. It’s the essence of Sugar Horse: something both ugly and beautiful, punishing yet strangely rewarding. Industrial textures creep in, and it’s clear the band are pushing themselves further into new territory.

Like their previous work, the album’s live recording approach keeps everything raw and slightly off-balance. As Tubb explains, it keeps the music feeling “on the edge of falling apart” and that tension is part of its charm.

Elsewhere “History’s Biggest T-Shirt” arrives with swagger reminiscent of The Cure before drifting into something more ethereal and dreamlike. The track incorporates lines from a speech by Salvador Allende, delivered during the 1973 coup backed by the CIA, which ultimately led to his death and the rise of Augusto Pinochet.

Meanwhile, “Company Town” marches forward with an industrial pulse, drawing from The Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord. Its themes cut deep, exploring the illusion of choice under capitalism and the idea that we’re trapped in systems we can’t meaningfully influence.

Overall, Not A Sound In Heaven is a powerful statement. Sugar Horse sound fully in control pushing their sound, their ideas, and their identity wherever they want, with no fucks given.