Gouge Away have been having a great year. The Florida hardcore band has toured with G.L.O.S.S, played Fest 14, opened for Negative Approach and have taken active part in direct action and raising awareness of such matters as police accountability, LBGT issues, hunger insecurity, and consent, all while continuing to work on their first album.
This community involvement and education stretches to the music as well, which could be best described as straight ahead hardcore; fast songs, shout aloud mid-tempo breakdowns, intense personal lyrics that trade in justifiable paranoia, anger at the state, and redemption through healing of trauma.
It is the healing from trauma which is the most fascinating. Where the final half of “Enough” drops its tempo and the response to an assault ceases to be fear and self-recrimination becoming something to be admitted and addressed. Where the repeating line “I wasn’t born to die a statistic” is one of a reclamation of a life altered.
Though we’ve had time with half of the album since May, Eighty-Six Records is taking pre-orders for Gouge Away’s debut album Dies now. You can stream the Dies tour preview and check out their full set from Fest 14 below.
