CHUGGERNAUT are a Groove/Southern Metal bands hailing from Boston, Massachusetts. The band was founded in 2013 and so far they have released one EP titled "First Batch", the EP "Kodiak" is their second release. On their Bandcamp page they describe themselves jokingly as "regressive Metal", which suggests that they probably are not trying to reinvent the wheel when it comes to Heavy Metal. One can tell right of the bat - also by the bit tongue-in-cheek band name - that their main goal is to write fun, hooky songs.

The album kicks off with a typical up-tempo Southern rocker "Stranglehold" with chunky riffs and a big melodic chorus. The singing is super high energy, maybe a bit too try hard. At the end the singer surprises the listener with some core-y vocals, which give the song a bit of a modern twist. "Control Burn" is another solid groovy jam.  It's a shame that the singing sounds a bit too strained in the chorus. "Disposable Monuments" changes pace a little, it's a mid-tempo song with an impactful emotional chorus. After the bridge come some Death Growls, which add to the emotional charge of the song. In "Black Lung" we hear a super heavy staccato riff that sounds distinctly like post-2000 Metal, the chorus is super catchy - calling it anthemic wouldn't be too big of a stretch. In "Aftermath" we hear some straight-forward Thrash riffs mixed in with the groovier parts. The song unfortunately doesn't do it for me as much as the other songs do, the chorus has a bit weaker hook than the other songs.

I like the spirit behind the music, and these guys certainly know how to write a good hook.  Unfortunately, sometimes it lacks finesse, but that comes only with time. The production is a bit weaker, which is to be expected form an unsigned band.  CHUGEGRNAUT show promise and the EP is worth a listen. Let's see if they are able to come up with at least an incrementally better release in the future.