Burn Out at the Hydrogen Bar is the debut studio album of industrial rock band Chemlab, released on March 22, 1993, by Fifth Colvmn and Metal Blade Records. It represents the band's only studio release via the label Metal Blade and was reissued by Invisible Records on November 30, 1999. Each "suture" is an instrumental piece splitting the main tracks apart. The track "Suicide Jag" was featured in the game Saints Row: The Third. The album was produced by Jeff "Critter" Newell and has been considered by critics to be a defining moment within the coldwave genre. In 2018 Chemlab embarked on a tour featuring Dead on TV and GoFight members Daniel Evans, Vince McAley, and Mike Love backing Louche to celebrate the twenty fifth anniversary of the Burn Out at the Hydrogen Bar. On June 18, 2021, a remaster of the album was released.

Reception

Aiding & Abetting gave Burn Out at the Hydrogen Bar a mixed to positive review, commending the guitar work and calling the music "user-friendly industrial dance stuff." Rick Anderson of AllMusic awarded the album four out of five stars and said "the band's debut album reveals a group lurching toward tightly controlled sonic pandemonium while still maintaining a firm grip on old-fashioned, blippy, synth riffs and the occasional shred of actual melody." Sonic Boom described Chemlab as "one of the few true industrial rock bands" and "buried deep under the surface of music are influences so diverse and spread out that one would wonder why this particular fusion of decayed guitars and hybrid electronics would be the music of choice of this east coast duo."

Track listing

Personnel

Adapted from the Burn Out at the Hydrogen Bar liner notes. Chemlab Additional performers Production and design

Release history