Band:	Love Sex Machine
Album:	Trve
Style:	Sludge metal
Release date:	April 2024

01. Fucking Snakes
02. Test26
03. Trapped For Life
04. Body Probe
05. Canopy
06. Broken Code
07. Carbonic Beast
08. Autism Factor
09. Hollywood Story
10. Mask

When I discovered Love Sex Machine nearly a decade ago, their appeal was that they were some of the most sickeningly crushing sludge metal out there. Trve is still all that, but the soundscapes are just a bit more expansive this time around.

To quote Ilham about the band's self-titled debut: "Gojira slowed down a hundred times, covered with a filthy grimy prod, with reverb hardcore vocals buried in the background", which really sets the mood for how crushing Love Sex Machine's sludgecore sound could be. Think Admiral Angry or Indian but with some of the most vulgar song concepts and a hardcore sound that seemingly predated all the atmospheric developments that deathcore had in the past decade, an exercise in seeing just how oppressive downtuned notes can be. 2016's Asexual Anger takes a slightly different trajectory, one that replaces some of the bile to create a sound that's a bit more refined. Now that's a progression that is continued with Trve.

Leaving aside just how much time Love Sex Machine take between albums, and how glad I am to finally see their name on the new releases page once again, Trve marks a larger development from Asexual Anger than Asexual Anger from Love Sex Machine. One look at the tracklist reveals a bit less instantly disgust worthy titles the way the debut had, but with just enough spice to clearly recognize them as very Love Sex Machine specific. Still, it's not like that wasn't a thing with Asexual Anger as well, but the biggest difference is still in the sound. The djenty sludgecore somehow gets an even larger atmospheric element this time around, both in terms of interludes and in the elements of the songs themselves, to the point where I'd say it borders on atmospheric sludge metal and post-metal.

The heaviness is still present but I feel like it's less oppressive this time around, and it's not just my desensitization to extreme sludge because I relistened to the debut and it still leaves me a mush of flesh. Trve instead feels a bit more grand in scope, like those melodies in "Canopy" could almost be described as "epic". And that's something that is prevalent all throughout the record. Alongside the chuggy fuzz of the sludgy riffs and the reverb-heavy hardcore vocals, a lot of Trve is permeated with some groovy melodies and an enhanced focus on atmosphere that can somehow feel much lighter than expected for such a heavy band due to how post-rock seems to be a point of reference for the melodies as well.

Still, would've rather had a cover art that didn't look so AI generated (which it likely is) for something that has been one of my most anticipated returns.