The Lille sludge quartet that has spent more than a decade hammering repetition into a weapon unloads Thriving today through Pelagic Records, eleven short tracks that Love Sex Machine call uglier, more direct and more violent than anything they have done.
The record stretches the band's sludge toward post-metal, post-hardcore and blackened extremity. It was made almost entirely by the four of them: Xavier on drums, JB and Yves on guitars, Laurent on bass, all four on vocals, with Yves singing lead and mixing the album. "It is probably the most honest reflection of where we are," the band said in the announcement.
The running order: "Yellow Is Dead," "Borrow the Will," "The Herd," "Dig," "Holy Filth," "Awaken," "Born Erased," "Polymorphism," "Ultrasatan," "Amputation" and "Thriving." "Borrow the Will" went out as a single in October, and Pelagic has the full album streaming on its channel.
The opener comes with a story. One lyric, the band explain, began as a sentimental piece about a cat found dead in the neighbourhood and how devastated its owner was, far too soft for an apocalyptic sludge record, so they twisted it until it was deranged enough to fit. It is still a song about a dead cat.