Tayne – Love – The DevilsHorns

One Listen Review

1st Listen 27 Jan 25
Reviewed 31 Jan 25

Tayne – Love

MNRK Heavy

Released 31 Jan 25

When I received a promo containing the words ‘for fans of Nine Inch Nails’, it was enough to send me into a cold sweat. I am ambivalent to Trent Reznor, to the disgust of some people. However, I decided to brave the debut album, Love by London based industrial trio Tayne and give it the one-listen review.

Although 10 tracks long, Love revels in a tight 30 minute-ish run time, which is to the immense benefit of the album. Opening with ‘Erased’, Tayne hit you with a big, bombastic riff and it features delicious scream that ushers in a very enjoyable track with distorted electronic tomfoolery throughout. A promising start.

This start continues with more electronic gubbins in the 2^nd song, ‘Down’. Again it impresses, even with the distorted electronics driving the narrative. But it is, perhaps track 3

where Love really flexes its muscles. Cage Fightvocalist Rachel Aspe lends her considerable talents to ‘Coherent’and, as a result, creates probably the best track on the album. The distorted aggression is there, but the female vocals sitting alongside the main helps the track step outside the albums norm. A very pleasant addition.

Aspe isn’t the only guest on the album, James Spence from Roll n Tomato, erm, sorry Rollo Tomassi is also a welcome addition. ‘Fear’ is a slower track sitting in the middle of the album that is as intriguing as it is well placed. It’s ever-so slightly restrained nature demonstrates a degree of versatility by Tayne that is appreciated by someone who isn’t 100% on board with the genre.

There are a couple of tracks in Love that don’t quite hit the high-points. ‘We’ is a plodder that lets the mind drift, whilst ‘In This Trend’ never really catches fire, disappearing into the myriad of distorted electronic heaviness that pervades the majority of the album

Truth be told, I expected Tayne to bore me a little, due in no little part to my own musical prejudice. However Love more than surprised me. It has created an earworm that will, hopefully, allow it to grow in my head as I begin subsequent listens. Love is a very impressive debut!