Written By Kevin McSweeney
Leng Tch’e Hammered Into Collapse EP Review: Belgian Razorgrind Returns
This is what I love about grindcore. This whole EP is done and dusted in less than five minutes! No fucking around whatsoever!
Though this approach does make the name Leng Tch’e somewhat ill-fitting. It refers to a method of torture from Imperial China, otherwise known as the Death of a Thousand Cuts. (This was actually the title of their debut album in 2002.)
There’s great irony in this, given that this particularly gruesome form of torture is a slow and laborious process that seeks to draw out the agony over the longest possible time before death occurs.
I have listened to many albums that made me feel like I was undergoing such a form of torture, usually in the realm of progressive rock. Grindcore would seem to be diametrically opposed to this approach.
It’s very much a go-for-the-jugular kind of subgenre – inflicting massive blood loss in as short a space of time as possible and having the floor mopped before the victim knows he’s dead.
Having said that, the fact that both tracks on this EP extend to over two minutes in duration, with the latter coming in at close to three minutes, sort of makes them the grindcore equivalent of Sunn O))), or some other outfit whose songs seem to go on for roughly the duration of Lent. In the Kingdom of The Grind, the band with songs over 60 seconds is prog.
Not being one for getting to the point myself, what I’ve neglected to mention so far is that the Belgian “razorgrind” veterans have returned with the Hammered Into Collapse EP, their first collection of songs since their 2017 album, which was cunningly titled Razorgrind.
Now there’s an album that does exactly what it says on the tin! The EP is out now via Season of Mist, the label that has been their home since the release of their 2010 album Hypomanic.
The obvious comparison for anyone who is unfamiliar with them would be with Napalm Death. That’s always my point of reference for this particular extreme subgenre.
Indeed, like the trailblazing Brummies, they have no original members left in their line up, following the departure of Sven de Caluwe in 2007.
If you will indulge me, I will now undertake the arduous and prolonged task of going through these two tracks to see what might be made of them. Bear with me; I may be some time.
Hammered Into Collapse
The first of the two tracks was actually released as a single with an accompanying video that sees the band going at a perfectly good car with sledgehammers.
I could have wept, quite frankly, being something of a bus wanker at the moment. Anyway, from the opening riff and speedy accompanying single-stroke snare roll, you know what you’re in for, as the music metaphorically goes about you with sledgehammers.
They alternate between slower, slam-style passages and faster traditional grindcore. There’s a point just over a minute in, during a slam phase, when the vocals take on a Smeagol-like quality, and there’s even a momentary lapse into pig squeal territory.
They even find time for a deathcore-style breakdown towards the end. The music is of course brutal, and so too are the lyrics. I don’t know who the reviled character depicted therein might be, but this “parasite without a soul” is clearly persona non grata among the gents from Ghent. I can’t help but feel sorry for him.
Voided
I won’t pretend I’m mature enough not to have chuckled at this title. Anything of a scatological nature is bound to cause me to regress to adolescence, but I digress. This track is pure grindcore in its opening stages, with drumming so fast, I believe the gravity blast technique might have been deployed.
The name of that snare drum tactic always sounds like an attraction at Alton Towers or Magic Mountain to me. For the uninitiated, it enables drummers to play twice at twice their normal top speed by alternating between head and rim. Stop giggling at the back.
Anyway, they divert from the tried and true with further forays into mid-paced malice, with something I want to label Ghent djent. Nobody else would define it thus; I’m just an idiot. I love the bit of tribal drumming about half-way through, not to mention the return of the accompanying Smeagol vocal.
The precision of the riffing is very much in the mould of Dino Cazares, and the brief excursion into atmospherics hints at Fear Factory, but it’s all brought to a close in pure grindcore fashion.
The lyrics are as unnerving as on the first track. I particularly like the line: “The abyss is looking back.” It is certainly true that, if you stare into the abyss long enough, it stares into you. Make haste for the puppies and cushions.
Critics might complain that, after a hiatus of almost a decade, they might have brought more than two songs to the table. I make no such criticisms. If anyone can understand a susceptibility to procrastination, it’s a writer.
A friend of mine is still working on his debut novel. He started it when he was 15. He’s now 48. I’m sure it’s going to be a thumping good read when it’s finished. I just hope I get my hands on a copy of the final draft before I die. Likewise, I’m hoping these bludgeoning Belgians don’t leave it too long before they grace us with album number seven.
Metal Lair awards Hammered Into Collapse by Leng Tch’e four devil horns out of five.
Tracklist:
1. Hammered Into Collapse
2. Voided
Line-up:
Serge Kasongo — Vocals
Jan Hallaert — Guitar
Olivier Coppens — Drums
Nicolas Malfeyt — Bass, Backing Vocals
Follow Leng Tch’e:
Website: https://lengtche.net/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Lengtche/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lengtche.official/
X/Twitter: https://x.com/lengtche
Bandcamp: https://bandcamp.com/lengtche
Bandsintown: https://www.bandsintown.com/a/54705-leng-tch’e
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7EB2IrfvbTwc4MBfSY1Sny
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/artist/leng-tche/73629702
Deezer: https://www.deezer.com/artist/5605
Tidal: https://tidal.com/artist/3889603
About The Author
Kevin McSweeney is Metal Lair’s resident scribe of the underground, eternally rummaging through the global metal scene for riffs worth your time.
As the guiding hand behind Seven Deadly Songs every Friday, he has an uncanny knack for finding the track you didn’t know you needed, usually before finishing his pint.
Equal parts loyal, kind, and quietly razor-witted, Kevin brings deep knowledge, impeccable taste, and a steady, reliable presence to Metal Lair.
Read More From This Author:
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Album Review: Keep The Fire Burning by Mikey Ball and The Company
THE COLLAPSE OF A BITTER END ALBUM REVIEW: THE CARTOGRAPHER
Album Review: The Scars by LUGOSi
EP Review: Beyond The New Horizon by iAtlas
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