Leng Tch'e - Death by a Thousand Cuts

Cockporn
T.P.

The Spew
2002


A familiar conversation, I'm sure, for any music lover -

Friend: I'm starting to get into ___ band. I just got ___ album, and it seems pretty cool.

You: NO, NO, NO, NO! You don't know what you're missing! You have to get ___ album!

This is the feeling I get whenever people say they like the new Leng Tch'e album. I frankly think it's crap, and I say that in a "hate it because I love it" kind of way. The first two Leng Tch'e albums absolutely ruled, and even the rather polished The Process of Elimination generally kicked ass. But the new one is slow, lifeless, and over-compressed, and I won't harsh on it any more than I have to, as I've already reviewed it and done so.

I don't want to be one of those "their old stuff was better" curmudgeons/elitists. But it's really true in this case. Leng Tch'e's second album, ManMadePredator, is probably their best, and probably because of all its Army of Darkness samples. I have a soft spot, though, for their first album, Death by a Thousand Cuts. It's primitive, ADD-afflicted, and, most importantly, funny. The Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy sample in "Cockporn" is classic, and you really can't argue with an entire song about Beavis, "T.P." (lyrics here).

This one is tough to find, as no distro I know carries it, and both the band and label are sold out of it. But definitely seek it out - Leng Tch'e has always branded itself as "razorgrind," and, unlike its new album, this one more than earns that title.

Melechesh, Leng Tch'e, Warface, Facedown Records, and reggae

Melechesh

If you were wondering where Andy from No One Here Is Asking and Jason from Sonic Corpse Glide went (and you will know them by their trail of dead blogs), they've joined forces in the blog merger of the year. Now they're at Clocked In - Punched Out, which is off to a running start. Some metal, some not, no bullshit, don't sleep.

At Stylus, Stewart Voegtlin and Todd DePalma have turned in a fine sixth edition of Left Hand Path. Stew did a feature on Outlaw Recordings, and Todd reviewed some hot buzz records - Bone Awl, Dead Reptile Shrine, Ruins of Beverast, among others.

Julie Pinsonneault has written a great feature, "Women in Metal," for Stylus. The title is overbroad, as the article focuses on the depiction of women in metal media, as opposed to the book-length treatment such a title requires. Though I would have liked to have seen more female musicians mentioned (the article's linchpin, Karyn Crisis, isn't even doing music now), it's incisive and very well-written.

Warface - Climatic Annihilation
Melechesh - Rebirth of the Nemesis
Comparison - Melechesh vs. Soulfly vs. Gregory Peck

Speaking of women in metal, at Metal Injection I've reviewed Warface, which features Laura Christine on guitar. Plenty of women play guitar, but few do so in metal, especially of shredder caliber. You see women behind the mic, bass, and keyboards, but not at the "skill positions" - drums and guitar. Why is that? I've also reviewed the new Leng Tch'e, which is, sadly, a dud.

Facedown Records has been on a hot streak, and they celebrate their 10th anniversary soon, so I un-inverted my cross and did a label profile. Look out for their new signing, Impending Doom - Christian gore grind, believe! I've also reviewed the sort-of-new Melechesh, whose schtick is black/thrash metal with a Mesopotamian twist.

One of their signatures is a drum pattern that totally reminds me of dancehall reggae (in "Rebirth of the Nemesis," it's the first beat after the blastbeats). I've posted an MP3 for comparison. The first clip is from Melechesh's "Deluge of Delusional Dreams," the second is from Soulfly's "Living Sacrifice" (which has the same beat), and the third is from "Pocoman Jam" by Jamaican reggae artist Gregory Peck. I also hear this beat booming out of cars here in Berlin's Turkish quarter. Does anyone know if this beat has a name?

After All - This Violent Decline

Frozen Skin
Violent Decline

Dockyard 1
2006


After All is a Belgian band that plays modern thrash with a touch of Gothenburg-style melodeath. However, the vocals feature traditional singing, which makes for an interesting combination - imagine The Haunted with '80s metal vocals. This Violent Decline is my first exposure to these guys, who've put out six full-lengths since the early '90s. I must say, I'm extremely impressed.

After years of hearing metal with growled, screamed, and rasped vocals, actual singing is somewhat of a relief to my ears. At first, it seems a little dramatic, but it's nowhere near as ridiculous as today's power metal. The vocals are strong and are what make this band stand out. Every other part is firing, though. The band is tight, the riffs are memorable, the leads are concise but fiery, and clean tones occasionally pop in for variety. Some vocal patterns and harmonies in the middle are very reminiscent of Slayer, but the band definitely injects its own melodic flavor. There's not a weak track here.

Fredrik Nordström did the mix, with Tue Madsen on mastering, and the results are as expected - clear, heavy, and compressed. I'm growing tired of this sound in metal, but it's perfect for this material. You can get this album at The End or directly from the band.

Crimson Falls interview

My interview with Belgian metalcore band Crimson Falls is up at Metal Injection.

Whorecore - Protection

Sharing Together
Chain Reaction

Self-Released
2006


Terrible band name, but thankfully the sound doesn't match! Whorecore plays neither, say, swoop-do'd metalcore nor gore-grind, as the name might imply. Instead, this Israeli outfit rolls out death/grind like Belgian bands Leng Tch'e and Aborted, with plenty of half-speed grooves amid the requisite blasting. In fact, Svencho of these two groups has joined Whorecore on vocals. How band practice will work with members in Tel Aviv and Ghent is beyond me, but supposedly a new album is forthcoming this year.

In the meantime, the band has released its debut full-length, Protection. 16 tracks race by in under 29 minutes. Original vocalist Ariel Ron does a fine job with a variety of growls and screams. The guitars run the show, though, mixing tremolo picking, chugging riffs, and creative use of harmonics and pick squeals. Dimebag Darrell is a strong influence; "Chain Reaction" lifts one riff from "A New Level." However, there are other sounds at play, like d-beat and straight-up grindcore. The band is still synthesizing its influences, but the force of these grooves is undeniable.

The production here isn't the greatest. The drums, in particular, sound both boxy and thin. Surprisingly, Pig Destroyer's Scott Hull mixed the album. Given his track record, he must have either been under a time/budget crunch or had bad recordings to work with. I don't mind, actually. The sound has a raw, "underground" vibe, although I don't think that's what the band intended. Syncopated material like this benefits from strong production, so I'm eager to hear what these cats do next. To get this album, email the band.

The band has since changed its name to They:Swarm.

Emeth - Insidious

Impermanence of Being
Mimetic Conflation

Brutal Bands
2004


Speaking of Belgian metal, Emeth is an ultra-brutal death metal band on the aptly-named Brutal Bands label. What makes death metal "ultra-brutal" and not just "brutal"? Really, it's all about vibe. In terms of sheer force, Suffocation hits just as hard as Emeth. Yet the latter is "ultra-brutal" because it's underground as fuck. The artwork makes Dan Seagrave look like Thomas Kinkade, the vocals make Cookie Monster sound like Thom Yorke, and there's not a female in sight. You know an ultra-brutal band when you hear one.

Some would argue that this music has no redeeming social value. And they might be right. Ultra-brutal death metal isn't about musical innovation. The lyrics usually range from meaningless to abhorrent. Yet there's a thriving scene for this music. Why? Because it kicks. It's the sonic equivalent of ripping apart a body, feasting on its innards, and bathing oneself in its blood. There's a purely visceral appeal in this stuff that bigger metal labels won't touch.

If you hear enough of this sub-sub-genre, though, you'll hear variations in the sound. Some bands are more technical. Others use drum machines or vocal effects. Emeth falls on the more technical side, though it's not as geeky as, say, Wormed - I think. Lyrically, the band falls into the category of "big word" metal. Why does metal often fill up lyrics with big words from the dictionary (Slayer, "abacinate," anyone?)? I have no idea what lines like this mean:

The assertion of confinements with infinite dimensions
Is the prediction of an artificial universalization
An anthropo-un-logical source of confusion
The lack of empirical evidence to measure the reticence

However, I do understand the music. Good ultra-brutal metal has certain traits, and Insidious has each one. It's concise, as music like this is best in small doses; here, nine songs clock in at just over 31 minutes. It's well-played; the performances here are tight, fast, and furious. It's well-produced; here, the sound is beefy yet retains bite in the guitars. Emeth put out its second album, Reticulated, last year, and while its artwork was "better" and the songs more polished, its drum sound was abysmally thin, and I much prefer Insidious.

Ultra-brutal death metal doesn't get much better than this, folks. How can you resist a song called "Mimetic Conflation"? You can get Insidious from Brutal Bands or by emailing Emeth.

Crimson Falls, Meshuggah reviews

Two more reviews up - at Metal Injection, I've covered the new Crimson Falls, absolutely ripping Belgian metalcore that's pretty much death metal but for the occasional breakdown. At Stylus, I've reviewed the Meshuggah reissue of Nothing.