Review of Leng Tch'e - Marasmus

Razorgrind, huh? That’s what Belgian grinders Leng Tch’e have taken to calling their particular brand of grindcore; as the band’s fans well know by now, they take their name from a Chinese torture method involving the application of thousands of tiny cuts, and so maybe the self-applied tag is somewhat appropriate. Originalgrind it’s not, however, and never has been. Though arguably distinctiveness is beside the point with grind, Leng Tch’e have always struck me as sort of a cute (not metal, I know) and amusing little brother act to better known grind bands. Namely, their first three albums struck me as a hybrid of humorous grinders Regurgitate and Blood Duster. With Marasmus, their fourth album and their second with Relapse Records, Leng Tch’e have followed in the footsteps of Regurgitate before them and moved in a decidedly groovier, more death metal-oriented direction. While this disc is a masterfully executed slab of direct, vicious deathgrind, I can’t help but feel that it’s a little less entertaining than their goofier previous albums.

If nothing else, though, Marasmus sure sounds awesome. Featuring a Fredrik Nordstrom production and an Alan Douches mastering job, Leng Tch’e are leaps and bounds ahead of virtually the entire grindcore game in terms of sound quality. The beefy bottom end and artfully clear tone help to emphasize Leng Tch’e’s increased reliance on chunky, slamming death metal grooves. Tracks like “1-800-Apathy,” “Tight Rope Propaganda,” and “Obsession Defined” hinge upon huge, gravelly mid-tempo segments (don’t say breakdowns—these ain’t they) that could go toe-to-toe with most DM out of New York State. There’s even a Wolverine Blues-era Entombed death’n’roll feel to a few tracks, as heard on “Submissive Manifesto” and “Abstained.” The band’s frequent moments of spiraling blastbeaten chaos have gotten noticeably more elaborate, and vocalist Boris and drummer Sven’s vocal tag team is distinctly more active and biting than in years past. All in all, Marasmus is a relentlessly aggressive and absurdly tight example of Leng Tch’e’s modernized style.

But, sadly, Marasmus just isn’t as much fun to listen to as Manmadepredator or Process of Elimination. As the band’s songs have gotten longer (closer “Trauma and Scourge” is four whole fucking minutes) and their song titles have gone from humorous to completely serious, Leng Tch’e have sacrificed much of the identity that initially endeared them to me. Though there’s obviously scads of sample-laden, jokey grindcore out there, I was always of the opinion that these dudes did it decidedly better than most of their peers. The old song titles were fucking hilarious (Process of Elimination has some of my favorite song titles ever), the samples were used sparingly and to great effect, the songs were super short and often surprisingly catchy, and now what’s left? Another furious but relatively faceless death/grind hybrid act. Marasmus is an extremely solid album that will certainly appeal to many of the band’s existing fans, but I personally will stick to their back catalogue.

Release Details

Leng Tch'e

Marasmus

Comments

Related