Leng T'Che
The Process Of Elimination

Quietly, quietly, Leng T'Che have managed to release their third full-length album in the span of five years: and quietly, quietly, they have given a solid kick right in the behind to their Italian label, The Spew Records, to affiliate themselves with the more prominent and renowned Relapse Records.

Certainly, at least for their finances, the choice was successful and hence, a year ago (so to speak), “The Process Of Elimination” was released in stores, heavily promoted even with flyers at live shows. And the fans (again, so to speak)? The fans did not appreciate it and labeled the album as a pure commercial operation. Now, I believe it's pointless to try to get into the mindset of the tribes of Homines (not so) Sapientes Brutallarenses because their attitude is often complex and dependent on random factors, but I still want to express my opinion. First of all, who are these damn Leng T'Che? Well, I talked about this more in depth in the other review but an introduction is still due.

Leng T'Che is a Belgian band that has been around for quite a few years and can be considered a side project of some members of Aborted, another important Flemish band. While the latter is more inclined to play Death metal with Grind nuances, Leng T'Che plays Grind with Death nuances. Pardon the tongue twister, but it's the pure truth: while in the former Death elements certainly prevail, in the latter Grind elements have always prevailed, at least so far. By this, I refer to songs, rarely lasting more than a minute, the themes addressed, always socio-political and centered on insulting everyone and everything, and the attitude, carefree and outrageous (the legacy of hardcore punk, one of the two genres from which Grind was born). With the debut "Death By A Thousand Cuts," they partially redrew the lines of Grind and with "Man Made Predator," their second work, they continued to follow the same path, with this latest effort our guys transform.

Something of the old sound remains ("Remote Controlled"), but there are also many pleasant novelties, first of all the successful revival of the sound of Entombed, not those of the early period (copied outright from Bloodbath) but Entombed after their transformation into Rockers. Thus, pieces like "Pimp" or "Motorgrinding" are born, where Death becomes Hardrock and the singer Igor becomes a vitaminized Phil Anselmo. Indeed, the legendary junkie of the nineties lives on in him, busy imitating his look, his attitude to insult (practically a Fuck after another), and, last but not least, his vocalizations. His singing moves from the growling of old times, always less and less, to the screams of old times, also somewhat set aside, to the absurd verses characteristic of this musical genre, ending with a singing style typical of the Pantera frontman, sort of softened scream (or exasperated Thrash singing, as you prefer). Leng T'Che does not disappoint on the technical level and once again presents us with a clean and impeccable performance: the guitarist unravels an endless (but repetitive) series of riffs halfway between Grind, a very violent Stoner and Post Thrash which may not be the height of difficulty but in a landscape like that of Grind they stand out for technique and impact. In fact, it seems that the first intent of Leng T'Che, unlike many similar bands, is not to create the worst noise possible but simply to bust eardrums with impactful music.

The drummer, on the other hand, remains closer to the canons of the genre but overall his performance is the most technical of all: nice tempo changes and a good ability to slow down to give the avid heads of metalheads the right dose of Headbanging. Finally, the bassist, very funny and completely nuts but squeezed between the hammering of drums and guitar. Excellent if not more the production, decidedly less dirty than what we were used to in the previous albums (and therefore less overwhelming) but certainly advantageous for the listenability of the work. "The Process Of Elimination" is a CD that I recommend to anyone who wants to enjoy music to have fun with while still retaining true power: the twenty-four shards of this album are not just good songs, they are also an original attempt to move Grind from its entrenched position and shift it toward a Rock opening that enhances its power while giving a clear cut to its overused clichés.

No Splatter themes, no frills: music, good music to enjoy and listen to when you're in a good mood.