LENG TCH'E
The Process of E - Lumination
By: John (lapse) Gnesin
It wouldn’t be a new issue of Resound without ridiculous last-minute hold-ups and other problems, in this issue’s case: a couple of features that weren’t going to be finished by deadline due mainly to time constraints and other issues. Luckily, your fearlessly intrepid (and rather studly) reporter took it upon himself to use this opportunity to introduce the Relapse cult to one of the newest and most exciting additions to our ever-growing roster: Belgian Razor-Grinders: Leng Tch’e!! At literally the 11th hour, myself and Sven de Caluwe, L.T.’s drummer (also a member of Aborted), accomplished a first in Resound history, an interview conducted entirely over instant messenger! Without further ado...
Sven: Turbonegro
Resound: Haha, how long are you gonna be on?
Well it's late, hehe, but you tell me how long I need to be.
No, I can't keep you up man, lets do this. Ask me questions.
Eh? Hahaha, you're supposed to be the journalist, I'm supposed to be the stuck-up asshole giving witty replies or something like that.
Ok, well first lets talk about the cover art and the themes of the new album, it was based on “American Psycho” right? sort of?
Not really.
I thought you told me you were gonna use all samples from that movie? No?
Maybe the imagery on itself (cover) can be related to the movie as to the graphic style, there are no “American Psycho”
samples just some really dumb ones, hehe.
Ok, well then you tell me what its all about, you're the artist, haha...
The whole 'concept' if there is one (several songs on the record deal with this topic) is the apathy people get from a stereotypical life just doing the same routine, day in, day out. This particular guy which is on the cover had enough of his 'schematic' life and decided to go loco on his utterly annoying colleagues. There are so many people doing jobs they hate, complaining all their lives without doing anything about it. So is the imagery of video cameras/tv cameras on the cover a commentary on how the media portrays these incidents?
Exactly.
Who wrote the lyrics?
I did for the most part but some were done by the new singer Boris due to lack of time & me being totally drained from the other 20 songs & the whole new Aborted record.
Were you literally working on both the new LT and Aborted at the same time, writing-wise?
Yes... actually, yes, hahah.
What was that experience like?
The L.T, took a longer time to write, since we did the Aborted in 2 months. I'd say that we did the Leng Tch'e over half a year or so, with all the line-up shit we went through slowing down the band. But in a way it's good since we thrashed out a lot of the songs & rewrote a lot of things to get things really the way we wanted this time around. And no filler stuff which was a bit more the case in the rather rushed first albums. That experience left me severely traumatized, my ass still smells like cabbage and I'm still unable to come up with any decent pick up line...
And now you are coming over to the US with both bands at the same time, can you keep up the pace and are you excited about your second visit?
I hope so haha, I'm seriously wondering what all that will give everyday for a bunch of days in a row. I mean I've played shows with both bands and that wasn't really a problem if there was a little break, but now it's every day so it's definitely a challenge, one I'll gladly take. There is just no option of leaving one band home, they both really want to do it & I don't want to be the party crasher obviously. Fortunately they're spread out around the MD Fest so that means a little rest. We're totally psyched on the second coming. The first time around was a lot of fun, and that's what Leng Tch'e is all about: having fun. Not in the way that we play silly music (well uh, I'll let you decide on that) but just having fun among ourselves, having fun playing the shows, etc... If LT wouldn't be fun anymore , there wouldn't be any reason left to do this. We're also stoked to come out & play a bunch of new songs, and introduce the new singer, who has been, honestly, working miracles!
So what’s the story with Isaac's exit and how did Boris come into the fold?
Well, the whole decision regarding Isaac was probably the hardest call to make band-related. He's a very close friend for nearly a decade and he was a big part of the 'image' of the band with the whole ninja thing. Unfortunately things really didn't work out anymore on the musical front, we weren't happy with the vocals and we basically saw things 180 degrees opposite of him so we figured it was just better to go apart as friends than to just keep it drag on, have a CD no one is happy with & then end it all in a big fight later on. He's still a good friend & we wish him the best with all his other musical plans, it's a pity things had to come to this, but we did try to solve everything differently till we had no other choice of going this direction.
Boris I knew for like 10 years with Suppository. Replacing Isaac would take one hell of a crazy asshole on-stage, and we wanted to have a really good, powerful singer as well, Boris came to mind nearly immediately, and was also recommended by a few close friends. We called him, he was psyched, a week later the vocals were tracked on the record in one day, everything just went really naturally & smoothly, we're extremely happy with the result & the contribution Boris brought to the band on record & on stage
So tell me about the Belgian scene, in comparison to the many other places you have played. What makes it special other than the beer and frites?
Eh... That’s a tough one. There is a very active scene, but there are just way too many shows, some weekends there are 10 shows in this little country. Maximum drive length in this hell-hole is 3 hours so you can imagine there's quite an overkill sometimes; but on the other hand there's a lot of good bands, and some good organizations supporting those bands. They all work harder to get out there and there's some hidden talent, that just needs to get itself exported I guess. On a side-note Belgium is the only country you can get beer at any time of the day, woot!
I heard the Morbid Angel shows are going well, and then you guys come stateside for a short run around Maryland Death-Fest, what else is shaping up this year or is too soon to tell?
Well, so far we're just booking a bit everywhere around Europe, having a bunch of shows in France, Germany, Belgum, Switzerland, etc... I don't think we can do a full tour this year, we're supposed to go on a bunch of dates of the Cephalic Carnage tour in June as well and we're confirmed on the FURYFEST in France which is huge. I think things will really start to move on the show front once the new record gets out as we're definitely planning on promoting it as well as possible & just playing as much shows, anywhere, whenever possible. It's all about playing live
You have an upcoming split with Pig Destroyer too, got any fresh info on that, did you cut the tune during the album session?
We planned on doing so, but we figured why not give the album all the songs, so that's what we did. We're already
writing up new stuff for that split, and it also gives Boris more of a chance to do his thing 100% on those new songs then , since I won't have to worry about lyrics & vocal patterns anymore. The stuff we have so far now is in the vein of the new record, but just a little step 'crazier' again I guess, trying to experiment a little with what we can do extra to the grind.
We also have to talk about your visual art skills..., what projects/ albums are you currently working on in that capacity?
Lately I've been doing a bunch of new sites, killing some hard-drives, working on the new Severe Torture layout, did the new Immolation art and layout, I also did the limited edition cover & new merch for Aborted. I’m also going to start soon on a new website for Agoraphobic Nosebleed and Visceral Sound (Scott Hull’s studio) along with some more projects pending right now but at this point I'm just trying to get these finished, hehe.
Sounds like a full plate, if you get any time to listen to tunes, what are you diggin these days?
Hmmm, basically what keeps coming back is Burnt by the Sun, I just love that band. Converge has been playing a lot, the new Soilwork, Balboa... Blood duster and Hemdale always finds it's way back in there as well. Koldborn, a newer band from Denmark, also really impressed me lately. Great death metal! It really varies, I listen to a lot of stuff, not necessarily grind, death or extreme metal, sometimes I’d rather just listen to classical or Queen, it all depends on the mood & being open minded is a good thing, I think.
Let me see, i think i got enough for the interview. Any messages for the ladies out there? or small boys? or cute dogs? Or you can just send me more songs...
Buy our cd, or we'll send Johnlapse, Biolich and Copremesis to your houses, NAKED, holding hands, dancing the lambada & singing 'Beautiful' from Christina Aguilera. We can do it, We know where YOU live, so give in to the money-machine already & get us those hoochie-mommas already, that is all.
By the time you read this both Leng T’che and Aborted, along with tons of other killer bands will be preparing for the 3rd annual Maryland Death-Fest, to take place May 28th & 29th. The Process of Elimination, the band’s third album and Relapse debut will be forthcoming, slated for a June release date. If you have been living under a rock for the last five years, both of L.T.’s previous efforts: Death by a Thousand Cuts and Manmadepredator are available from Relapse mail-order now!
You can find out more about Leng Tch’e by visiting their site: www.razorgrind.com
For samples of Sven’s brutally amazing artwork check out: www.dirged.be
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