A quick one coming at you to round out the threepeat from me this week, but how could I pass up the opportunity to shine more light on some of the great metal being released this year, and some of the great beer I’ve had the pleasure of sampling?  Drink once more from the cup of heresy.  This week’s offerings: Leng Tch’e’s Hammered Into Collapse and Maplewood Brewing and Distilling Company’s Morbidly Obese Pug.

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The Tunes: LengTch’e’s Hammered Into Collapse

It’s been nearly a decade since the last installment of the Belgian group’s self-described “razorgrind,” an amalgamation of grindcore, death metal, metalcore and stoner rock. While there are no original members of the band left, the lineup on Hammered Into Collapse is the longest-standing lineup yet, and this little two song EP is meant as both a sign of life from the project, and a way to push the band’s sound forward into the current decade. A lot of time has passed for Leng Tch’e, but the ethos is still the same: get in, get the point across, get out, and do it all with the maximum amount of intensity. Hammered Into Collapse is only two songs, but it’s as strong as anything the band has put out in their tenure, and on it they collaborate with some of the heavyweights of US hardcore production, giving these songs life and heft that make them sound right in line with bands like Full of Hell and Vitriol.

God bless a grindcore release. You can call this whatever genre you like, and all the requisite components are there, I assure you, but Hammered Into Collapse is two songs long and clocks in at just about five minutes grand total. It’s gonna be hard to stretch this out into a full paragraph, but hey, at least that also means that I get to talk about each song individually. The opening title track is a blistering assault of metalcore-forward grind goodness, driven by an exceptionally crunchy riff from guitarist Jan Hallaert. This thing is a fucking pit anthem if I’ve ever heard one, and there isn’t a second of the two minutes and change that aren’t entirely dedicated to that lovely combination of physical violence and camaraderie that is metal shows. The lyrics provided by vocalist Serge Kasongo tell of a “cerebral hijack” and describe the slow but relentless descent of society into waste, all bellowed and roared from the bowels of the vocal chords. Similarly, “Voided” continues this sonic assault with a lot more grindcore gusto, coupled with a healthy dose of some groovy death metal, breakdowns aplenty and just a kiss of the stoner rock vibes towards the end. Of course, the whole thing is gone in a flash, but Hammered Into Collapse should prove to be just the beginning for the new mark of Leng Tch’e.

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Hammered Into Collapse is available now on Season of Mist. For more information on Leng Tch’e, visit their official website.

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The Booze: Maplewood Brewing and Distilling Company’s Morbidly Obese Pug

A name is pretty important in the craft beer game: it’s a pretty saturated market, so if you want to get new people to try your beverage, you need to get a hook in right from jump. Thankfully, Morbidly Obese Pug did just that for me, and gave me another great beer to gush about to boot. It is another entrant into Maplewood’s Fat Pug series, this one being an imperial milk stout brewed with lactose, roasted malt and vanilla beans. It’s exactly what you’d expect from an imperial stout, but extra smooth and sweet from the vanilla and lactose, and just a little funky from the malt, but it is a wonderfully well balanced brew. As I’ve previously mentioned, I’m not a huge fan of cloying sweetness in beers like this; it should have a little sour or a little bite to cut through, and the roastiness of the malt helps temper too much of a good thing. Plus, at 10% ABV, it’s got your boy feeling fine. We’re lucky enough that Maplewood is always available for us, but these special runs are still a treat every time they come up, and now that the weather is finally changing I think this might be heavy in my fall rotation.

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Until the next round, cheers and be good to each other.

-Ian