Languid

Reviews

Languid Resist Mental Slaughter LP reissue

This reissue of the debut LP from LANGUID of Canada contains bonus material of their first demo as well, and the remastered production (by Kenko from EXPLOATÖR/VERDICT) rips. If you are not familiar, LANGUID play raw, distorted D-beat crust in the style of DISFEAR, TOTALITÄR, DISGUST, DISASTER, or ASPECTS OF WAR, with some hints of MELAKKA…you know the drill. It’s great. I only have the follow-up LP to this and then their third, so this comes at a perfect time as something I could never get. What was even more great was when I caught their set in Oakland—an endless barrage of rhythmic noise, which cut to silence for brief arrests only to detonate once more. LANGUID stands out on drum fills, sizzling feedback with a piercing edge, DOOM-ing vocal pace, a full grumbling sound that is equal parts fluid and harsh. The title track is particularly haunting. Did I mention all LANGUID cover art rules? You can’t go wrong here if you never got this or the demo. Like me.

Languid A Paranoid Wretch in Society’s Games LP

If D-beat was an Olympic sport, it would probably be diving—like diving, to the unversed, it pretty much always sounds and looks the same. Only self-proclaimed experts can actually tell the brilliant kind from the mediocre one, and everyone can spot a really botched dive just as well as an excruciatingly boring D-beat band. And if D-beat was an Olympic discipline (it won’t be until 2032), then LANGUID would possibly win a gold medal. This Edmonton band has been going since 2015 and has delivered quality orthodox D-beat ever since, but their new album A Paranoid Wretch in Society’s Game (a very COVID-compatible title) takes them to new heights. D-beat is a subgenre based on strict expectations, and LANGUID knows the game well and totally meets it with a heavy production, perfect Swedish D-beat riffs, some groovy bass lines, a very pure version of the beat on the drums, and shouted vocals with the compulsory scansion, flow, and accentuation. LANGUID belongs to the Swedish branch of the loving D-beat family and clearly aims at emulating DISFEAR (A Brutal Sight of War-era), DISPENSE (In the Cold Night-era), and the most obvious reference by far, Remaining Right: Silence by MEANWHILE, a band who under the name DISCHANGE were one of the very first bands in punkstory to try to sound just like DISCHARGE. So from a creative stance, LANGUID tries to sound just like a band who tried to sound just like another band. Referential punk poetry in action. This album is a pure declaration of love to the mighty D and probably the strongest work in the Swedish-styled D-beat category in a few years (it is admittedly a narrow category). This gem was released on D-Takt & Råpunk Records, a label that specializes in such delicacies, the aptly nightmarish artwork was drawn by Adam Kindred (from CONTAGIUM and ZYGOME), and it was mastered by Kenko…from MEANWHILE. A future classic, to be sure.