If there is justice in the world, Chepang‘s Chatta will go down as one of the most influential grindcore albums in the history of the genre. In their relatively short existence, since their release of the piledriving Lathi Charge in 2016, Chepang have been rewriting the book on grindcore. Rather than trying to outdo any of the first tier, Grindcore-101 bands by trying to play faster, to growl with more uvula, or to offend with more grotesque or misanthropic imagery, Chepang have carved their own path, integrating more global instrumentation and experimentation. While early Napalm Death has a hand in the band’s sound, the creative approach appears to be more like that of Painkiller, for whenever Chepang is faced with deciding between staying true to the rudiments of the style and following a creative vision, they choose the latter.
Though their music is priceless, arguably more valuable to the heavy music community is the work Chepang does as international genre ambassadors. In a digital world, the grindcore community is large and closely knit, made all the more so thanks to the efforts of Chepang and the Gurkha Commando Blast Team, a loosely defined, DIY group whose vision is worldwide, united grindcore community, bonded by mutual support and dedicated love for the music and for those who make it.
This is what the world needs now. This very mentality, expressed more generally, would solve so many of our local and global ills. It is hard to imagine what Henry Wadsworth Longfellow would say if he found us applying his maxim “Music is the universal language of mankind” to grindcore, but the Gurkha Commando Blast Team are the living embodiment of this ethic.
On December 19 and 20, from 7:00 PM – 9:30 PM EST, Chepang and the Gurkha Commando Blast Team are hosting a historic event, one that will be the first of many, with any luck. In the most explicit expression of their borderless, boundless vision of grindcore, they are hosting a two-day, 20-band digital festival: Global Grindcore Alliance. While it seems vulgar to look for silver linings in our current global pandemic, it also seems impossible that these 20 bands from 12 different countries could ever be featured on the same stage at the same event. This is a rare opportunity to see a sampling of what the world has to offer a global grind community.
DAY 1 (Alphabetically)
- ANTIGAMA (POLAND )
- BANDIT (U.S.A)
- BLIGHT WORMS (AUSTRALIA)
- CHADHEL (QUEBEC)
- CHEPANG (NEPAL)
- CHRISTWVRKS (SCOTLAND)
- COGNIZANT (U.S.A)
- CONVULSIONS (SPAIN)
- DEAFTRAP (GERMANY )
- DISCORD (NEPAL )
DAY 2 (Alphabetically)
- ENTRAILS MASSACRE (GERMANY)
- GENDO IKARI (SCOTLAND)
- LITTLE PUPPY PRINCESS (SOUTH KOREA)
- METH LEPPARD (AUSTRALIA)
- MATSUBARA X RYOKO X KENTA (JAPAN)
- ROT (BRAZIL)
- TEETHING (SPAIN)
- TEST (BRAZIL)
- THIN (U.S.A)
- WHORESNATION (FRANCE)
What Chepang, the Gurkha Commando Blast Team, and like-minded musicians like Takafumi Matsubara are doing is important, nay, vital, to a world that is paradoxically isolated at home and more connected than ever. Supporting this event means supporting the cause of the worldwide musical family. Supporting this event means saying you were there for the first Global Grindcore Alliance, for it deserves to be the first of many.
Read Cvlt Nation’s review of Chatta here.
Get tickets to Global Grindcore Alliance here.
Get music and merch for Global Grindcore Alliance here.
Chepang spoke to Cvlt Nation about this amazing event.
Chepang has been working at bringing international artists together for a while, most recently with the formation of the Gurkha Commando Blast Team and the very collaborative Chatta. Can you talk about those two projects a bit? Can you talk about what drove Chepang to focus on collaboration, especially with international artists?
2 different projects but united with one goal to expand and collaborate with various artists around the world to dig deeper into unknown uncharted areas of extreme music and grind. The focus is basically to expand beyond a traditional grindcore band and not limit yourself to one scene and one style but to work together to achieve that’s beyond a limited scope of extreme music . Whether it is just the music or the friendship that lasts eternally beyond that, the goal is to strive together to achieve this .
Can you explain what the Global Grindcore Alliance is, and can you say a bit about how the idea came about?
The Global Grindcore Alliance basically came up due to Covid and how limited everyone was in terms of performing live music. We wanted together to find a platform where we can perform and showcase what we have been missing out on live music due to covid. This also serves as a purpose to benefit all the bands that are involved to provide them with finance if it goes well to keep motivating and also supporting them to make more awesome music.
Do you feel like grindcore is better suited for a global project like this than other genres? If so, why?
All forms of music I think are suitable for global projects with the internet and social media age that we have currently . Especially in grindcore there are so many bands spread across the continents that have great music out there with great motive , however some of it is too underground to come out which is why this project to go global is more important. We will make new friends and give new inspiration to each other around the world.
How did you select the bands for this project?
We selected the bands which we have been listening to and love a lot personally and felt we had some kind of connection with that . Thank you to all of them for putting their hearts and grind into it during these tough times.
Were there any major obstacles to this project?
Logistics for sure with the covid restrictions in various countries , we had scheduling issues and as well as venues, etc. But everything came through just in time so we are super happy about it.
What are your goals for the future of this project?
Showcase global grindcore scene and also promote the bands around the world who are looking for platforms and avenues to further enhance what they already have achieved. If we can set up a fund to help bands sustain for the future, that would be for sure the ultimate goal, not sure if it is achievable financially.
Are there bands around the world that weren’t a part of the project but that you feel deserve more attention?
Countless bands for sure. It would be hard to knit pick names, but for sure this will I hope come in GGA vol 2.0 and 3.0 etc in the future.
Is there anything else you would like to say?
Thank you for doing this and big shout to all the bands, their crews who made this audio and videos happen. Special shout to to Aaron from Nerve Altar and Frank from Maximum Volume Silence for the support. Tune in to check the show and BUY THE TICKET as well as Merch if you can help the bands out.
