Chepang - Barriga De Verme

Before we get started with the review of this release, I think it's really important that we talk about Chepang as a group first. Chepang is definitely one of the more interesting (if not the most, if we're honest) grindcore bands out there at the moment. What really captures most people's attention is the fact that they use two drummers. It's pretty fucking insane to see two maniacs blasting at the same time and to do it perfectly; unfortunately, this is where most people's understanding of the group stops. Yeah, it's goddamn impressive to have more drummers than guitar players in a band, but I find the most interesting part of Chepang to be that it's not really a band... it's really a collective of musicians that rotate in and out of playing. Because of this, Chepang has presented themselves in many ways - as a 3 piece, 4 piece, 5 piece; so on and so forth. The collective whole of Chepang is what makes BARRIGA DE VERME really interesting; 12 different musicians are present on this recording. 3 guitar players, 1 WARR guitar, 2 people on noise, an organ, 3 drummers, and 2 vocalists (4 if you count the guys on double-duty). Even more interesting to me is the whole philosophy that went into this record - "Choosing an extreme path but without interfering with anyone. Absolute chaos but in harmony. This was the main idea we imagined when we decided to do this project. Challenge here was not to be technically proficient and create a masterpiece but to liberate your mind and be yourself." And damn, did they stick to that. But we'll get to that in a sec - let's talk about the physical record itself. I was able to snag a copy of this limited run of 100, printed on 180 gram black vinyl. I love the art too - it's simple in the sense that it's just piles and piles of maggots and a face, but when you take a good look at it, there are hundreds of them on either side of the record, and it's a really cool piece to look at. There are no frills - no track lists, no credits - no nothing. Just...maggots. Inside there's a liner that has some additional artwork on it as well as the credits and the message and such. So after the record stopped spinning, I had one thought - "What the fuck did I just listen to?". But, this is not a negative reaction. I was truly kind of confused, but also totally blown away. These guys really took their mission (that I note above) and went for it. The record starts out with a solid 5 mintues or so of noise until the drums kick in, and when they do, things start getting crazy. It becomes a chaotic mess of noise and drums, and once that picks up, it doesn't stop until we're greeted with an acoustic guitar track that breaks everything up. It's a peaceful sounding track, which is definitely necessary for what happens next. Following this track, we get a nearly 20 minute long track of absolute fucking chaos. Once the blast kicks in, it's total mayhem until the end. There's ripping guitars, all kinds of crazy vocals, insane drumming - it's an absolute mindfuck. Listen - I love this record. I find it to be really innovative and unique, as well as being a pinnacle of of what grindcore should be - true self expresssion without giving a fuck about music theory or other peoples expectations. They took a concept and ran with it, and they executed it flawlessly. Do yourself a favor and go listen to this. There's a reason Chepang exploded, and I truly hope they keep innovating. Rating: 9/10 Chepang fb Chepang bc

Review by Nick Vecellio