CHEPANG Signs To Relapse Records; Jhyappa Full-Length To See Release On May 23rd + âParichaya 2.0 / Shakti (Force)â Video Now Playing

April 7, 2025 Infrared Magazine Music News, News, Press Releases 0

Photo by Steklovata Inc.

Relapse Records welcomes blistering grindcore force CHEPANG with their label debut, Jhyappa, set for release on May 23rd.

Hailing from Queens, New York, by way of Kathmandu, Nepal, CHEPANG has never been your by-the-numbers band. They dub their music âimmigrindcoreâ and use samples from Nepali pop songs. They sing in Nepali. They embrace their immigrant identities. CHEPANG melds these elements together into an album about self-immolation as a means of self-preservation. Jhyappa touches on these philosophies through a ferocious grindcore attack that sounds as violent as the means through which the band wishes to achieve redemption.

The band comments, âCHEPANG is really stoked and thankful to Relapse Records and everyone involved for taking us in as a part of their family and roster. We are looking forward to the future and carrying on this ‘pursuit of understanding one’s authentic self’ through this video and the record.â

Today, CHEPANG shares the official music video for the albumâs opening tracks âParichaya 2.0 / Shakti (Force).â

Watch the full video, directed by CHUM Media, HERE.

Jhyappa will be released on CD, LP, cassette, and digital formats. Find preorders at Relapse.com HERE.

Jhyappa was recorded and mixed by Kevin Bernsten (Full Of Hell, Integrity, ILSA) at Developing Nations and The Magpie Cage Recording Studios (drums only) and mastered by James Plotkin (Electric Wizard, Thou, Gridlink).

The lyrics on Jhyappa are âhardcore Nepalese,â guitarist Kshitiz Moktan says. “This record is more personal,” he says, about âtrying to relearn everything about yourself, releasing all your negative energy inside you.â Jhyappaâs cover art by Masato Chaos is based on self-immolation. But not âabout any religion or any government; itâs against yourself. Everyone has their struggles, in their own head and in life, but the only one that can fix that is you,” Moktan explains. âOne has to be closer to oneâs self spiritually to defeat this and come out victorious.”

NYC is also referenced throughout the band’s output. âAll of us have lived half of our lives here. We live here, we see everything, positive and negative, so we wanted to have some kind of New York [vibe],â Moktan says. On the streets and in the subways, the band always sees âmany people of different colors and races with their own life and story to tell. These are dynamic cues in life and serve as a motivation and also pride to be a part of this big city where diversity is everything. A melting pot of cultures.â

True to that mentality, CHEPANG has played the world over on the backs of their prior records. From playing Obscene Extreme in Czechia to tearing down the walls at Baltimore Soundstage as part of Maryland Deathfest, the band is poised to revisit the world-over once again with their unique grind.

Musically, the band decidedly wanted to call back to their first cult-collected 7â from 2016, Lathi Charge, and go full circle â oldschool CHEPANG. Although Jhyappa is similar to their first EP sonically and structurally, a new metallic edge has crept its way into the band’s playing and is now present throughout. Blastbeats give way to crushing low end and no-frills, heavier-than-anything-else guitar passages. In true grindcore fashion, nine tracks stitch together a brutal package in under twenty minutes.

Keep up with CHEPANG if you can, with Jhyappa. CHEPANG is Everyone!

Jhyappa Track Listing: