Gridlink’s Longhena is, for this writer’s money, the best grindcore album of the last decade and probably longer, so executing a comparable cover version is no easy task. Ripped to Shreds are up for the task, tearing through a buzzing rendition of “The Dodonpachi” on their side of Exhumed from Eastern Tombs, a split with Taiwanese grind trio Brain Corrosion.
In addition to their cover of “Dodonpachi,” Ripped to Shreds—a one-man band by multi-instrumentalist Andrew Lee, who you may recognize from a recent editorial about racism in the metal scene—included one original song, plus covers of Assück and Asocial. For their side, Brain Corrosion recorded eight new songs.
“Gridlink is one of the most emotional bands in grindcore,” Lee explains of his choice to cover the band. “Takafumi’s [Matsubara, Gridlink guitarist] melodies juxtaposed on top of ultra-fast blastbeatas create a beautiful and wistful atmosphere that I try to emulate during the intense parts of RTS songs. I chose’ Dodonpachi’ in particular because I thought there was a nice section to do a guitar solo, and I can easily relate to the frustration of being stuck on a hard video game part but pushing forward through sheer spite. For Jon Chang, it’s bullet hell shmups; for me, it’s Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup.”
