CHOP CHOP CHOP CHOP CHOP CHOP CHOP (or simply Chop7times) is a powerviolence/cybergrind/noisecore artist from New Haven, Connecticut. He’s been making music under the name since 2019 and has become a massive part of the modern cybergrind scene in that time. He’s recognizable by the bright red ski mask that he wears while performing and in any pictures he takes for promotion. His music is characteristically not made with any real instruments; it is all made with synths and samples or using objects that aren’t typically considered instruments like pieces of scrap metal or other assorted trash
Chop’s signature blend of cybergrind and powerviolence has come to its peak on his most recent album; 2023’s We Live As Ghosts. Chop takes his music to the most extreme on this release and works every aspect of his sound to perfection. The whole record is a quick, fiery outburst of aggression towards the system we live in. Over the 16 minute runtime, Chop tackles topics of police brutality, gun control, and poverty. Between the short bursts of noisy cyberviolence we get a glimpse into Chop’s love of hip hop. He samples news clips, often taken from local stories in New Haven, over hip hop beats to help illustrate his messages. He also expertly includes sludge metal elements often included in powerviolence to accentuate the changes in tempo. Chop reaches the pinnacle of his work so far on this album, it’s his most cohesive and sonically interesting piece yet and definitely a highlight of the cybergrind scene as a whole.
On Chop’s second release of 2023; Insects are Crawling All Over My Body, he takes a page out of the book of classic Japanese noisecore band The Gerogerigegege. The album consists of what might seem like two tracks but in reality it’s 126 tracks of pure noisecore. Even the count-ins at the start of many tracks are reminiscent of Instruments Disorder. Chop blends in his signature sound with the more traditional noisecore. He builds off of sonic elements he introduced on We Live As Ghosts and further fleshes them out. The sludge metal elements Chop showcased on his previous release show their face again in between the bursts of noisecore. Chop impresses us yet again with his incredibly aggressive computer music.
This year Chop has already released a split with fellow Connecticut band Doom Beach.