''Doch Chkae'' ( km, ដូចឆ្កែ – "like a dog") are a

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...

n metal band from

Phnom Penh Phnom Penh (; km, ភ្នំពេញ, ) is the capital and most populous city of Cambodia. It has been the national capital since the French protectorate of Cambodia and has grown to become the nation's primate city and its economic, indus ...

, formed in 2015.

History

Sochetra Pic, Sok Vichey, Ouch Theara and Ouch Hing were all born in a

landfill A landfill site, also known as a tip, dump, rubbish dump, garbage dump, or dumping ground, is a site for the disposal of waste materials. Landfill is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of the waste ...

in Khan Mean Chey, Phnom Penh, where they collected refuse to make a living. When the boys reached their adolescence, their families could no longer provide for them, so Pic, Vichey, Theara and Hing were placed in the care of a local

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

, Moms Against Poverty. The director of the NGO, Timon Seibel introduced them to bands such as Slipknot and

Rage Against the Machine Rage Against the Machine (often abbreviated as RATM or shortened to simply Rage) is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1991, the group consists of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commerfor ...

and took them to a local concert of the Cambodian

deathcore Deathcore is an extreme metal subgenre that combines death metal with metalcore. The genre consists of death metal guitar riffs, blast beats, and metalcore breakdowns. While there are some precursors to the concept of death metal fused with met ...

band Sliten6ix, which inspired the boys to start playing music; they formed a band a year later. In 2018, ''Doch Chkae'' were invited to perform at

Wacken Open Air Wacken Open Air (, abbreviated as W:O:A) is a rock music, rock music festival, held annually since 1990 on the first weekend of August in the village of Wacken, Schleswig-Holstein, Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Almost all styles and su ...

festival in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, but their visa application was rejected. A petition calling the authorities to grant the band the visa was launched and signed by more than 10,000 people. ''Doch Chkae'' played at Wacken Open Air the following year. On 9 January 2020, the band performed at the "Year End Party: Dear Agony" in Lela Saigon Bar,

Ho Chi Minh City , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

. On 13 March, ''Doch Chkae'' released a 3-song EP "Worse than Dogs". In 2021, the band released the song "Tortured" (). They were nominated 'Breakthrough Asian Band' at the 2021

Global Metal Apocalypse ''Global Metal Apocalypse'' is a blog run by Rhys Stevenson with a globally inclusive focus on the heavy metal genre, its many variants, and its socio-political context. Inspired by the documentary Global Metal (2007), it was established 25 O ...

awards, and finished 10th.

Discography

* Dream in Hell (2016, single) * ខាំគ្នាដូចឆ្ (2016, single) * Worse than Dogs (2020, EP) * Tortured () (2021, single)

References

External links

YouTube channel

Facebook page

Bandcamp page

A Slumdog Metal Fairytale - Cambodian Street Kids Doch Chkae Chasing Their Dream in Wacken
17 January 2020. Subtropical Asia.
A documentary about Doch Chkae-Slumdog Metal: Cambodian Street Kids Scream For Their Lives
7 April 2018. Subtropical Asia. {{Authority control Heavy metal musical groups Cambodian rock music groups 2015 establishments in Cambodia Death metal musical groups Metalcore musical groups Musical groups established in 2015