Chthonic
Battlefields of Asura

Made in Taiwan, it is not often we see that label on a record that we review here at this hallowed web publication – especially not made by a band with a politician singing. But that is what Chthonic is and they are releasing their eighth album this week; they have kept their fans waiting for a while since the last album. But during those five years things have happened like the fact that frontman Freddy has founded a political party and gotten elected into a good political position and things like that. Not that we here at Hallowed really care about such things, we care about the music and not about the fact that the artwork looks kind of dull. So, how about this music then?

It is black metal, black metal with traditional Taiwanese touches – kind of like other bands with oriental influences but with a fairly fresh sense to it. Politician Freddy shouts and screams and sings in those kinds of way rather than preaching political messages, I like the vocals on this album. The production is good with good sound, good variation, the album is quite heavy and it has good depth giving the album good longevity. Fans of Chthonic’s previous works will most likely recognise the style of the band, but the album also feels kind of fresh and with a relative sense of originality. Add to that the fact that they keep it short with a forty minute playing time split on eleven tracks, eleven good tracks.

The adventures and journey with Taiwanese immortals is well worth giving some of your time, especially if you enjoy the oriental flavoured black metal music. The tracks are all good and they have enough depth to remain interesting for repeated listening. I don’t think that any of the tracks stand out from the rest and perhaps that lack of a distinctive hit song is the biggest flaw of the album, perhaps that is the difference between this album being an outstanding album and just a very good one. It is an enjoyable album and I think that it is safe to recommend it for those who enjoy the melodic kind of black metal, especially that with oriental undertones – good stuff.

So, can we then conclude that this album has been worth the five-year wait? I think that we can, those who have been hoping for a new album by these guys will probably find this one to be really good. I find this album to be rather appealing, to be good and with good songs, so with all this text that I have forced onto this digital paper I can end with the conclusion that this is a very good and politically correct album.

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