Chthonic
Takasago Army
2011
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Chthonic (pronounced thon-ick for those of you like me who think the c in the front is stupid) is a Taiwanese metal band that combines traditional Taiwanese folk music with melodic black/death metal. As in many folk inspired metal bands, there is some unusual instrumentation, as Chthonic use an erhu, which is a Taiwanese violin of sorts.
I have heard snippets of older Chthonic material, and this album is very much in the same style, furthermore, there isn’t much in the way of variety in their songs. One may see this as formulaic, but that isn’t the correct mindset. It isn’t a formula, it’s a recipe! So put on your apron, it’s time to bake a Chthonic cake!
Okay aspiring metal chefs, grab a great big metal bowl, throw about a handful of death metal riffs, three tablespoons of awesome drumming, a sprinkling of keyboard melodies, and finally, just a pinch of erhu, for some originality. Then mix together melodically as well as quickly, but not too quickly (this isn’t Chthonic the Hedgehog). Mixing should go easily, as everything blends together perfectly. Finally pour the batter into a cake pan, and let bake for around two years. Take it out of the oven, put it on a nice metal plate and spread on some solo-sauce.
This cake is very filling, and should be cut into ten unequal pieces. The first piece, the intro if you will, is mostly useless, mostly just ambiance, but it really sets the tone for the rest of the album… err cake. However, from the second piece onwards, it’s a perfect mix of all ingredients, until the eighth piece, which is like the first, but with a narration-berry on top. However, the cake finishes with a fantastic pair of pieces rich in all the best ingredients.
Terrible cake metaphor aside, Takasago Army is a fantastic slab of folk/black/death metal and I recommend it strongly to anyone who has even a passing interest in any of those styles.
I have heard snippets of older Chthonic material, and this album is very much in the same style, furthermore, there isn’t much in the way of variety in their songs. One may see this as formulaic, but that isn’t the correct mindset. It isn’t a formula, it’s a recipe! So put on your apron, it’s time to bake a Chthonic cake!
Okay aspiring metal chefs, grab a great big metal bowl, throw about a handful of death metal riffs, three tablespoons of awesome drumming, a sprinkling of keyboard melodies, and finally, just a pinch of erhu, for some originality. Then mix together melodically as well as quickly, but not too quickly (this isn’t Chthonic the Hedgehog). Mixing should go easily, as everything blends together perfectly. Finally pour the batter into a cake pan, and let bake for around two years. Take it out of the oven, put it on a nice metal plate and spread on some solo-sauce.
This cake is very filling, and should be cut into ten unequal pieces. The first piece, the intro if you will, is mostly useless, mostly just ambiance, but it really sets the tone for the rest of the album… err cake. However, from the second piece onwards, it’s a perfect mix of all ingredients, until the eighth piece, which is like the first, but with a narration-berry on top. However, the cake finishes with a fantastic pair of pieces rich in all the best ingredients.
Terrible cake metaphor aside, Takasago Army is a fantastic slab of folk/black/death metal and I recommend it strongly to anyone who has even a passing interest in any of those styles.
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Claus’ Rating 4.25/5
1 comment:
Also, did you know there is a special version of "Takao" with the guys from Ensiferum singing on the chorus? Just FYI. :)
I haven't heard the whole album yet, but judging from these 2 songs, I think I liked the older albums better... not that this isn't good well-done music, just my personal preferences - before they used to have much more keyboard, a more symphonic feel, and Freddy used to do more high black metal screams as opposed to the lower more death metal-ly grunts he's doing now. These new songs are definitely good, and they sound very professional, but I just don't think they're as unique as their old stuff was. Also, I miss their corpse paint! :C
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