[Taiwanese] ChthoniC

[Rowlusea 17]

One of the best black metal bands I know.

Line up:

Vocal, oreintal 2-strings violin: Freddy, Left Face of Maradou

Guitar, chorus: Jesse, the Infernal

Bass, backing vocals: Doris, Thunder Tears

Synthesizer, piano : CJ, Dispersed Fingers

Drums: Dani, Azathothian Hands

Oriental violin : Su-Nung, the Bloody String

Check them out at YT with their PV Forty-Nine Theurgy Chains or listen to Banished Into Death, it's worth it.

[The Libertine 2]

they're actually Taiwanese not Chinese. And I agree they're pretty great (despite not listening to much black metal). I love their use of traditional instruments like erhu and guzheng and also Taiwanese Hokkien language using classical chinese text. Their english stuff isn't bad either.

[Guest]

That's a really bad picture. Embarrassing!

Decent band, though.

[Guest]

So I decided to go through their discography starting yesterday, and I'll continue today or tomorrow with a few more albums. I've gone through two albums now and I am starting at the begining, and I will rate them from 1-10/10:

Where the Ancestors' Souls Gathered

Well, what is there to say about this album? Not much. This album is simply bad. It lacks both good songwriting and good vocals, and it is all topped by a production so bad I have no words to describe it. Easily one of the worst productions I have heard ever! I am interested in finding out what they were thinking when mixing the album and stuff.

Standout tracks: None!

2/10

9th Empyrean

This is interesting. It's just a year after the horrible debut album Where the Ancestors' Souls Gathered. Who would think they managed to improve so much in just a year? This is closer to being a masterpiece than anything else, and it's a really impressive album. The most noticeable thing about this album prior(?) to the first, is the production which is AMAZING. And not only that, the songwriting is excellent and the vocals are top notch! It's not as much of a Cradle of Filth worship as the later albums, and it doesn't have the lame Metalcore riffs, something which is good. On this album they sure had their own thing going on, too bad they couldn't keep it for long, unless I remember wrong. It starts off with the beautiful "Breath of Ocean" and there's not a single boring moment inbetween this and the epic "Guard the Isle Eternally". Impressive! Beautiful melodies and it have this mystic feeling about it, and a really asian vibe going on at times. Great work with the keyboard and piano as well!

One thing however, which would have made this album even better, is if they had used the er-hu a lot and let it be very prominent(is that even a word?) in the mix and sound.

Standout tracks: Breath of Ocean, Floated Unconsciously In the Achero and Guard the Isle Eternally

9/10

More to come the new few days.

[buster 3]

luv that band, i still can't believed i missed a free charity show, when i was in taipei......

[Dead;Stam;Alive 0]

Opinions on the new cd??

I like it a lot. I couldnt not like it, really.

Favorite tracks from the 2 first times i 've heard it are:

Southern Cross, Kaoru, Broken Jade.

But that might change after a few more listenings.

[JustSumNerd 0]

The chick is hawt. ;D

I liked a couple songs off the new album but I haven't heard anything of theirs recently. :s I remember seeing something of theres at fye though.

[Heroin 53]

I find it funny that they're doing a cover of this song this Sunday.

TIokp4MonxE

I would have totally bring a group of friends dressed as them to the concert!

[Heroin 53]

I'll just slip this here

[Nightmares4ever 34]

one of the best bands really digging Bú-Tik its a pretty good album 

[Greyen 173]

one of the best bands really digging Bú-Tik its a pretty good album 

Yeah its pretty awesome! Decided to pre-order the U.S version through amazon since f.y.e is way over priced with albums like these.  

[The Libertine 2]

new album?!! gotta check this shiiiite out!

[Bear 1817]

Damn, just discovered their MTV unplugged stuff on video. The concert sure needs a proper release because these versons sounds fantastic despite Freddy Lim's very limited vocals. But he sings with passion and heart and that's all that's is needed.

 

 

[freesia 714]

Damn, just discovered their MTV unplugged stuff on video. The concert sure needs a proper release because these versons sounds fantastic despite Freddy Lim's very limited vocals. But he sings with passion and heart and that's all that's is needed.

 

 

Lol, I was playing this live some time back and my mom heard and watched with me when she heard this acoustic folk live. She's now a big fan of their folk alter-ego. xD

[Bear 1817]

Nice! I just realised they've released an acoustic album as well with the same track list as this. Hopefully it's the exact same versions with the exact same guests and stuff. Looking forward to checking it out.

[Bear 1817]

Jesus, they've even made music videos and shit for this release. How the fuck have I not known this? Shocking. Sounds great. This album will get way too much playtime in the comming months... or year.

 

 

[Bear 1817]

After a handful of plays I'm sure Timeless Sentence is the best thing Chthonic have done so far. Fantastic album, especially on the softer and more folky tracks/parts of the album. It's incredible. I do think the live-versions sound a bit better though, mainly due to Freddy Lim's even more emotional and soaring vocals. But the album itself sounds amazing!