Review: Seediq Bale

Apparently this was the album that made Chthonic known outside of Taiwan, and I can see why. I did have to listen to it a few times though, just because I'd heard their most recent one (Mirror of Retribution) first and that was so good. Inevitably I've had to compare it to that one. Seediq Bale by Chthonic The mix not quite as good as Mirror..., it sounds flatter, the drum sound in particular has less depth, but since this record recording technology has got better and they've got more money so it's understandable. It's nowhere near as bad as traditonal tin shed raw black metal, which is good because that only sounds good for a handful of bands and painful for the rest. There's alo more tremolo picking than on the other record, and also more gothenburgish guitar riffs too, kind of half-way between death and black metal. The erhu is not so prominent either, and not so eastern sounding, kind of just follows the keyboards. The latter uses a piano and harpsichord effect alot which undermines oriental feel a little, and I suppose justifies Cradle of Filth comparisons more. There are more female vocals apparently from a famous Taiwanese pop singer, giving it a more gothic edge, while the metal vocals are a bit further down in the mix, but still don't sound Danny Filthish to me - maybe when he sings in English, since again I have the Taiwanese version rather than the international one.  I can't comment much on the lyrics, as my edition has some lyrics in Chinese and some in what I'm told is one of the aboriginal languages of Taiwan, but I assume it has something to do with aboriginal folklore and their historical struggles. Seediq Bale has a different feel to Mirror..., it's not as violent and unrelenting, sometimes not quite reaching the climax you expect, though it gives the whole album a kind of driving, sinister, brooding tone. Song structures are more fluid, more black metal if you will, so it works really well as a whole album but doesn't really have standout tracks as such - no duds either though. Here's a brief rundown of my favourites though: Indigenous Laceration - not too fast, has a good riff and solo, and one of the best song names ever Enthrone - short little song, but not instrumental Bloody Gaya Fulfilled - good riffage and keyboard stuff, solo's pretty awesome too Where the Utux Ancestors Wait - good atmospheric song Banished Into Death - really good riff and atmosphere, even has a good solo, possibly my favourite song on the album... unless this next one is Quasi Putrefaction - with an awesome metal name, good build up, riffs, and structure, it's an excellent closing track. So Mirror of Retribution didn't just come out of nowhere, this is a really solid black metal album. And before I finish this review, I have to mention the cover. I don't know if it comes in a standard CD format, only the digipack was available in Taiwan, but it's definitely worth getting the digipack or better still a vinyl edition if it exists just for cover design. Beautifully drawn with gold lettering, and the old, more traditionally black metal Chthonic logo, but not nearly so much of a metal cliché as most covers you get. This kind of design makes it worth getting a physical version even if you can find a top quality digital one.

Review: Mirror of Retribution

Chthonic's most recent album, released last year was the first of theirs that I heard (I was at an album launch in Kaohsiung where I bought it), and I was impressed. Small towns in England have larger metal scene than Taiwan, but this was no amateurish clone bands record. I'll attempt to give you an impression of it starting from the outside and working inwards.

The packaging of mine, the Taiwanese digipack issue, is a nice dark blue, with characters that look suitably brutal as if painted with blood, though sadly they seem to have ditched their necro-black metal logo for a more legible one. Bound hands fill the front, looking battered and possibly dead, like those of a prisoner tortured to death, no doubt to symbolise something from the theme of the album (which I'll get to later). On the back with a sky all dark and brooding is a scene that in the colours and to those outside Taiwan might look rather barren with a ruined house, but this is actually quite a typically Taiwanese landscape for the fertile, intensely farmed west coast.

Inside there are some typical band photos of them in their gear, including the drummer's bizarre spiky mask (which looks less ridiculous close up - it has a traditional demonic face on it). The backgrounds to fit the theme - guns, and Doris the bassist apparently having just beheaded the statue of Chang Kai-shek, the former dictator of Taiwan.

Since mine is the Taiwanese issue, the sleeve notes and track listing are all in Chinese, which sadly I'm not fluent in enough to read or understand the lyrics when listening to it (although I can rarely make out lyrics even when sung cleanly in English, so I'd have no chance with Chinese black metal vocals). Luckily though, this is the age of the internet so I can read the translations online - I heard the English version of one of the tracks on the Australian radio, and it seemed pretty well done, not much different from in Chinese, but I think I prefer Freddy's singing in his native Chinese for some reason.

The concept for the album is based around the 1947 uprising by the Taiwanese against the invading army of the Chinese Kuomintang who were retreating from the mainland in the face of the Communist army. It's not really a historical album though, as it's about young Tsing-guam's quest to go down into the Taoist hells to find the Book of Life and Death and change events. Actually that would make a pretty good film… Anyway, I can't judge the Chinese lyrics, but the translations actually seemed pretty good, full of rage, vengeance and nostalgic melancholy - exactly what I want from black metal really.

Put the CD in and press play. Turn it up a bit because the start is low atmospheric noise, joined by whispering, crackling of a fire, then some sobbing. And then boom! Tremolo riffs, blast beats and grimmed vocals from the beginning with "Blooming Blades". No wasting time with overly long, pompous introductions, they take us straight into black metal bliss, and immediately throw in the erhu, the distinctive mournful Chinese violin, so you know this is something different from the start. They have a story to tell though, so you're not just being brutalised and screamed at, the riffs and tempos even in this first song are varied and don't drag on. I've mentioned before in my review of this band, but you can really hear Freddy's range as a vocalist on this album, slipping easily from grim shriek to growl, and it works really well.

 And so it is with the rest of the album, each song with its own unique  feel, none overly long or too short, they all feel pretty much as long as they should be. Production is clean and well-balanced, so it sounds warm and smooth - no fake necro-tin shed recording for these guys. The producer is Rob Caggiano of Anthrax who has produced a number of albums including some by Cradle of Filth, so this is to be expected a suppose. Despite comparisons though, I don't think this album sounds anymore like CoF than Principle of Evil Made Flesh sounds like Emperor or Burzum. One thing that I do like is that the keyboards are not dominating, all the instruments are nicely balanced

It is also nicely structured: after the intro there are five decent songs telling of the reasons and start of the quest, culminating in Sing-Ling Temple, a particularly angry song ("terror was born by the pale white sun" is a reference to the flag of the Koumintang, which now features as part of the Taiwanese flag), then a four minute calm, mournful instrumental, mostly erhu with some drums and muted storm sound effects. Take a breath. Relax. Make some tea. Are you ready?

Because next, warned only by a brief keyboard intro, you are assaulted by the melodic brutality of possibly my favourite song of the album, Fourty-Nine Theurgy Chains (whatever that means), as our hero gets deeper into the hells. I say possibly, because it's about even between that one and the next one, Rise of the Shadows. The second is less relentlessly brutal, but has a certain aggressive, militaristic groove to it, offset by the erhu, which fits the lyrics about ghost troops coming from the mirror (something like that anyway). Basically, it's awesome.

 And you won't get any rest until the end of the album because the next two tracks are not throwaways or winding down. The protagonist of the story is now descending well into hell and … well I won't spoil it, it's a pretty good story. Buy the album, read the lyrics, listen to it, several times, as it grows on you.