 Chthonic - A Decade on the Throne Review
by Kevin Wierzbicki
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Mainland China has been doing a lot of squawking about reclaiming the secessionist island of Taiwan but I wonder what Beijing would think of this great Taipei-based metal band. One of their homeland newspapers calls Chthonic (pronounced "THON-ic") the "Taiwanese Black Sabbath" but that handle isn't really appropriate at all---these guys (and two girls) are into speed metal, not sludgy blues-based rock. This generous concert taped in 2006 celebrates Chthonic's 10th anniversary and the band is in top spirit as they rip through half of their Seediq Bale album and a few cuts from 2002's Relentless Recurrence. With a couple of minor exceptions, all the singing and between song communication here is in Chinese and the sound often takes on an Asian prog-rock flavor thanks mostly to the Oriental violin playing of Su-Nung. It's probably the time when the true metal-heads in the crowd ran for the restroom but Su-Nung takes a solo toward show's end; her Classical-leaning piece is not only beautiful but demonstrates that this band has talent that runs even deeper than may at first be apparent. Adding to the fun is the fact that each band member has a stage personality (bassist Doris is "Thunder Tears," guitarist Jesse is "The Infernal") and each wears Kiss-style face paint; drummer Dani outdoes them all with a wardrobe addition of a Slipknot-style bondage mask. The Oriental Orchestra and the Taipei Ladies Choir make brief guest appearances during this perfectly choreographed and nicely shot film and the finished package is no slouch either---the DVD comes in a deluxe book-style set that also includes the show on 2 audio DVDs. The band is clearly making a major push to break in the States and this film along with their gigs on this summer's Ozzfest should go a long way towards that goal.
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Chthonic - A Decade on the Throne
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