ChthoniC - Rage of my Sword

I have been following Taiwanese Black/Death Metal band for quite sometime now. I originally followed them from their Seediq Bale era where their lyrics concerns the plight of the Indigenous Taiwanese tribes during the Japanese occupation and the impacts of the modern world towards their culture today. In their latest album, Bu-tik they moved away spoke about the commonalities between the fascist groups in Asia and Europe, almost like a love letter to the niche of pre-WW2 Asian politics. However, back to the music. Here, the Death Metal takes the spotlight over the Black Metal while the back ground symphony made of Chinese folk instruments accompany the brutally here. The music is a clash between the folk-sy flavor that you would normally associate with world music festivals than a stomping and rampaging Death Metal album. The guitar solos here are no joke, with fingers blazing over notes that could remind any avid metal fan of Thrash Metal-esque solos. While the band has no overt time signature shift ala Thrash Metal giants Slayer, the solo is used as a glue between the chorus and the bridge. That facemelter could easily be pictured on an angry Thrash Metal album. This cross breed between East and multitudes of Western flavors of Metal truly is, the representation of the blades of men, defending their island from blood thirsty invaders.