Post Description

Taiwanese freedom fighters CHTHONIC, long standing as Asia's answer to EMPEROR and SATYRICON, have organically refined their folk-decorated brand of extreme metal over the years. As of their previous album "Takasago Army", CHTHONIC has become a far more theatrical and emotive unit in their mission to cast light upon acts of barbarism committed within their native land. Their customary gusts of weeping ehru, koto and shamisen ground what expectedly unravels into some of the fastest and most articulate metal music on the planet. 

"Bú-Tik", the group's seventh album, runs like a berserker on the heels of "Takasago Army" and even its predecessor "Mirror of Retribution"'s melodious aggression. More so, it taps back into the pummeling ferocity of "Seedig Bale" and the nastier cuts of "Relentless Recurrence". This time, however, CHTHONIC's trials between black and power metal modes have been tested and the ghoul paint has been nixed in favor of a more metal militant exterior. Accordingly, "Bú-Tik" is not only battle ready, it's the perfect storm of enmity and majesty. 

Recounting the 228 Massacre, a torrential Taiwanese uprising against Chinese aggressors, "Bú-Tik" corrals the event's vengeance with far more conviction than your standard rain of black metal hellfire. "Bú-Tik" whisks its audience not only into the violent maw of the 228 Massacre, but, as the band themselves describe it, back to gory themes from their previous four albums. 

Capitalizing upon an efficient forty minutes filled with tireless velocity and spellbinding signature changes, "Bú-Tik" cajoles listeners' sympathies despite the brute ugliness serving as the foundation of the album. Virtuosity rules alongside "Bú-Tik"'s unstoppable harshness and CHTHONIC pushes their global outcry for justice onto a blistering yet extravagant platform. "Bú-Tik" will devastate newcomers and affirm to the band's ever-growing legion that each previous album they've recorded has led to this, a surefire masterpiece. 

If there's a better metal album yet to come in 2013, bring it on.