7 albums in, and Taiwan’s largest musical export sprint out of the blocks with swords drawn.
Fearlessly championing the oriental symphonic black metal they have become known for, ‘Bu Tik’ is projected as a call to arms, highlighting the tragedy of the 228 massacre (read about it here). Please take the time to read the article to understand why this project was so important to the band.
Significantly more aggressive in tone than its predecessor (though not as Norwegian as S’eediq Bale)’, Bu Tik starts well, with ‘Arising Armament’ giving the album an austere, ancient quality. Augmented by the keys a minute in, the album proper starts with ‘Supreme Pain For The Tyrant’, an exercise in the sort of hip-shaking bombast that Soilwork used to do so well. Significantly ramped in contrast to previous albums, this is the work of the extended cast of producers/engineers that worked on ‘T’akasago Army’.
Right-enough flowery sidestepping. This is a bit disappointing, but for one reason only. The production is so clinical that the lions’ share of the band’s unbridled aggression is lost in the lack of cohesion between the instruments. The drums are front and centre at all times, with everything being based around them. Guitar shoved off to the left, sounding like a lot of plugins. Doris Yeh’s bass appears to have done a Newsted, with all the muscle coming from Jesse’s guitar and Dani’s drums. The chorus of ‘Sail Into ‘The Sunset’s Fire’ sounds like a lot of stereos playing at once, robbing the material of its grandeur.
Herein lies the problem then. There are some exceptional moments on this charging inferno of a record; the chugging quasi-thrash of ‘Next Republic’, the hair-whipping majesty of B’etween Silence And Death’ (worth listening to for the chorus alone, which is superb), the sheer commitment and fists-up hatred of ‘Defenders Of Bu Tik Palace,’ although the chorus from ‘Rage Of My Sword’ appears to have been beamed in from the 90’s and is very silly.
It makes total sense to record an album of this nature in this way-there’s a lot of stuff going on, from erhu’s to choral sections, multiple vocals and some serious drumming, and to assure clarity the methods employed have been done in good faith. Unfortunately, this robs this ambitious, wonderfully savage, noble album of its warmth and density. I even listened to this on 5 different systems/headphones in the vain hope of finding a bass signal, but there isn’t one.
Chthonic took a big step up with this record. Solos are well thought out, loads of time signature manipulation, everyone’s giving it the beans, but the computers are in the way. A real shame, as I was genuinely impressed with the material, drive, aggression and composition on display here. Come on guys! Get the bass on and make the next album the all-enveloping, fist waving, shrieking hellstorm it can really be. As a side note, the much-discussed artwork really is amazing.
So close.