ALBUM REVIEW: Chthonic – “Takasago Army”
Year of the Album — #060
Chthonic – “Takasago Army” (2011, Fontana Intl)
If you want to be on the cutting edge of interesting music, you need yourself some Taiwanese metal, and Chthonic (pronounced: Thonic) is the band to bring it your way. Takasago Army opens with the ethereal “The Island,” which layers haunting flutes and drums to lure you into a false state of potential slumber, only to wake you the fuck up with “Legacy of the Seediq,” which shows the group doing what they do best, slamming listeners with brutal, flame-throwing guitar crunch and deep-throated growls. All of this makes the Asian element that sneak in through the noise a welcome twist. And those of us who enjoy blisteringly fast polyrhythmic percussion can feel free to have our brains perfectly melted by a ridiculous percussive barrage, all of which is par and parcel of truly invigorating modern metal.
More interesting is the fact that the entire album is performed in the Taiwanese language, proving that you can have amazing marketable music without having to genuflect to the so-called keepers of the “English First” movement. (Edit: For clarification, I have heard their music in English and Taiwanese — the American reissue does feature lyrics in English, but many of their YouTube clips do not, so you do get variety.) They dare to incorporate influences from traditional Taiwanese music, including the classical Asian erhu. They’re also activists for Taiwan’s independence, and with their six studio albums backing them up, they’ve become the leaders of a musical revolution. The music itself is the definition of incendiary, melding Taiwanese folklore and mythology with modern touches of melodic metal and mathrock inspired rhythms which are immediately accessable and ridiculously infectious.
Bar none, this is the most interesting music I’ve heard all year, and though it’s not likely to make most end of year lists, that’s merely because most people won’t have ever heard it. But you, my friends, are “Hear! Hear!” readers, and you rejoice at the opportunity to discover new styles of music through which to blow your mind. Trust me, this is the album you’ll be talking about long after Tha Carter IV has wormed its way into and then out of the picture.
A Post A Day … or: How I Slowly Lost It in 2011
Resolution Schmesolution!
Call me Ishmael … I mean, crazy. I’ve been wanting to make sure to post more regularly to “Hear! Hear!” in 2011, and WordPress has given me a jump-start toward obsessive-compulsion just in time for New Year’s Eve. So I’m going to pick up the challenge and attempt to post at least once a day in the coming year as part of their postaday2011 challenge.
But I’ve had another idea on my mind for a while. Each year I hear way more albums than I ever get a chance to review, and that means a lot of great music falls by the wayside — I’ll get a review copy and give it a couple listens, and then it disappears into the quagmire of my hard-drive, never to be found again until way later, when I can’t even remember where it came from.
So in 2011 I am aiming to do a more heady challenge than just posting each day. I want to post each album. Any album I give more than a cursory glance, I must write about it. Not necessarily a 700-word review, perhaps, but it shouldn’t be too hard to come up with a hundred words to say about each album I hear (whether that be good or bad). My theory is that in an average year I may write about sixty or seventy albums I really enjoy, but a lot of the more average material (but still deserving some note) albums just slip aside. I may hear hundreds that just are gone.
No more! 2011 will be the “Year of the Album” if it drives me over the edge.
And if you stick around and read regularly, you may end up finding yourself a few new favorites as well.
I’m going to get this one started a bit early and post about an EP I was emailed by Matt Conner over at Stereo Subversion. It’s not going to be an official contribution to the “Year of the Album,” since it’s not 2011, but it’s something new that you ought to check out:
The Wellspring
Dov Rosenblatt (formerly of New York’s “Fools For April,” joined up with Talia Osteen (a former VP at a film production company) and somehow the duo has managed to create the perfect aural hybrid which keeps reminding me of Caedmon’s Call, particularly on the stunning “Oh New York,” which will give music producers for the likes of Grey’s Anatomy fits. The music’s kept simple, which allows the songwriting to shine through in all it’s glory. And though there’s nothing spectacularly new here, who needs new when we can get something comfortingly familiar instead? The EP is remarkably consistently developed, and I think this bodes well for where the Wellspring could take their music in the coming months.
Here’s hoping more than a few people actually get to hear it!
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Hear the EP:
http://www.thewellspringmusic.com/
