Being deemed a “Cradle of Filth clone” would probably be the most concurrent description of the band Chthonic in recent memory by many metal fans. Sure the band may sound a little similar at some moments, but in my opinion, Chthonic is a much more solid and interesting band to follow. They focus on a more thrash oriented style that could go along the lines as being melodic death metal with a dark method to top it all off. Seediq Bale back in 2005 was such a great release and was really the only taste I had ever had of the band. After a bit more exploration of their discography, I came to found that Seediq Bale was the best offering the band has ever had even after listening to their latest offering. Bú-Tik is a very good album from the Taiwanese group, and left me feeling overall fulfilled and glad that I gave this band a spin once again.

A Taiwanese sounding intro makes the beginning of the album feel unique which includes traditional drums of their area and gives the overall feel that this black metal album is coming from very unfamiliar territory. This is one of the main reasons I became enthralled to listen to Chthonic years ago, as their location for this type of music came at much surprise. Getting away from that, Chthonic’s newest album starts out pretty aggressive from the start and doesn’t want to let go for the majority of the album. The albums melodic death metal approach to black metal is a style I rather enjoyed. There are pretty good songs to be heard on this record especially the song Supreme Pain for the Tyrant. The main riff comes off to be pretty catchy and dark which I thoroughly enjoyed. Vocals are vicious for the most part as the screams layered one over one another ended up sounding pretty brutal.

Getting deeper into the album, Sail into the Sunset’s Fire almost begins with a more “battle metal” feel to things but quickly dips into their melodic style. Moving on to the next track, Next Republic was a little bit harder to get into initially, but after giving this album three or four listens, I was surprised to come back to this one quite frequently. A very uplifting vocal chorus makes up this track as well as the guitar work is not half bad and quite unanticipated. The song, Rage of my Sword, amplifies the double bass quite a bit as well as some pretty hostile guitar and bass playing. It was here that I first took a good notice of the keyboards supplied for this album as they seemed to be easy to overlook as I went on listening to the music.

Getting into the second half of the album, Resurrection Pyre ended up being one of my favorite tracks. The song is probably the most intense and heavy track the album has to offer. The initial guitar riff at the start immediately was an attention getter, but I was left a bit disappointed that it was not used again at any moment during the rest of the song. Regardless of that, this song is one killer track.

The album remains very consistent from start to finish, and is a great offering from the band this year. It still may not top the great Seediq Bale, but left me feeling very happy to have the pleasure of listening to this rather unique band from Taiwan once again. Generally speaking in terms of sound, this album relates well to their last offering Taksago Army. However this time around the music feels improved and more appealing than what their last album had brought to the table.