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Chthonic - Takasago Army

Say it three times over really fast, we dare you...

Rating: 7

‘Takasago Army’ shows Chthonic at their most focused. Their sixth career full-length, the Taiwanese symphonic black metal merchants are finally less concerned with proving their product and more attached to creating memorable tracks. Although the group have retained their blackened roots, much of the prerequisite blasting has been replaced by galloping battle metal rhythms, as triumphant leads take precedence over chromatic trills and jolts. Case in point: the heroic keyboard march and beautiful Chinese violin of ‘Broken Jade’ and the thrashing melo-death of ‘Southern Cross’. The five-piece’s dramatic Orient metal (their words) might not brace consistently but when it does it’s unstoppable.

Richard Cartey