Worrisome start but ultimately victorious war - A review of Chthonic's Battlefields of Asura

Those who thought Taiwanese melodic extreme metal group Chthonic would go on hiatus due to band leader Freddy Lim's political activities as member of the Legislative Yuan for the New Power Party have been proven wrong on several occasions. One year ago, the band members participated as actress and actors in the action-comedy movie Tshiong for which they also produced a soundtrack including a brand new track entitled ''Souls of the Revolution'' with Lamb of God's front man Randy Blythe on drums which is also included on this release. The band then produced three detailed video clips for three singles before releasing new studio record Battlefields of Asura. The record is available in two different versions, with Taiwanese or English lyrics. As you can see, Chthonic is a very creative, productive and surprising band which are also the main reasons why the band has become more and more popular around the world over the past few years as they have emerged as outsiders from the local underground to international melodic extreme metal heavyweights.

The new record will please fans of the band but it is neither the band's worst nor its greatest hour. Battlefields of Asura suffers from a somewhat mediocre production as the vocals are too much in the foreground and can quickly become nerve-firing. Some tracks sound chaotic and fail to unfold coherently which has been an issue since the band's early years as the songwriting is sometimes all over the place. Especially the first half of the record has a slow start.

On the other side, the album gets better as it progresses. ''One Thousand Eyes'' is a highlight thanks to creative, diverse and structured songwriting that makes this song one of the most entertaining in the band's career without any guest musicians and singers that are included on other tracks of this release. ''Millenia's Faith Undone'' is the best song with guest musicians as it features melodic female vocals by Jessica Ho that contrast the harsh lead vocals smoothly and complement the Asian folk soundscapes harmoniously. The three short instrumental tracks are strategically placed at the beginning, middle and end and give the release some atmosphere, consistency and flow. They aren't outstanding on their own but blend in very well with the rest of the release as the sum is greater than its parts.

Overall, the positive elements outweigh the negative ones on Chthonic's ninth studio record that mixes dynamic melodic black and death metal elements with Taiwanese folk soundscapes and inspired lyrics about this country's fascinating culture and history. Battlefields of Asura offers everything Chthonic has always stood for throughout its twenty-three years of existence. However, after the brilliant acoustic album Timeless Sentence and the diversified movie soundtrack Souls of the Revolution, Battlefields of Asura is a little step back in quality. Collectors and fans should pick the new record up but those who aren't familiar with the band yet should start their journey to discover one of Asia's most important metal bands somewhere else.

Final rating: 75%