This morning, Taiwan’s Chthonic premiered their official video for “Defenders of Bú-Tik Palace”, the first single from their forthcoming album Bú-Tik. Man, is it a feast for the eyes. With very high-production values, it’s like some kind of cyber-legend, bursting with acrobatic martial artistry and fantastic settings, blending the past and the future.
Although the video is a high-budget fantasy, the Bú-Tik Palace is also intended to draw together historical connections important to Cthonic. According to the band, “The BuTik Palace in Puli was used as command headquarters by Japanese colonial government to repress a Seediq Aboriginal Uprising in Wushe in 1930. During the initial phase of the 228 Massacre in 1947, militiamen in Taiwan also used it as its command headquarters. The chants in the second half of the song are the names of all martyrs who sacrificed themselves in resistance against dictators and fought for independence.”
According to this interview with Doris Yeh, the song was also intended to draw together connections between the band’s three previous albums. Musically, it’s an electric piece of Scandinavian-style melodic death metal, but one in which traditional music and a traditional vertical fiddle eventually make their appearance. The song also features guest vocals by Mei-yun Tang, a famed Taiwanese opera singer.
Bú-Tik is scheduled for release by Spinefarm on May 29 in Taiwan and Japan, May 31 in Europe, June 3 in the UK, and June 18 in North America. Here’s the video (via Metal Hammer):
10 Responses to “CHTHONIC’S NEW MUSIC VIDEO FOR “DEFENDERS OF BU-TIK PALACE” IS A FEAST FOR THE EYES AND EARS”
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The song is cool. Male belly-shirts are not cool.
True, but belly-baring is very Chinese. http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/bellybelly
I enjoyed the hell out of that, especially when the song picked up in the latter half.
Suddenly, I’m reminded of Ghost in the Shell, the one anime (movie and series both) that I’d recommend to anyone, and I’m nostalgic. King of My Castle, anyone?
This is an outstanding song, and I had the I-fucking-love-this-music shivers down my spine… but maybe the video is drifting too much in visual overload : martial artistry is great, but the special effects look cheap.
Everything is relative. Compared to CGI movies and state-of-the-art videos, the FX might look cheap, but given that most metal videos are a bunch of guys wearing t-shirts playing in a warehouse, I thought this was pretty strong. 🙂
Yeah, you’re right on that one. Basement or warehouse music videos are so usual a little bit of a change is nice sometime 🙂
I was feeling disappointed with the music through the first half because it seemed to be missing the distinctive Chthonic stamp, but damn did it make up for it in the last half when Mei-yun Tang joins in.
I loved the video. The FX might’ve looked a little cheap, as Eldhoraz said, but the stunts made up for it and that ball of human torsos was creepy as hell. I also love that Doris fights with her bass. That’s some dedication to metal.
Yep, the ball of limbs and torsos was fuckin’ weird, in a metal kind of way. And so was Doris doing that bass-fighting.
Itz awesume