CHTHONIC: 'Takao' Video Released

"Takao", the new video from Taiwanese metallers CHTHONIC, can be viewed below. The single was digitally released with a bonus track that features special English-language choruses sung by members of Finland's ENSIFERUM.

"The original version of this chorus is totally Taiwanese folk style, but the version that ENSIFERUM's singing sounds so Finnish folk! So amazing, we definitely want to share this version with our fans!" said by Doris Yeh, leader and bassist of CHTHONIC.

Yu Tien, a popular Taiwanese Enka singer, can be heard on the original version of "Takao".

"Takao" is a song about the Taiwanese soldiers recruited from the Takao harbor to fight in the Pacific War as part of the Japanese Imperial Army.

"Yu Tien's voice perfectly provide the passionate vibe of the song," Doris said, "But not just passionate, there are many kinds of emotions of these soldiers, they might be struggling, passionate, or confused. You can find all these feeling in this song."

In order to show the different emotions of this song, Chuang Chih-wen, the director of the "Takao" music video, filmed the clip in a very different way. There are many slow shots with many different objects such as eagle, cherry blossoms, and even Type Zero fighter aircraft, which is considered to be one of the most classic fighter aircraft used during World War II.

During the filming, an 80-year-old actor spent long hours working with the crew. After the filiming he said "My father was a soldier of Takasago Army, and now I'm playing his role, I have to make it perfect!" His comment touched everybody in the studio. "I know that we are doing the right thing for my fellows," said CHTHONIC vocalist Freddy Lim.

CHTHONIC's new album, "Takasago Army", is being released via Spinefarm Records. Produced by Rickard Bengtsson (ARCH ENEMY, NEMESIS) at Sweet Spot Studios in Halmstad, Sweden, this 10-track outing completes a trilogy of CHTHONIC releases, telling a story that binds together the band's "Seediq Bale" and "Mirror Of Retribution" albums, released in 2007 and 2009, respectively.

Comments Doris Yeh: "The Takasago Army was a Taiwanese troop of Japanese force/Axis powers that fought in the Pacific War/World War II between 1940 and 1944. The Takasago soldiers were descendants of a brave and powerful people from the mountains of Taiwan, people with a strong warrior tradition. They impressed their rivals with their cunning, tenacity and skill on the battlefield, and they became the most revered and most feared combat unit in the Japanese Imperial Army."

At its recent U.K. shows (a Hammerfest appearance plus a headline date at the Underworld in London),CHTHONIC announced that "Takasago Army" would not only see the band producing its most "brutal" compositions to date, but would also see it further exploring the concept of "orient metal."

"We have been categorized as black metal, death metal, melodic death, symphonic black metal and folk metal by different critics, and we appreciate that it's very hard to put us into a precise genre," says Doris. "On the one hand, we are inspired by some western metal music, but on the other, we are influenced by traditional Asian music forms, such as pentatonic scales, 'enka' music, and Taiwanese opera.

"When we were writing this new album, we tried to find the perfect balance between these two traditions, so that is why weve decided to use the 'orient metal' banner to define what we do. Plus, it provides a reference point for other Asian bands who want to head in the same direction

"Take it from me, 'Takasago Army' is going to be epic!"