Chthonic - Final Battle at Sing Ling Temple
When I got this to review, I thought that it was a “Best Of” because a lot of the tracks were from older albums. The material the label sent us to review is actually just from the audio CDs that accompany the live DVD. I hate it when labels do this. A major part of this release is the DVD, and that wasn’t included. How the fuck am I supposed to review something like this? That being said, the review here is only for the audio portion. From the material I’ve seen on YouTube (mostly the official promos that the band put up), the video looks pretty awesome. At some point, I’m going to have to track it down because I really want to see it. This is the whole concert, from the intro music to the end, unedited and as it was played. This could have easily been cleaned up in the studio, but it wasn’t. The audio on this isn’t perfect. In a live situation, things rarely ever are. A case in point, the guitars are almost completely inaudible during “49 Theurgy Chains” and “Rise of the Shadow.” The drums and keyboards completely drown them out. They only become prominent when “Sing Ling Temple” (the third song) begins. At that point, things start sounding really good. Chthonic really kicks ass live. I got a bit lost during the band’s crowd interactions, mostly because I don’t speak Chinese. From what I understand, the actual concert was filmed in Taiwan (where the band is from), so it stands to reason that they’d be speaking to their hometown crowd in their native language. The band’s playing was tight all of the way through Final Battle at Sing Ling Temple, which is what you expect from an official release. Outside of the minor sound issues that I expect at a live show (such as not having the guitars turned up enough during the opening two songs), this was a flawless set. I like the fact that this was an unedited concert, because for me, it simulates what it actually sounds like if you’re at the show. If you’re a fan of Chthonic already, this is definitely something you will want to have. The newer stuff from Takasago Army meshes seamlessly in with their older material and all of it flowed really well together, even the Pgaku flute solo. If you liked Takasago Army, you’ll definitely like Final Battle at Sing Ling Temple. If anything, Chthonic sounds better live.
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