Chthonic – The Final Battle at the Sing Ling Temple DVD review

After Chthonic’s astounding 2011 release, Takasago Army, it seems only right that these Taiwanese melodic death metal heroes should hold a huge metal concert in one of Taiwan’s most historic buildings and release it on DVD and CD. This is The Final Battle at the Sing Ling Temple, Chthonic’s 3^rd live DVD depicting their rather insane live show that they played in Taiwan last year. Featuring two mind blowing sets, one dedicated to Chthonic classics and the other to the band’s latest album Takasago Army – Chthonic have managed to capture the sheer epicness of one of their full scale live shows, including a guest appearance from Lamb of God front man, Randy Blythe and several other jaw dropping twists to make this one of the finest live DVD’s of all time!

CD 1 [8/10] is the first live set of the night containing classic after classic which span across Chthonic’s widely varied first five studio albums. With clear, razor sharp recordings, Chthonic have managed to capture all the aggression and brutality of tracks such as ’49 Theurgy Chains’, ‘Bloody Waves of Sorrow’ and ‘Indigenous Laceration’ while adding a feeling of intimacy and tightness to these astounding melodic death metal anthems. There are some bands that sound terrible live, but it is quite the opposite for Chthonic, who are by far just as good, if not better live – adding that extra sparkle to their music through dazzling keyboard lines and rare, unforgettable occasions like a Pgaku Flute Solo, which you can guarantee no other metal band include in their live shows.

If you loved CD1, then CD 2 [10/10] will leave you gob smacked. Playing their new album, Takasago Army, in its entirety, Chthonic really bring the power with this set – going full out brutal with mind blowing tracks such as ‘Kaoru’, ‘Legacy of the Seediq’ and ‘Oceanquake’, to fully pump the masses of fans watching them. It’s such a magnificent sound to hear hundreds of Taiwanese metal heads sing the rather haunting, war chant like bridge of ‘Takao’; only to have the mighty Randy Blythe join them for the amazing encore that finishes with a bang through the guitar driven aggression of ‘Broken Jade’ which pours through your speakers like a blessing from the God’s of metal themselves. Chthonic clearly know how to put on a live show – combining awesome musicianship and audience participation so to fully enhance their live sound. This is by far one of the greatest live CD’s that will ever caress your ears!

The DVD [8/10] really is the icing on the cake, adding a face to the music, or in Chthonic’s case; a set of really scary looking prosthetic masks and makeup effects to the music. Their live show is superb, combining bright strobe lighting during drum blast beats, falling confetti and explosions and not to mention the awesome stage set, which represents a desecrated temple, with its half destroyed and turned over status and pillars. Chthonic should play shows of this scale more often, even bring it over to the UK in the future to fully concert us into the Chthonic Army. Sure, the so called “Backstage” footage, which only lasts two minutes may be terrible and somewhat lacking compared to other live DVD’s, but, Chthonic have managed to capture one hell of a live show both through audio and video, making The Final battle at the Sing Ling Temple a music DVD you will want to watch over and over again.

This is a rare item, with only 1000 of each “Boxset Deal” available. You need to go order yourself this astounding live bundle ASAP as to not would be missing out. With two live CD’s featuring 19 tracks and a DVD of both sets live, this is a metal concert everybody must witness, showing Chthonic’s finest hour and why they are one of the world’s fastest growing metal bands!