CHTHONIC To Release 'Pandemonium' Compilation Early Next Year

The Taiwanese symphonic black metal band CHTHONIC, who this summer became the first-ever Asian extreme metal band to tour with Ozzfest, kicked off its European tour Wednesday night (Nov. 7) in Wolverhampton, England. The band will play a week's worth of shows with Ozzfest tourmates 3 INCHES OF BLOOD — including a performance at the inaugural Hard Rock Hell festival — before joining MARDUK for a short trek throughout Eastern Europe and Finland. From there, CHTHONIC will team with "heroic folk metal" warriors ENSIFERUM for a two-week tour of Western Europe.

Vocalist Freddy Lim says that some fans in Wolverhampton — where CHTHONIC had never before played — even knew all their songs. "We couldn't wait to be back on the road again," he says. "The passionate UK fans quickly helped us forget all about the long flight from Taiwan. Some of them told us they've been waiting years to see us, and on stage I can feel their passion!"

In other news, SPV/Deathlight will release a new CHTHONIC compilation, "Pandemonium", early next year. This album will feature re-recorded versions of many older, hard-to-find CHTHONIC songs as well as several selections from their most recent studio album, "Seediq Bale". For new fans, "Pandemonium" will provide the perfect introduction to Taiwan's most successful musical ambassadors; for older fans, the album makes these cult classics finally sound the way they were always intended to be heard.

The track listing is as follows:

01. City of Obscurity (new instrumental)
02. Onset of Tragedy (new recording; original version appears on 2002's "Relentless Recurrence")
03. Revert to Mortal Territory (new recording; original version appears on 2002's "Relentless Recurrence")
04. Grab the Soul to Hell (new recording; original version appears on 2002's "Relentless Recurrence")
05. Decomposition of the Mother Isle (Aboriginal Gods Enthroned) (new recording; original version appears on 1998's "Where The Ancestors' Souls Gathered")
06. Floated Unconsciously in the Acheron (new recording; original version appears on 2000's "9th Empyrean")
07. Indigenous Laceration (from "Seediq Bale")
08. Bloody Gaya Fulfilled (from "Seediq Bale")
09. Quasi Putrefaction (from "Seediq Bale")
10. Guard the Isle Eternally (new recording; original version appears on 2000's "9th Empyrean")
11. Relentless Recurrence (new recording; original version appears on 2002's "Relentless Recurrence")

Like other CHTHONIC releases, "Pandemonium" will feature lavish packaging that includes 10 collectible "song cards," unique digibox packaging with album art featuring Kuan, the "Ghost King" who graces all CHTHONIC covers, and a chronology that details the band's decade-long evolution from underground obscurity into one of the fastest-rising international stars in heavy metal.

"It wasn't easy for us to learn how to produce or record a quality metal album in Taiwan, a country that used to be a metal desert," Lim explains. "The earlier albums are important to us, and they remind us vividly of the memorable journey that CHTHONIC has been on, but it was great to be able to combine modern technology and 10 years of experience with the old songs we like the most to make them better, and to let fans get a different taste of them."

CHTHONIC's European tour wraps up on Dec. 15 in Illingen, Germany. For a complete list of upcoming dates, see www.myspace.com/chthonictw.