''The Chthonic Chronicles'' is the sixth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by English

metal A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...

band Bal-Sagoth. The first in five years since 2001's ''

Atlantis Ascendant ''Atlantis Ascendant'' is the fifth studio album by English metal band Bal-Sagoth. It was released in April 2001 through Nuclear Blast. This was the first Bal-Sagoth album to be recorded (albeit only partially) with digital recording technology. ...

'', it is rumoured to be their last album. This album was released in Europe on 10 March 2006 through

Nuclear Blast Nuclear Blast is a record label and mail order record distributor with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States and Brazil. The label was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Germany. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label mov ...

and in the US on 16 May through

Candlelight Records Candlelight Records is a British record label based in England and founded by former Extreme Noise Terror bassist Lee Barrett, though it has had a division in the United States since January 2001. Candlelight Records specialises in black metal ...

. A remastered digipak edition from Metal Mind Productions followed in October 2011, while a second digipak release from Dissonance Productions and a limited edition gatefold vinyl version from Night of the Vinyl Dead were issued in October 2020, with a subsequent double vinyl gatefold edition being issued by Back on Black in 2022.

Background

''The Chthonic Chronicles'' is rumoured to be the band's final album. Their first album's introduction song is called "Hatheg-Kla", and the final song on ''The Chthonic Chronicles'' is called "Return to Hatheg-Kla", perhaps making their vision of an epic Hexalogy come full circle. Although Bal-Sagoth vocalist-lyricist

Byron Roberts Byron Roberts, also known as Byron A. Roberts, is the vocalist/lyricist and founder of the British symphonic extreme metal band Bal-Sagoth. He is also the author of "The Chronicles of Caylen-Tor" book series published by DMR Books, as well a ...

most often refers to ''The Chthonic Chronicles'' as "the end of the Hexalogy", this could also refer to the end of this particular set of stories. Byron has stated himself that there is an abundance of lyrical material left for the possible continuation of Bal-Sagoth.

Lyrical content

The album title refers to a key story element in the lyrics, and The Chthonic Chronicles themselves are a pure work of fiction from lyrics writer Byron Roberts. The somewhat rare word has been used in literature by

T. S. Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist, publisher, playwright, literary critic and editor.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Biogr ...

, C. F. Keary and M. McCarthy, and is Greek in origin, meaning "earthly", specifically dealing with the underworld and spirits. (For more information, see

Chthonic The word chthonic (), or chthonian, is derived from the Ancient Greek word ''χθών, "khthon"'', meaning earth or soil. It translates more directly from χθόνιος or "in, under, or beneath the earth" which can be differentiated from Γῆ ...

.) Bal-Sagoth's now-established tradition of lyrics revolving around

antediluvian The antediluvian (alternatively pre-diluvian or pre-flood) period is the time period chronicled in the Bible between the fall of man and the Genesis flood narrative in biblical cosmology. The term was coined by Thomas Browne. The narrative take ...

settings, such as Atlantis,

Lemuria Lemuria (), or Limuria, was a continent proposed in 1864 by zoologist Philip Sclater, theorized to have sunk beneath the Indian Ocean, later appropriated by occultists in supposed accounts of human origins. The theory was discredited with the di ...

and Mu, is once again present, and song titles such as "Shackled to the Trilithon of Kutulu" indicate that a heavy H. P. Lovecraft inspiration is present too. The band continues previous storylines (which began on previous albums) in the songs "Invocations Beyond the Outer-World Night", "The Obsidian Crown Unbound" and "Unfettering the Hoary Sentinels of Karnak".

Reissues

In November 2011, ''The Chthonic Chronicles'' was reissued as a limited edition

digipak Optical disc packaging is the packaging that accompanies CDs, DVDs, and other formats of optical discs. Most packaging is rigid or semi-rigid and designed to protect the media from scratches and other types of exposure damage. Jewel case A ...

by Nuclear Blast's affiliate label Metal Mind Productions. The reissue featured an expanded lyric booklet, additional artwork and remastered audio. On October 16, 2020, ''The Chthonic Chronicles'' was reissued as a digipak CD edition via Dissonance Productions. In October 2020, ''The Chthonic Chronicles'' was reissued as a double-vinyl gatefold edition limited to 400 copies, under license to the Italian record label "Night of the Vinyl Dead". In May 2022, ''The Chthonic Chronicles'' was reissued as a double LP gatefold edition via the UK specialist vinyl label Back On Black.

Track listing

* All lyrics written by

, all music written by

Jonny Maudling Jonny Maudling (born Jonathan Maudling) is an English composer, keyboard player and former drummer for the band Bal-Sagoth, keyboardist with the band Kull, former bassist with the unsigned UK thrash band Igniter, and frequent collaborator with ...

and Chris Maudling.

Personnel

– vocals, artwork concept * Chris Maudling – guitars *

– keyboards * Mark Greenwell – bass * Dan "Storm" Mullins – drums

Additional personnel

Martin Hanford Martin Hanford (born 21 February 1974) is a British fantasy artist based in Herefordshire, England. In addition to painting album covers and T-shirt designs for a variety of heavy metal bands, including Bal-Sagoth, Twilight Force, Angantyr, Ora ...

- cover art * Mags - engineering (vocals) *

Achim Köhler Achim (; Northern Low Saxon: ''Achem''), commonly Achim bei Bremen, is a municipality and the largest town (population 30,059 in December 2006) in the district of Verden, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Weser, a ...

- mastering

References

External links

''The Chthonic Chronicles'' at Discogs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chthonic Chronicles, The Bal-Sagoth albums 2006 albums Cthulhu Mythos music Candlelight Records albums Back on Black Records albums