Taiwanese metal band Chthonic have tapped Randy Blythe for a searing new collaborative track, "Souls of the Revolution." The prog-metal ripper doubles as the theme song for the band's forthcoming action-comedy movie Tshiong, which finds the Lamb of God frontman playing "an exaggerated, rock star version of himself." Accordingly, the track features one of Blythe's most bombastic — and brutal — vocal performances in recent memory.
Arriving in Taiwanese theaters December 29th, Tshiong tells the story of A-tek (Tsai Chang-hsien), a country boy (and huge Chthonic fan) who enlists the metal outfit's help in defending his small village from unjust developers. Blythe became involved with the film through his friendship with the band, who've toured with Lamb of God in the past; he filmed his cameo back in 2014.
"My friends in this band Chthonic ... they're pretty political: they're very pro Taiwanese independence," he told EMP Rock Invasion (per Blabbermouth) in 2015. "Because China still claims ownership of Taiwan, basically, and that goes all the way back to Chinese civil war, when Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong were fighting. My friends are very pro Taiwanese independence, and I don't blame them. I think every country should have the ability to govern itself."
"Freddy [Lim], their singer, e-mailed me one day," Blythe continued, "and he was just, like, 'Hey, man. We're making an action movie. Do you wanna be in it?' And I'm, like, 'Yeah.' I didn't ask him what it was about or anything. I'm just, like, 'Yeah. Yeah, I do.' I mean, I obviously didn't do it for the money — I didn't make much money — but I did it 'cause it's awesome to be in a kung fu movie."
