黑麒 [Black Kirin] - 黄河 [Yellow River] (2015)

This band is the second Chinese folk metal band I encountered. I was expecting something more like things along the line of 小雨 (Mysterain) when I started listening—which is to say symphonic folk metal—and instead I got … this.

In short I got my mind blown.

This band started my dive into Chinese metal culture, and what I like best about this song, the one that started that dive (or perhaps that pushed me into the deep end of the pool) is that it showed the astonishing diversity of the scene. This is straight-up blackened death metal mixed in cunning ways with traditional Chinese melodies and instrumentation that gives it a unique voice of its own that very few others can match. (葬尸湖/Zuriaake is probably the only other band that can compare in this regard, though less on the instrumentation and more on the melody lines and lyrical content.)

And, not gonna lie, I love watching the faces of westerners when the dan voice kicks in. The "WTAF!?" look just makes me laugh and laugh.