Here’s Some More Info About Chthonic’s Action/Comedy Film and Randy Blythe’s Role In It

We’ve been wondering about Lamb of God frontman Randy Blythe’s guest role in Tshiong!, the action/comedy film made by Taiwanese metallers Chthonic — and the film in general, seeing as we like Chthonic a whole lot — ever since learning about its existence three years ago when it was all filmed. Even a trailer for the film released last month didn’t help explain much, seeing as it was all in Taiwanese.

But now we have answers! Taiwanese writer Darice Dan Chang has written a piece for The News Lens explaining both the plot behind the movie and Blythe’s role in it. Though Chang describes the script as heavy on Taiwanese dialect puns, she praises its simple backstory and comedic nature as having a broad appeal to those who don’t speak the language (and yes, there are subtitles).

Here’s a brief synopsis of the plot:

“The movie itself follows the antics of protagonist A-Tek and his quest to save his rural hometown from the claws of Chinese capitalism as he travels from southern Taiwan to the capital in search of his heroes, international metal sensation Chthonic, whom he’s hoping will help him stand up for his land by holding a protest concert back home. The story takes an unlikely turn when he discovers his would-be saviors aren’t quite as he imagined. Constricted by the demands of their China-friendly sponsors (the aptly named Eyeball Corporation, a riff on EyeCTV, a pro-unification news channel), the band is forced to curb their hot-headed nature and put a hold on A-tek’s proclivity for rioting and protests.”

Blythe came to be involved, as we already know, after befriending Chthonic vocalist Freddy Lim when the two bands were on tour together, and he flew to Taiwan to film it simply for fun (“I didn’t make much money.”). Blythe describes his own role in the film thusly:

“I was in a riot, I got beat up by the cops, I ran from the cops.”

Tshiong! comes out on December 29th in Taiwan. Although the film has had some trouble gaining distribution due to its political stances, it will be available on 30 screens throughout the country. We’re not sure yet when or how the film will be distributed internationally, but we’ll keep you posted.