Band:	Vengeful Spectre
Album:	Vengeful Spectre
Style:	Black metal, Folk metal
Release date:	January 2020

01. 破軍 The Expendables
02. 殞殤 Desperate War
03. 慟嘯 Wailing Wrath
04. 歸隱 Hermit
05. 肅弒 Rainy Night Carnage
06. 哀忿 Despair And Resentment

In 638, Year of the Dog, Tang Emperor Taizong found himself contemplating recent decisions. Expanding his Empire ever Westward, he had recently come into contact with the also-expanding Tibetan Empire. Their Emperor, Songsten Gampo, had sent emissaries to the Tang requesting a marriage alliance. This request had been rejected by Taizong.

The annal tells that Songsten Gampo was significantly insulted by Taizong's denial. In a fury he plucked a nearby stringed instrument and began strumming manically, with his various servants beating drums in erratic, matching rhythm. This was a performance to which members of his counsel were accustomed, a signal that Gampo was about to launch a desperate war of despair and resentment. So resolved Songsten Gampo to deploy the expendables to the Chinese frontier city of Songzhou. They gave heavy battle, forcing Songzhou governor Han Wei himself to retreat. A disquiet ambiance then fell upon the Tang camp, and soldiers conjured melodies from wind flutes, somberly lamenting their fallen comrades and the wailing wrath of Songsten Gampo.

Emperor Taizong well knew that he could not allow this affront to go unanswered, but he was at loss for exactly how to answer. Consulting the hermit who lived in the rocky country, Taizong was advised thusly: "Invoke the vengeful spectre of war, and surprise them before the breath of dawn." Taizong heeded the advice, and subsequently sent forces to the outskirts of a Tibetan camp on their Empire's Eastern border. Under the guise of moonlight, the Tang forces crept stealthily through the Tibetan compound, their footsteps generating a slow, pulsating hum upon the landscape.

Suddenly the clouds above opened in downpour, and the Tang took that as their divine signal. Shrieking and howling wildly, they sprang into a frenzied assault, relentlessly stabbing, shooting, and setting fire to everything in sight. Louder and louder the noise of the battle grew, until they must have heard it in far distant Goryeo: the clash of swords, the cacophonous twang of arrows, the thunder of horse's hooves and the angry sky above, the feeble cries and pleads of the dying. Into a frightening, climactic thrash the volume grew, before finally subsiding to an eerie standstill. No further noise sounded but the wind's faint whistle on the horizon. It is told that all present Tibetans fell under the heel of the Tang in the rainy night carnage.

The Tang attack upon the Tibetan camp in the depths of night was the humbling that Emperor Songsten Gampo needed. Regretting his foolhardy actions, he sent various emissaries and tributes to Chang'an to apologize. This time Taizong, believing the scores settled, sent a distant niece back to the Tibetan Empire, and the marriage alliance was solidified. Again the wind flutes were sounded, this time in a jubilant rejoice. Though the annals tell that this was not the last time the vengeful spectre of battle would need be summoned against the Tibetans on the part of the Tang.