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Quoted from washingtonpost.com: A Voice for Taiwan's Freedom, History
Sunday, August 26, 2007
By Richard Harrington, WASHINGTON, The Washington Post
Not a lot of metal bands appear at both nightclubs and the National Press Club in Washington, but Chthonic will soon be doing just that here. And on Sept. 13, the Taiwanese ensemble will hold a downtown news conference to discuss its "UNlimited Taiwan" campaign and its experience as the first Asian extreme metal act in the Ozzfest tour -- an appropriate showcase for a band called "the Black Sabbath of Asia."
According to lead singer and songwriter Freddy Lim, the September events are particularly important because they coincide with the Sept. 18 opening of the annual session of the United Nations, which Taiwan will once again attempt to join, an effort blocked every year since 1993 by China, which asserts sovereignty over the island.
Chthonic -- pronounced "THON-nic," it's Greek, meaning "of the underworld" -- has recorded a single called "UNlimited Taiwan" and made a short film for the song, protesting their homeland's isolation in the international community.
It's all part of an effort to drum up sympathy and support among younger fans who may not know that Taiwan has been self-ruled since Nationalist forces moved there in 1949 after losing a long-running civil war with communist forces.
It had a U.N. seat as the Republic of China until 1971, when China asserted sovereignty and threatened military action if Taiwan tried to secede. The United States has been trying to encourage a peaceful resolution ever since.
"The things that we can do are not too much," Lim admitted. "We didn't organize this tour for a political reason -- first of all, it's a musical tour -- but as citizens of Taiwan we had to express our political message in the same time when our country needs our support.
"We are just a heavy metal act and we have to fight for our own musical career, but at the same time we want to fight for our country."
Seeking international political recognition while asserting its independence has been difficult for Taiwan, Lim said. "In my opinion, and I think the opinion of all the citizens in Taiwan, they consider Taiwan is already an independent country," he said.
"We have all rights like the citizens of America: We pay the tax to our own government, we vote for our own president, we have our own army. It is for us an independent country, no doubt. That would be the point we want to mention: Accept unlimited Taiwan,' like the song.
"But we don't write anything political in other songs," Lim said. "All our songs are about mythology in Taiwan. I'm a fan of all kinds of mythologies since I was in kindergarten. When I started to write music, I made up my mind to write about things that normally human beings cannot do. I love to write about gods, ghosts, spirits."
Lim says he and his bandmates grew up on Slayer, Anthrax, Deicide, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Cradle of Filth and Dimmu Borgir, "the bands we liked the most when we first listened to black metal in the mid-'90s, especially their arrangements."
He also cites Emperor and Enslaved from Norway and England's Hecate Enthroned, bands whose complex structures and arrangements sired the "symphonic black metal" movement. England's Cradle of Filth and Norway's Dimmu Borgir wrote about their native cultures after traditional pagan religions had been forcibly replaced by Christianity.
Chthonic incorporates stories tied to Taiwan's culture and history, including the struggle against the Han Chinese, who after assuming control of the island about 350 years ago, subjugated aboriginal cultures.
The band's 1998 debut, "Where the Ancestors' Souls Gathered," is about the original journey across the sea and the Han dreaming about a brighter future in Taiwan. The follow-up, "9th Empyrean," deals with a war between the gods of the Han and Taiwan's aboriginal people.
Chthonic's most recent release, "Seediq Bale," is also inspired by history. When the Japanese ruled Taiwan between 1895 and 1945, they banned traditional aboriginal practices, including facial tattoos. The Seediq, part of the Atayal, one of the 12 officially recognized indigenous peoples in Taiwan, rebelled in 1930, resulting in the Wushe Incident, an infamous massacre.
Chthonic makes dramatic use of facial tattoos, also known as "corpse paint." Painted rockers go back to Alice Cooper and Kiss, and death and black metal bands in the '80s and '90s embraced particularly dramatic, foreboding imagery. Taiwanese folklore had the Eight Generals, painted deities empowered with the eight Taoist spirits to be judges of good and evil.
"The makeup that we have is very traditional," Lim said. "Taiwanese Taoist priests would have to communicate with the gods and ghosts, to let the spirits into their bodies to transcend themselves. ... That kind of makeup lets our fans know about Taiwan, and they become more and more curious about Asian culture."
Chthonic's sound is generally familiar: Guitarist Jesse (the Infernal), bassist Doris (Thunder Tears), keyboardist CJ (Dispersed Fingers) and drummer Dani (Azathothian Hands) deliver machine gun/jackhammer accompaniment to Lim's throat-shredding, guttural screams.
But you'll also notice Su-Nung (the Bloody String) on ERHU, a two-stringed traditional Chinese violin. It's often buried in the tumultuous sound mix but sometimes gets a solo showcase that capitalizes on the sad, morose sounds that have made the instrument a favorite in tragic or melancholy films and plays.
Chthonic has recorded Mandarin and English-language versions, though Lim is clearly more comfortable in his own language.
"Some parts are really difficult to translate from Taiwanese, particularly the ones that are speaking of the gods or the spirits, and I don't want to write in English because it doesn't feel natural. It is not too difficult for us because we work with many writers in Taiwan to do something in English, but I feel like in extreme metal the fans maybe don't really care about the lyrics."
And his own lyrics are sung with such brutal energy that the actual language hardly matters.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
By Richard Harrington, WASHINGTON, The Washington Post
Not a lot of metal bands appear at both nightclubs and the National Press Club in Washington, but Chthonic will soon be doing just that here. And on Sept. 13, the Taiwanese ensemble will hold a downtown news conference to discuss its "UNlimited Taiwan" campaign and its experience as the first Asian extreme metal act in the Ozzfest tour -- an appropriate showcase for a band called "the Black Sabbath of Asia."
According to lead singer and songwriter Freddy Lim, the September events are particularly important because they coincide with the Sept. 18 opening of the annual session of the United Nations, which Taiwan will once again attempt to join, an effort blocked every year since 1993 by China, which asserts sovereignty over the island.
Chthonic -- pronounced "THON-nic," it's Greek, meaning "of the underworld" -- has recorded a single called "UNlimited Taiwan" and made a short film for the song, protesting their homeland's isolation in the international community.
It's all part of an effort to drum up sympathy and support among younger fans who may not know that Taiwan has been self-ruled since Nationalist forces moved there in 1949 after losing a long-running civil war with communist forces.
It had a U.N. seat as the Republic of China until 1971, when China asserted sovereignty and threatened military action if Taiwan tried to secede. The United States has been trying to encourage a peaceful resolution ever since.
"The things that we can do are not too much," Lim admitted. "We didn't organize this tour for a political reason -- first of all, it's a musical tour -- but as citizens of Taiwan we had to express our political message in the same time when our country needs our support.
"We are just a heavy metal act and we have to fight for our own musical career, but at the same time we want to fight for our country."
Seeking international political recognition while asserting its independence has been difficult for Taiwan, Lim said. "In my opinion, and I think the opinion of all the citizens in Taiwan, they consider Taiwan is already an independent country," he said.
"We have all rights like the citizens of America: We pay the tax to our own government, we vote for our own president, we have our own army. It is for us an independent country, no doubt. That would be the point we want to mention: Accept unlimited Taiwan,' like the song.
"But we don't write anything political in other songs," Lim said. "All our songs are about mythology in Taiwan. I'm a fan of all kinds of mythologies since I was in kindergarten. When I started to write music, I made up my mind to write about things that normally human beings cannot do. I love to write about gods, ghosts, spirits."
Lim says he and his bandmates grew up on Slayer, Anthrax, Deicide, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Cradle of Filth and Dimmu Borgir, "the bands we liked the most when we first listened to black metal in the mid-'90s, especially their arrangements."
He also cites Emperor and Enslaved from Norway and England's Hecate Enthroned, bands whose complex structures and arrangements sired the "symphonic black metal" movement. England's Cradle of Filth and Norway's Dimmu Borgir wrote about their native cultures after traditional pagan religions had been forcibly replaced by Christianity.
Chthonic incorporates stories tied to Taiwan's culture and history, including the struggle against the Han Chinese, who after assuming control of the island about 350 years ago, subjugated aboriginal cultures.
The band's 1998 debut, "Where the Ancestors' Souls Gathered," is about the original journey across the sea and the Han dreaming about a brighter future in Taiwan. The follow-up, "9th Empyrean," deals with a war between the gods of the Han and Taiwan's aboriginal people.
Chthonic's most recent release, "Seediq Bale," is also inspired by history. When the Japanese ruled Taiwan between 1895 and 1945, they banned traditional aboriginal practices, including facial tattoos. The Seediq, part of the Atayal, one of the 12 officially recognized indigenous peoples in Taiwan, rebelled in 1930, resulting in the Wushe Incident, an infamous massacre.
Chthonic makes dramatic use of facial tattoos, also known as "corpse paint." Painted rockers go back to Alice Cooper and Kiss, and death and black metal bands in the '80s and '90s embraced particularly dramatic, foreboding imagery. Taiwanese folklore had the Eight Generals, painted deities empowered with the eight Taoist spirits to be judges of good and evil.
"The makeup that we have is very traditional," Lim said. "Taiwanese Taoist priests would have to communicate with the gods and ghosts, to let the spirits into their bodies to transcend themselves. ... That kind of makeup lets our fans know about Taiwan, and they become more and more curious about Asian culture."
Chthonic's sound is generally familiar: Guitarist Jesse (the Infernal), bassist Doris (Thunder Tears), keyboardist CJ (Dispersed Fingers) and drummer Dani (Azathothian Hands) deliver machine gun/jackhammer accompaniment to Lim's throat-shredding, guttural screams.
But you'll also notice Su-Nung (the Bloody String) on ERHU, a two-stringed traditional Chinese violin. It's often buried in the tumultuous sound mix but sometimes gets a solo showcase that capitalizes on the sad, morose sounds that have made the instrument a favorite in tragic or melancholy films and plays.
Chthonic has recorded Mandarin and English-language versions, though Lim is clearly more comfortable in his own language.
"Some parts are really difficult to translate from Taiwanese, particularly the ones that are speaking of the gods or the spirits, and I don't want to write in English because it doesn't feel natural. It is not too difficult for us because we work with many writers in Taiwan to do something in English, but I feel like in extreme metal the fans maybe don't really care about the lyrics."
And his own lyrics are sung with such brutal energy that the actual language hardly matters.
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