Chthonic (band)

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ChthoniC
Origin Taipei, Taiwan
Genre(s) Melodic black metal
Oriental metal
Years active 1995–present
Label(s) Down Port Music
Website chthonic.org
Members
Freddy Lim
Jesse Liu
Doris Yeh
CJ
Dani Wang
Su-Nung
Former members
Vivien
Ambrosia
Yu
Wang
Terry
Null
Zac
Ellis
Sandee Chan
Reno Killerich
A-Jay
Roger

Chthonic (閃靈樂團; sometimes typeset ChthoniC) is a Taiwanese melodic black metal band that incorporates influences from traditional Taiwanese music including instruments such as the erhu (which is called a hena in their native Taiwanese).

Contents

[edit] History

The band's stated goal is to use their music to bring ancient history and mythology into the modern era, especially the tragic history and unique myths of Taiwan (for example, those of the Seediq people). The name "Chthonic" is a Greek word which refers to the earth and can have implications of the underworld.

In 2003, they won the Best Band Award at the Taiwan Golden Melodies Award Ceremony[1]. The band is also banned in parts of China for their political views.[citation needed]

The lead vocalist, Freddy Lim, is notably active in the political scene and supports Taiwan independence.

In 2007 he and other artists organized an international music festival to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the 228 Incident, entitled "Spirit of Taiwan: With justice we cure this nation".[2]

On March 30, 2007, it was confirmed that Chthonic were to be part of the 2007 Ozzfest tour as a rotating second stage act.[3] While taking part in Ozzfest, they also toured as a support act for Nile in July and August and as a headliner in September.[4]

On August 3, 2007, Chthonic flew from the United States to Germany to play at Wacken Open Air.[5] Unfortunately, their instruments were not delivered on time, so Su-Nung had to play a keyboard instead of his erhu.[6]

[edit] Lyrical themes

While some songs have their lyrics partly or entirely written in Taiwanese, Japanese, or Taiwanese aboriginal language, most of the band's songs have their lyrics written entirely in classical Chinese (with Mandarin pronunciation), which is rarely seen in contemporary Chinese music. Taking advantage of classical Chinese's feature of being a monosyllabic language, many songs, especially those in earlier albums, used plenty of parallel sentences in their lyrics to create an epic atmosphere.

The themes mostly surround early Taiwanese colonizers' defiant spirit, fictional war between aborigine's gods with Han's gods, Taiwanese folklore and mythology, and the historical event known as Wushe Incident, which is a rebellion against Japanese governor by Seediq people.

Although the lyrics are quite profound compared to most contemporary Taiwanese songs, many Taiwanese people don't prefer black metal vocals and said that they couldn't understand anything sung by Freddy, which is probably why Chthonic is said to be more famous in western countries than in Taiwan.

[edit] Members

[edit] Current members

[edit] Former members

  • A-Jay Tsai – drums
  • Vivien – keyboard
  • Ambrosia – keyboard

[edit] Timeline

[edit] Discography

[edit] Studio albums

[edit] EP

  • Satan's Horns (2003)

[edit] Singles

  • Deep Rising (1998)
  • Nightmare (1999)

[edit] Compilation albums

  • Anthology: A Decade on the Throne (2006)
  • Pandemonium (2007)

[edit] Live album

  • A Decade on the Throne Live (2006) – Live DVD + 2CD

[edit] Videography

[edit] DVD

  • A Decade on the Throne Live (2006) – Live DVD + 2CD

[edit] Other

  • Spred the Qi (2003) – Double VCD

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Chthonic put spin on Taiwan's past "Chthonic put spin on Taiwan's past". Taipeitimes.com.
  2. ^ Anniversary of deadly Taiwan riot "Anniversary of deadly Taiwan riot". BBC.co.uk.
  3. ^ "Ozzfest bands divided by stage". Ozzfest.com.
  4. ^ Chthonic UNlimited Tour Dates.
  5. ^ Chthonic rush to the Wacken Open Air in Germany.
  6. ^ Forced to play keyboard, big upset in W:O:A.

[edit] External links

[edit] References

v • d • e
ChthoniC
Freddy Lim · Jesse Liu · Doris Yeh · Dani Wang · CJ · Su-Nung
A-Jay Tsai · Luis Wei · Vivien · Ambrosia
Albums