Chthonic (band)

Chthonic (sometimes typeset ChthoniC or ChThoniC) is a Taiwanese metal band, formed in 1995 in Taipei. The group incorporates influences from traditional Taiwanese music including the classical Asian instrument erhu (the band often calls it hiân-á in their native Taiwanese). They are acclaimed artists, as well as political activists who advocate Taiwan independence and self-determination for the Tibetans and Uighurs.

Since their formation, Chthonic has released six studio albums. Their most recent album, Takasago Army, was released on August 1, 2011 in Europe and on September 6, 2011 in North America via Spinefarm records.

History

The band's stated goal is to use their music to bring ancient history and mythology into the modern era, especially the tragic pan-green history and 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. The name is usually pronounced by the westerner fans as "Thonic".^[4]

In 2003, they won the Best Band Award at the Taiwan Golden Melodies Award Ceremony.^[5] The band is also banned in parts of China for their political views.^[6]

The lead vocalist, Freddy Lim, is notably active in the political scene and supports Taiwanese independence. In February 2009, Freddy Lim and Doris Yeh participated with human rights activists at the Taipei zoo panda exhibit, which symbolizes China's attempts to establish soft power relations with Taiwan. ^[7]

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".^[8]

On March 30, 2007, it was confirmed that Chthonic were to be part of the 2007 Ozzfest tour as a rotating second stage act. While taking part in Ozzfest, they also toured as a support act for Nile in July and August and as a headliner in September.^[9]

On August 3, 2007, Chthonic flew from the United States to Germany to play at Wacken Open Air.^[10] Unfortunately, their instruments were not delivered on time, so Su-Nung had to play a keyboard instead of his erhu.^[11]

The band begun recording of their upcoming album, titled Mirror of Retribution, in May 2008. The album was recorded in The A Studio in Hollywood, California, and was produced by Rob Caggiano. On October 11, 2008, Doris stated at the time that the album was complete, and that mastering of the album should be finished by the following week. Freddy announced that the album will be released in early 2009. Three tracks (Rise of The Shadows, Venom In My Veins, and 49 Theurgy Chains) were confirmed to be on the album. Freddy also announced at a concert in Taichung that Er-hu player Su-Nung will be leaving the band in 2009 to follow his own career path.

In 2010, they digitally released the single Painkiller, which is a cover of Judas Priest's song of the same name. It also contains a Taiwanese version of the song "Bloody Waves of Sorrow".

On June 7, 2011, they digitally released Takao, the lead single from the album Takasago Army which is released in July.

Lyrical themes

Before Seediq Bale, most of the band's lyrics were written in Classical Chinese, which is rarely seen in contemporary Chinese music, and sung with Mandarin pronunciation. After Mirror of Retribution, the lyrics are written and sung in Taiwanese. Some songs may also include verses in Japanese or Taiwanese aboriginal languages. The band also started releasing English versions of their albums after Seediq Bale.

The themes mostly surround the defiant spirit of early Taiwanese colonizers, fictional wars between aboriginal gods with Han's gods, Taiwanese folklore and mythology, and historical events such as Wushe Incident, 228 Incident, and the Takasago Volunteers.

Stage Performance

Chthonic is also known for their shocking and original stage costumes, which is composed mainly of corpse paint similar to many black metal bands. At first and until 1998, Chthonic just followed Scandinavian Black Metal bands, but then incorporated some Taiwanese elements in their corpse paints, like the 8 generals of Hell on Freddy's forehead.^[12] Doris had corpse paint to make herself look like some goddess of death or female demon. Jesse's corpse paint had curses written all over it, with sharp teeth. The bottom half of Dani's face was covered in a black shiny demon mask. Cj had a cloth wrapped around his head, which, in mythology is a spell to raise Chinese Vampires from the dead.

Recently with the release of Takasago Army, they have changed to military styled costumes. They also stopped using corpse paint because the band members found it tedious to put on.^[13]

Fans often toss hell money during Chthonic's stage performances to create a dark atmosphere as well as for fun. People of Chinese culture who is unfamiliar with Chthonic may find this offensive or disrespectful because the practice is considered a taboo.

The band is also known for burning KMT flag sometimes. It was first seen in the music video of Forty-Nine Theurgy Chains and aroused some controversy^[14]. Packages containing a flag and a box of matches were officially made as presents later^[15]. In the music video of Quell the Souls in Sing Ling Temple, Freddy had a failed attempt to burn a flag during the Sing-Ling Temple concert, while a fan succeeded.

Members

Current members

• Freddy, Left Face of Maradou – vocals, erhu (1995–present)
• Doris, Thunder Tears – bass, backing vocals (1999–present)
• Jesse, The Infernal – guitar (2000–present)
• Dani, Azathothian Hands – drums (2005–present)
• CJ, Dispersed Fingers – piano, synthesizer (2005–present)

Former members

• Su-Nung, The Bloody String – erhu (2006–2009)
• Alexia – keyboard (2004–2006)
• A-Jay – drums (1999–2005)
• Luis – keyboard, vocals (2003–2004)
• Sheryl – keyboard (2002–2004)
• Vivien – keyboard (2001–2002)
• Ambrosia – keyboard (1996–2001)
• Null – guitar (1999–2000)
• Wang – drums (1998–1999)
• Zac – guitar (1998–1999)
• Yu – bass (1997–1999)
• Ellis – guitar (1996–1998)
• Terry – drums (1996–1998)
• Man 6 – bass (1996–1997)

Session members

• Reno Killerich – drums; on Seediq Bale (2005)
• Sandee Chan – vocals; on Seediq Bale (2005)

Discography

Studio albums

• Where the Ancestors' Souls Gathered (1999)
• 9th Empyrean (2000)
• Relentless Recurrence (2002)
• Seediq Bale (2005)
• Mirror of Retribution (2009)
• Takasago Army (2011)^[16]

EP

• Satan's Horns (2003)

Singles

• Deep Rising (1998)
• Nightmare (1999)
• UNlimited Taiwan (2007)
• Painkiller (2010)
• Takao (2011)
• Broken Jade (2011)

Compilation albums

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

Live album

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

Other

• Spred the Qi (2003) – Double VCD

Videography

DVD

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

Literary

• Dynasty (2006)
• Taiwan Guts (2008)

References

External links

• Chthonic.tw Official Website since Mid 2009
• ChthoniC.org Another official website (english)
• Chthonic (band) on Myspace
• "Chthonic put spin on Taiwan's past", Taipei Times, September 14, 2003
• "ChthoniC promotes Taiwan's UN bid in interview with NPR", Taipei Times, August 9, 2007
• "ChthoniC: A heavy metal alloy of music and politics", International Herald Tribune, August 16, 2007
• "A Voice for Taiwan's Freedom, History", The Washington Post, August 24, 2007
• "In tune with Taiwan", Los Angeles Times, September 12, 2007

Interviews

• Interview with Freddy Lim, Battle Helm, 2002
• Interview with Freddy Lim, Kyonsi Online, 2006
• Interview with Freddy Lim, Bright Eyes, January 26, 2007
• Interview with Freddy Lim, Ashiana Videos, August 20, 2007