CHTHONIC Frontman: 'We Write About God, Ghosts, Spirits, And Legends'

Eugenia Chien of New America Media reports: CHTHONIC (pronounced THON-ic) is the first extreme metal band from Asia to perform at Ozzfest. The six-person group is traveling and performing with bands like STATIC-X, LAMB OF GOD, and of course, the tour's founder, OZZY OSBOURNE.

The Asian music scene is typified by saccharine love ballads and hip-hop. A heavy metal scene in Taiwan, much less the dark, melancholic death metal of CHTHONIC is, until recently, hard for many Asians to imagine. But the band's dramatic face paint, lyrics based in Taiwanese folklore, and atmospheric, spiritual performing style has attracted thousands of Taiwanese — and now, American fans.

One of the reasons why they are so famous is because their music is complex, using a variety of techniques not often heard in metal music, like performing with a classical Chinese symphony. The band also uses the traditional Chinese string instrument called erhu — or hanna in Taiwanese — to add Eastern influence to their music.

"All of the concepts in our music are tragedies, so we need an instrument that can express this kind of emotion," said lead singer Freddy Lim. The band's erhu player, Su-nung Chao, had come from a Chinese classical music background and is a part-time funeral musician in Taiwan.

"The sound of the hanna is kind of like a woman crying," Chao said.

Record stores in Taiwan began selling thrash metal and heavy metal music in the 1990s, but the Internet era has introduced more metal bands to Asian listeners.

"In Asia, young people have karaoke culture, but metal music is the total opposite. With metal music, the most important parts are drums and guitar," Lim said.

Read the entire article at New America Media.