Taiwan's CHTHONIC Receives DALAI LAMA's Blessing For This Year's 'Free Tibet Concert'

Asian symphonic black metal band CHTHONIC, which made international headlines by championing Taiwanese democracy from the Ozzfest and Wacken Open Air stages in 2007, has posted the following message on its MySpace page:

"In order to facilitate the 2009 Free Tibet Concert, CHTHONIC vocalist Freddy Lim, along with several musicians from Taiwan, visited the political and spiritual leader Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, India, where the Tibetan Government In Exile [is based]. Freddy expressed the mission of this concert, and many welcomes from Taiwanese people for Dalai Lama to visit anytime. Dalai Lama reiterated the idea that 'supporting Tibet is supporting freedom and human rights which are valued all over the world.'

[See photos and video footage of Freddy's meeting with Dalai Lama below.]

"CHTHONIC has always been caring about human rights, especially for Tibet, [which] suffered similar background to Taiwan's. Ever since Chinese government claimed its sovereignty, Tibet has been under military threatening and international pressure. While Taiwan is aimed by a thousand of missiles from China and lost its stand in front of the world, millions of Tibetans fought hard and lost their lives and homeland.

"CHTHONIC held a Free Tibet Concert in 2003 in Taipei with the attendance of BEASTIE BOYS and many other artists from Hong Kong and Taiwan. Most artists went silent after getting onto the black list to perform in China, however CHTHONIC remains the only one speaking up for Tibet from also a very politically sensitive country.

"From human rights to Tibetan and Taiwanese independence, Freddy conveyed these issues during CHTHONIC's international tours. Freddy was very impressed with the smiles of the Tibetan orphans staying in school during holidays. Behind the beautiful smiles lies the fact that these kids might never see their families again. Their parents had friends bring them to India by walking through the Himalayas. Some kids did not even make it due to the cold and tough roads.

"CHTHONIC also named their tours 'UNlimited Taiwan' when participating the Ozzfest in the U.S., the Wacken Open Air music festival in Germany, and many other events in Europe. 'Unlimited Taiwan' suggested that the United Nations somehow missed its believes for human rights when facing the powerful China with huge economical benefits.

"Freddy's visit to Dharamsala soon caught the attention of many international supporting groups of Tibet. Media coverage and interviews from Norwegian Voice of Tibet, Radio Free Asia in the U.S., and Tibet Times made this trip more visible to the world.

"Year 2009 is the fiftieth anniversary of Tibet's resistance since the Chinese invasion. Many famous artists such as BJORK and RADIOHEAD have been supporting Tibet for a long time. CHTHONIC would like to invite worldwide supporters of Tibet to join the 2009 Free Tibet Concert in Taipei, Taiwan. With the blessings from his holiness the Dalai Lama, CHTHONIC affirms to make the 2009 Free Tibet Concert successful."

CHTHONIC recently finished recording its new concept album, "Mirror Of Retribution", in Los Angeles with producer (and ANTHRAX guitarist) Rob Caggiano (CRADLE OF FILTH, BLEEDING THROUGH). This marks the band's first-ever recording sessions in America.

"We had a good time working in Denmark for three albums, but we had some exciting chemistry between us and Rob, a new producer with a fresh vision and a fresh environment," said Freddy Lim. "We like Rob's past work very much — especially the depth and strength of all the different instruments — and as a huge fan of ANTHRAX, it was our pleasure to work with him."

"Mirror Of Retribution" is scheduled for release in April.