Taiwan's Biggest Metal Band CHTHONIC And Finnish Artist MARISKA Join Forces On Extreme Metal Track

Taiwan's biggest metal band CHTHONIC and Finnish artist Mariska have released a surprising collaboration, "Näin Määrättiin". The track also marks the first time ever that Mariska has appeared on an extreme metal song.

While the new song was inspired by the final words written by Taiwanese political prisoners to their loved ones before their execution, CHTHONIC vocalist Freddy Lim discovered that, despite the historical differences between the two countries, Finland's history also contains similarly heartbreaking stories of separation, loss and survival.

As Freddy researched the subject further, he made a surprising discovery: during the Winter War, stories of Finnish resistance were frequently reported in Taiwan Minpao, the first newspaper founded by Taiwanese people. At the time, Finland's struggle against overwhelming odds provided inspiration and encouragement to Taiwanese readers. Many of those readers would later become political prisoners in the late 1940s.

The idea that people on opposite sides of the world could share the same emotions and struggles — and even inspire one another — deeply moved Freddy. Around the same time, he met Mariska and became interested in her artistry and poetic approach to songwriting.

"This takes me back to my good old punk hardcore days — it's a really interesting experience!" says Mariska. "When I first heard CHTHONIC, their powerful music and videos made a deep impression on me. So when they contacted me and suggested a collaboration, I agreed almost immediately."

"I hope listeners can feel the sadness in the song, but also find comfort in it. Death is something we all have to face sooner or later, and none of us can avoid it."

CHTHONIC's other key songwriter and guitarist Jesse Ulas Liu adds: "I think this is CHTHONIC's first love song. It's a love song filled with conflicting emotions — grief, guilt, regret, despair and hopelessness. Although you can still hear the style that is characteristic of CHTHONIC, we have also brought in many new elements. I hope our fans will find it refreshing."

During the songwriting process, CHTHONIC bassist Doris Yeh once again refined the original demo by Freddy and Jesse and helped shape the song, in much the same way as she has done with the band's most recent releases.

"We no longer rush to release music the way we used to. Now we finally have the opportunity to work carefully on each song, one at a time. I really appreciate that we are still able to make music together, so I wanted to think carefully about every detail," says Doris Yeh, adding that she also discovered a surprising connection with Mariska through her well-known song "Terveisin Doris".

In 2025, Lim was appointed as Taiwan's new ambassador to Finland. Notably, Lim is a longtime politician who served two terms as a member of Taiwan's legislature, from 2016 to 2024. He was considered to be the first-ever metal musician to become a member of a national parliament.

The members of CHTHONIC are currently literally spread across opposite sides of the world, with Freddy and Doris living in Helsinki while the rest of the band are based in Taipei.

"Freddy still sends messages on every possible communication platform," laughs Dani. "It still feels like he's right here with us. But that's a good thing. That attitude keeps us moving forward and inspires us to create new music."

The music video for "Näin Määrättiin", which can be seen below, premiered at the Air Guitar World Championships, as well as at the Oulu Music Video Festival in Finland.

CHTHONIC has released several albums, including "Mirror Of Retribution" (2009),"Takasago Army" (2011) and "Butik" (2013) with Spinefarm/Universal Music, and performed at Ozzfest, Download, Wacken Open Air and a number of tours in Europe and North America. However, the band turned low-key when its lead Lim was elected to the Taiwanese parliament in 2016.

For almost a decade, Lim was occupied with parliamentary work, and other members were working on their own projects. As a result, CHTHONIC only had occasional large performances in Taiwan. It released some new works, such as the album "Battlefields Of Asura" (2018) and the singles "Pattonkan" (2023) and "Endless Aeons" (2025),but stopped almost all performances overseas.

People say rock can change the world, and Lim made that a reality during his two terms in the parliament when he advocated for reforms. He pushed for legislation to make Taiwan's first country in Asia to have marriage equality and to better protect indigenous rights. He also pushed for passage of budgets to provide humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. He advocated "transitional justice", demanding that government declassify files from the authoritarian era in the past, so that there may be truth and justice in the society.

In 2023, unexpectedly, declassified files revealed the sorrowful and previously unknown past of Freddy's family. Combining history and mythology, it was perhaps not merely coincidental that CHTHONIC's music told the sorrowful yet brave stories of Freddy's grandparents. Freddy was deeply shocked when he learned that. Overwhelmed by complicated emotions, he decided to end his eight-year service in the parliament, and announced that he would not seek re-election. He paused to rethink what life means to him, and where he will go with his music.

Lim's appointment as ambassador to Finland in 2025 was seen as a fitting choice, given the country's reputation as the "heavy metal capital of the world".

When he was appointed as the ambassador to the Nordic country, he said in a social media post: "Working with my partners in the Finnish music industry for a long time has made me have a special feeling for this country."

Photo credit: Chung-lun Wu and Anna-Maria Viksten