Take 5 With Freddy Lim of Chthonic

Amongst the more extreme side of bands performing at this year's Ozzfest, such as Behemoth and Nile, Taiwan's Chthonic has really made a dent on North American audiences. These brutally fast performance artists have been on the scene for ten years now, which can be exhibited in its pristine glory on the new Chthonic DVD and CD set, A Decade On the Throne. Don't be tempted to dismiss these guys as Scandinavian black metal wannabes; there's something deeper lurking within the dank cosmos of Chthonic's music that ranges from beautiful to terrifying as they use ancient folklore to sculpt modern interpretations of Taiwanese history and culture. The Metal Minute caught up with a very busy Freddy Lim as Chthonic returned from Sweden after playing the legendary Wacken Festival before rejoining Ozzfest in the U.S.

The Metal Minute: Chthonic celebrates Taiwanese history within the confines of black metal, such as the spirit of vengeance tale on Relentless Recurrence. Take us through the narrative of this album and how it might relate to Taiwan's declaration of independence from Japan if at all.

Freddy Lim: Relentless Recurrence is about a Taiwanese female ghost, Natao-Ji. This is one of the very first Taiwanese local ghost stories. We felt good to re-edit the first Taiwanese ghost story as the first Taiwanese extreme metal band. And also, it's a great story that's not just spooky but also exetremely sad, and it reflects the ancient times of Taiwan.

Several hundreds years ago, there were lots of robbers from China who came to Taiwan to rob the villages and rape the women, and a revenge story, the folklore "Natao-Ji" appeared. It's basically a spirit of Taiwanese culture that fights with the outsider's occupation.

Natao-ji was raped by a Chinese robber and decided to commit suicide. Her family was all killed by the robber. During the trip to hell after she hung herself, the natural-born demon inside her soul took control of her and escaped from hell to accomplish her revenge towards the robber. There were lots of gods and celestial troops sent to stop her on her way to revenge, but they all failed. Finally, Natao-Ji avenged herself successfully, but the gods put the heaviest curse, the Relentless Recurrence on her, which is that she would always be trapped in the same fate over and over again forever: to be raped, her family killed, and endless suffering.

This story is nothing about declaring our independence. Actually, we just write whatever we like. We don't write political stuff in our music because it's not a good fit to the music genre we play in. But through all the Taiwanese myths, legends and ghost stories that we use as the concepts of all our albums, we found out that all classic Taiwanese stories are always tragedies, not like the Chinese ones which are always with happy endings. Through all of these stories, we build a stronger identity as Taiwanese, and we feel much more passion for our beloved country, Taiwan.

MM: That's incredibly compelling. Now, the use of the Hena in Chthonic's music is one of the most powerful instruments in your arsenal, I think. No matter how brutal and extreme the rest of the band gets, the intros or segues using a Hena really brings a level of beauty and despair that both counters and accelerates the intensity of the metal instruments. Talk a bit about your songwriting structure and how you accommodate the Hena into Chthonic's bombast.

FL: Usually we start with a concept or a story and then divide it into about ten chapters. Based on the theme and atmosphere in each chapter, we start to compose music. After the music is done, I write the lyrics to finish the song. In 1997, while we were writing some critical parts of our songs, I insisted on using an alternative instrument which can best express sadness. Hena, which is an Oriental two-string violin, is a common traditional instrument in many Eastern Asian countries like Taiwan, Korea, China, cities like Hong-Kong and Singapore. What is special about it is its plaintive, sad tone. So I decided to learn from a traditional musician and started to play it in Chthonic's music. But it's still very hard for us to find the right way to pick up the sound of Hena in concerts even after ten years.

MM: One would think that particular sound carries over well, save for maybe the reserved, hushed parts. Between the re-release of Relentless Recurrence, last year's Seedig Bale and the new A Decade On the Throne DVD and CD package, where you fuse the "Oriental Orchestra" and Tapei Ladies Choir into the performance, Chthonic is obviously hell-bent to penetrate North America. You guys are playing a new song called "Unlimited Taiwan" at every Ozzfest show and have an astonishing 50-date schedule in 60 cities throughout the U.S. Pretend like we've never heard of you before and, using these releases, give us a little pitch as to why Chthonic is an important band to watch out for in 2007.

FL: There are more and more Asian metal bands that mix Asian cultures into all kinds of metal. As one of the first few Asian bands to play on so many big stages in the western world, I believe that the people who watch our shows will definitely not just enjoy them, but also want to know more about Taiwanese culture and more Asian metal bands. It will be a brand new picture for every metal fan here in the western world!

MM: How are you guys handling Ozzfest? You're on the second stage with just 20 minutes to make your mark, and let's face it; Chthonic's grandiose songwriting structure is not something you'd normally blitz through under the gun! How are the audiences taking to you so far?

FL: We try our best to pick the shorter songs but ones that show the right picture of what Chthonic is to the audience. The audiences like our sets very much; we get a bunch of emails, messages and comments on MySpace to support us. It's a fucking good tour so far.

MM: Great to hear, brother. As Chthonic wears face paint onstage, it calls comparisons to the Norwegian and Scandinavian black metal scene, but yours is worn to honor your ancestors and the "Eight Generals," generals storied to be empowered with Tao spirits to give them the power to judge good versus evil. So for those out there who might call Chthonic just another facial-painted black metal band, let me allow you to defend yourselves…

FL: In the years of the mid-90's when I first listened to Emperor, Immortal, all of these Scandinavian bands, I admired them so much that I wanted to have the same makeup like them. I have tried several times at home, but it just didn't work. Their makeups didn't look good on my face. Asian people's features differ greatly from westernese be it in facial structure or length diameter. The makeup that looks scary on western faces are not looking the same on ours. In the same period, I found out that our ancestors have developed Taiwanese kinds of makeups for hundreds of years, and it looks much better on our faces. Also, that kind of makeup is what we need on the stage, too; We communicate with gods and ghosts through the makeup. We strengthen ourselves through the makeup, and this is just what we need!

Copyright 2007 Ray Van Horn, Jr. / The Metal Minute