If the world were like an Ensiferum album, the planet would be a far better, if far less productive place. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, cavernous mead halls with perfect acoustics would play host to raucous, spirit-lifting minstrels playing for the well-lubricated audience drinking continually if only to fend off a hangover that, remarkably, never seems to come. Buxom wenches and steel-jawed folk heroes would swing their steins to the pulse-pounding mix of folk melodies and metallic speed incorporated into Ensiferum's special blend of heroic Finnish folk metal, with kilts flying, heads windmilling and horns thrown all around. Yes, if Valhalla is a pub, then Ensiferum would be the house band. And though the band testifies that in their home country they are not well received, playing just one, albeit sold-out, gig per year in Helsinki, the Finnish five-piece has been welcomed with open arms and full mugs all around the world. Recognition at home has come in 2010 as well, with the band being nominated for an EMMA, the Finnish equivalent of a Grammy, for best metal album alongside such well-established acts as Sonata Arctica and Amorphis. And with an ever-evolving sound that seems to grow in scope with each successive album, and their latest offering, 2009's From Afar, even incorporating epic orchestrations that, while not real, are strong enough to have fooled even the most discriminating ears, Ensiferum is yet another band from Finland whose career is definitely on the upswing. Front man and guitarist Petri Lindroos and slightly hung over bassist Sami Hinkka took time to talk to Fight magazine before Ensiferum conquered Taipei in mid-January.

Cannibal Corpse has gore-soaked perversion and grotesque stories of the macabre. Alestorm and Swashbuckle have tales of the high seas, rum, the lash, and the pirate code. Tankard has beer, and lots of it. Gorgoroth, lineup changes notwithstanding, has the market cornered on all things satanic. In other words, the list of bands that have worked themselves into a productive, career-spanning niche goes on for miles. And near the top of that list, both alphabetically and in terms of modern-day success, would be Viking metal band Amon Amarth. Far from being limited by their chosen vehicle of expression, that obviously being Viking history and Norse mythology, imposing, perpetually long-bearded, and utterly affable front man Johan Hegg and his horde of pillaging comrades have carved out a career that is only now reaching the heights that they always thought they should be reaching.

With their latest album, Twilight of the Thunder God, a masterful work of melodic death metal, once again seeing Amon Amarth take a step in the right direction creatively and musically, there seems to be no stopping this tight-knit band of Viking warriors who, alarmingly, almost laid down their swords, shields, and horns of mead in 2002 following the release of Versus the World, the band’s fourth album for long-time label Metal Blade. But since those dark times Oden has smiled on the synchronized headbanging Swedes, and he and the rest of the Norse gods now seem to be firmly on their side. Hegg shared his thoughts on Amon Amarth’s journey thus far with Fight magazine before the mighty Norsemen played in Taipei in early December.

It goes without saying that a lot can change in 17 years. Seventeen years ago, Skid Row came to Taiwan for the first time and played to a rabid crowd of approximately 5,000 at a concert hall in Taipei County, according to die hard local fans. The members of the band certainly didn’t know then that it would be nearly two decades before those who would actually stick it out with Skid Row would return, nor could they have known that, just a few years after they first graced Taiwan’s shores, their original front man and fan focal point, one Sebastian Bach, would be gone, to be followed later by drummer Rob Affuso. And they definitely couldn’t have been aware that their second sojourn to Taiwan would see the show location shift to a much smaller venue in Taipei City, and the crowd shrink to a size of three hundred-plus. After all, back then Skid Row were riding high on the strength of their second album, Slave to the Grind, which went double platinum and made it all the way to the top of the Billboard Top 200 Chart. Why think about the descent when the climb to the top has just begun? But such is the nature of the music business that though the ascent may be long and arduous, the descent will likely be quick and unheralded.

Even on a day when Michael Amott is seriously sleep deprived, the confidence the flame-haired, soft-spoken guitar hero has in his body of work and his band still comes through loud and clear in every carefully considered word. After playing Japan’s Loud Park Festival this past October, he and the rest of Arch Enemy caught an early morning flight to Taipei the following day, returning to play to their rapidly growing fan base on the island two years since their first visit with but a few precious moments of sleep snuck in here and there. Before their blistering performance, a bleary-eyed yet remarkably coherent Amott talked to Fight magazine about Arch Enemy’s latest album, The Root of All Evil, a disc comprised of re-recordings of songs originally done with the band’s first vocalist, Johan Liiva, this time with the razor-edged vocals of Angela Gossow, and what goes into each Arch Enemy release.

Through broken bones, a suicide attempt, countless miles logged on the road, hundreds of gigs, and a million parties, Finnish shredder Alexi Laiho and his brothers in Children of Bodom have managed to crank out six studio albums of genre-blending, description-defying metal and cement themselves among the mainstays of the modern metal world. With a covers album, Skeletons in the Closet, released in September of 2009 to keep COB fans placated until the release of the follow-up to 2008’s Blooddrunk, COB went on a short Asian tour this past October, which saw them play Japan’s Loud Park Festival alongside other heavy metal heavyweights such as former tour mates Megadeth and Slayer. Following their appearance at Loud Park, COB touched down in Taipei to make their Taiwan debut, and Alexi sat down to chat with Fight magazine before a meet-and-greet with the band’s eager Taiwanese fans.

Quod me nutrit, me destruit. That which nourishes me also destroys me. So often the creative fires are fed by an internal turmoil that, while the artist and those around him are acutely aware of it, the general public remains largely in the dark. Such was the case with Stratovarius' longest-serving member, guitarist Timo Tolkki, who was also the band's main songwriter and producer for over 20 years. In 2004 it was finally revealed that the accomplished virtuoso had been diagnosed with bi-polar disorder which, in all likelihood, contributed toward him falling out with his band mates and quitting Stratovarius officially in 2008. This seemingly shattering blow came near the end of a particularly dark chapter in Stratovarius' history.  In 2005, the band released their self-titled 11th album, returning to former longtime label Sanctuary after a trio of releases on Nuclear Blast, only to see Sanctuary go belly up, leading to a string of legal entanglements which left Stratovarius deeply indebted as legal fees mounted. Now, in 2009, Stratovarius has emerged relatively unscathed from what could have been a fatal situation, erasing their debts and releasing their 12th studio album, Polaris, with new ax man Matias Kupiainen on board. Keyboardist Jens Johansson sat down with Fight during the band's tour stop in Taipei in early September to discuss the hard times leading up to the release of their new album, which was written and recorded in relative seclusion in two different cottages in the Finnish countryside, the tumultuous relationship with their former guitarist, and the way forward for one of the most enduring bands in power metal.

Much has been made of the so-called Big Four of thrash, consisting of Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer. And though Metallica has recently taken steps to return to their punchier, thrashier roots with Death Magnetic following the industry-wide panning of St. Anger, and Megadeth has released a career-defining album this year in the critically acclaimed Endgame, Anthrax remains in the spotlight mainly due to the ongoing drama surrounding the departure of short-term stand-in vocalist Dan Nelson and the “will he or won't he” speculation on the  return of John Bush, not to mention the guessing game surrounding their next album, Worship Music, which was recorded with Nelson but now sits in limbo following his unceremonious ouster. Meanwhile, Slayer, by many accounts, is understandably starting to lose a step or two in the live performance department as the band members edge their way towards the half century mark. Thirty years of synchronized head banging is bound to take a toll sooner or later. And yet  these bands consistently enjoy more accolades than some of their contemporaries who, in a perfect world, should have expanded the Big Four into the Sinister Six, and despite a general lack of recognition save for some favorable album reviews on their latest works, are still managing to lead the thrash pack despite their advancing years. I'm talking about bands like Testament, the old guardians of thrash who have returned with an undeniable vengeance to show the retro high top sneaker and denim wearing kids of today, who were likely still in diapers if they had even been born yet at all during  thrash metal's glory days, what thrash is all about. I'm talking about Exodus, who returned in 2004 after a decade-plus hiatus to, according to band leader, guitarist and main songwriter Gary Holt, nearly singlehandedly usher in the thrash renaissance that has dominated the pages of many metal magazines for the past few years.

El Salvador’s Conceived By Hate offers an eclectic, furious debut in the four-song EP, Witness of Decay, featuring current Tainan resident Carlos Basagoitia on bass. The members of the band obviously have diverse tastes in music, and they let the best parts of their respective record collections shine through on what is hopefully an indication of what can be expected of them in the future. Vocalist Juan Carlos Oseguera has a raspy growl somewhat similar to Malevolent Creation’s Brett Hoffman, providing a fitting accompaniment the backdrop of music that resembles the death-thrash of Mexico’s Foeticide with elements of Swedish melodic death metal from the likes of Jester Race era In Flames and At the Gates, with a few unique surprises along the way.

Conceived By Hate combines brutality with straight-forward mosh sections and memorable rhythms and leads. The opening Track “Vengeance is the Law” takes the listener from one of the aforementioned elements to the next, featuring a clean interlude in between harmonized guitar leads, death metal blast beats and riffs, and a ripping solo.

This is followed by the title track, which is the first time the keyboard work of Tulio Mata becomes readily evident in the mix, providing an intensely dark atmosphere to the song. The band demonstrates that the musicians collectively possess a well-rounded sense of song structure, as evidenced by the Morbid Angel-style outro lead to appropriately compliment the track’s apocalyptic tone.