Sound check had been plodding on tediously and laboriously for over four hours at V.U. Live House on Saturday, November 15th, 2008, the date of Swedish melodic thrashers The Haunted’s first gig in Taipei, Taiwan. The band had arrived at the venue at 1 p.m., expecting to be in an out in under an hour. Instead, as 5:30 rolled around, there they stood on stage, seemingly no closer to any semblance of clarity in the sound they were attempting to coax from the P.A. system. And it wasn’t for any lack of effort or know-how, at least on the part of The Haunted’s crew. Their normally affable Danish sound man, Bo, who has been with the band for over 10 years and, by his own admission, is prone to becoming so angry as to actually shout out loud only once every six months or so, which is no minor feat in the hectic, stressful world of touring, was now spitting venomous epithets with some regularity. When, at long last, sound check came to a close, Bo deservedly dove headlong into a bottle of vodka to soothe his jangled nerves.

Thanks to a grueling touring regimen in 2007, many metal fans in North America and Europe were introduced to Taiwan's Chthonic for the first time. Those people might be forgiven for thinking that Chthonic is a new band; the latest breakout sensation. But they should know by now that there is no such thing as an overnight success. That band that just seems to “come out of nowhere” has probably been slogging it out in godforsaken live houses and rehearsal spaces for a long time before their music finds its way to your ears, and Chthonic is no exception. 2008 marks an even dozen years of existence for the Taiwanese six-piece, and in early 2009 they will release their fifth studio album. So for the uninitiated, here’s a brief history of a band that has become the pride of the Taiwanese metal scene, and an increasingly visible and ever-vigilant advocate of Taiwan’s fight for international recognition as an independent state.

TaipeiMetal: Chthonic is well known for incorporating Taiwanese folklore and history into its music. On the new album, what sort of stories were you writing about?
 
Freddie Lim: It’s kind of complicated but it’s related to the 228 incident*. The main character is a young priest in a temple in Nantou County. The temple was the final battleground of the 228 incident.
 
TM: Do you ever see Chthonic going in a different direction lyrically, or will it always be about Taiwanese folklore?
 
FL: Mainly we will keep this direction. This album is about Taiwanese folklore and Taiwanese history but also reveals the philosophy of Oriental hell. It’s not just about the old stories of Taiwan but we try to have some new creative themes in the album too.

TM: Do you think because you incorporate history into your music that’s what gets you noticed in the metal world?
 
FL: Yeah I think that’s one of the reasons. But I think most importantly, Chthonic doesn’t just follow the other metal bands in the world. We have our own concepts and values and we always follow that. f

The P.A. cuts in and out, and the crowd surges forward past a lone security guard, who isn't really a security guard at all but the band's local handler pulling double duty as a the world's smallest and most frequently overrun crowd barrier. Put yourself in between Polish blackened death metal band Behemoth and 200 rabid fans, 99.9 percent of whom are even frothier at the mouth given that they have never seen the band perform live before, and see how well you fare. Effects pedals are knocked out of commission, and microphones inexplicably cease to function. Such was the scene when Behemoth, making their first visit to Taiwan, took to the tiny stage at V.U. Live House in Taipei on November 1st, 2008. Such a combination of misfortunes would be enough of an excuse for many bands to cut a set short, call it a night, and pass the buck. And so when the metal gremlins run rampant over a show, does Nergal, a.k.a. Adam Darski, front man and guitarist for Behemoth pack it in and sulk? In his immortal words, "I didn't give a fuck"-a true metal axiom if there ever was one.

有時候啟動熱血模式只需要簡單的幾個riffs而已

熱血是一種無可救藥的精神過度亢奮症候群，在看球賽的時候會熱血，看摔角或是K-1的時候會熱血，打三國無雙的時候會熱血，聽重金屬就更不用說啦! 它會透過多重的型態滲入人體，順著生物電流直達大腦，就好比破門而入的歹徒拿著尖刀抵住你的喉頭要你照著他的指示動作，熱血，就這麼硬生生的挺進你，告訴你起身甩頭、旋轉並且揮舞著你的拳頭。

Spread Your Wings was Black Masquerade’s first full-length album, released in 2005, and have since followed with 2007’s Holy and Bright. The Japanese five-piece was founded in 2001, and have been pounding out power metal with traditional 80s metal elements ever since. It’s a blend of bands such as Hammerfall or Gamma Ray and a little bit of Iron Maiden. Black Masquerade plays very upbeat power metal in the German style, complete with over the top falsetto vocals that have become the genre standard. The lyrics border on the comical at times, such as the line “Life isn’t all beer and Skittles” from “The Guardian.” Whether it’s tongue in cheek or not is up to you to decide, but it can be forgiven as English is not their first language.