Doris: “The history of my country is a page full of tragedy. It is a country that has been occupied by many foreign intruders for over 400 years. Until now, Taiwan is still facing the military threat and the economic power of China – there are still repercussions from 1949 when the Chinese government occupied Taiwan. They robbed most of the properties in Taiwan with their weapons. About 70% of the richest people in Taiwan nowadays are either Chinese or related to the party formed by the Chinese army.

“I joined a group named ‘Guts United Taiwan’ as a consultant. We have many campaigns and activities to arouse people’s passions with regard to bringing about change in this country.

“Under the education by the Chinese army for the past 60 years, the values of most Taiwanese are based on the ‘economy is everything’ idea, and ‘pro-Chinese culture’ in general – local culture and independent thought have been seriously forbidden; we can’t even speak our own language, we’ve been forced to learn the Chinese language. Many people have been arrested or killed over the past 60 years because they chose to support the local culture and pursue an independent path. My grandfather was almost a victim of the 228 Massacre.”

PW: As far as your music is concerned as I mentioned it is only recently (I believe with the release of ‘Seediq Bale’ 2005) that you got any real attention in the Western world. What difficulties did you face on your first three albums on getting things to a wider audience and how frustrating was this for you? Did you perhaps even think that you were never going to be heard by people in other countries outside Asia?

Doris: “We didn’t push so hard with our first three albums outside of Asia, we spent more time in East Asia at that time; so we joined the Fuji Rock Festival in Japan and toured in that country, as well as Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan. We’ve chosen to take things step by step, building a fan base in Asia first, then looking to the world beyond…”

PW: On doing a bit of research it is obvious that Taiwanese culture especially as far as entertainment is concerned is not anywhere near as recognised as say Japan and other countries within Asia. Firstly as far as music and metal is concerned ‘Metal Archives’ website lists just 30 bands from Taiwan, some of which I am sure have split up and none of them apart from Chthonic are recognised. Is this situation changing, how difficult is it for a band to record and develop in Taiwan? I am also wondering if there are any other emerging groups you can tell us about and if people playing ‘extreme’ music face any censorship at all?

Doris: “Taiwan’s metal scene is getting bigger and bigger now. There are more and more metal bands coming to recognition, but some of them disappear pretty soon as the music environment here is still essentially conservative. People get used to listening to soft and slow music, and some of the pop rock bands who are popular in Taiwan are playing soft and slow rock. So many metal bands are facing the harsh environment. We don’t have censorship as such, but people’s minds are quite closed. Also, every man has to go into the army after they graduate from school, and many bands split up because of this; then, when they come back from the army, most of their families will force them to find a ‘normal’ job to make money. If you aren’t a very determined person, you’ll be beaten down by the outside environment.”

PW: I believe it was the lifting of martial law in 1987 which allowed a lot more freedom and creativity. Apart from metal what other types of music have developed from the more traditional sounds of Taiwan?

Doris: “The ‘New Taiwanese Songs’ movement was rising up during that period – a period when the government ruled by the Chinese army forbade the Taiwanese people to use their own language in public, including at school.

“Here, I should mention a famous band called LTK; they couldn’t play their instruments particularly well, but they formed the band because they wanted the chance to get onstage in the public social movement (just after the lifting of martial law, our society was having a HUGE innovation movement trying to break the conservative system). LTK grabbed the microphone and they let people know their beliefs. The music and the band was just a tool, an excuse. Sometimes they didn’t even sing, they just talked over a drum beat, acting out a drama onstage. Their songs were full of spirit and thoughts about society, and their melodies were so close to local culture that many of their songs become the classic music in Taiwan’s rock history…”

PW: Obviously traditional elements are very important to you and you utilise instruments like the Erhu into your music giving it a very distinctive flavour. Can you tell us a bit about this and other instruments you use?

Doris: “Because every story behind our album is concerned with the history and mythology of East Asia, there’s a lot of tragedy involved. So we tried to find a sound that can express this feeling, which is when we discovered the East Asian instrument, the Er-hu (two-string violin). The special crying and lonely sound makes it easier for us to portray the right emotion in our music.”

PW: Imagery is very important to the band and you have ghostpaint rather than corpsepaint which I believe is based upon the 8 Generals Of Hell in Taoist lore. Can you tell us a bit about this and the newer look you have unveiled for ‘Mirror Of Retribution?’

Doris: “It’s a natural process for us to vary the face-paint according to different albums. In terms of this new album, ‘Mirror Of Retribution’, the main character's fate has been cursed, so we use many Taoist cursed words with red colour on our faces, like Freddy, Jesse and CJ’s faces. As to the mark on my forehead and Dani’s mask, these visuals relate to the face paint from the Eight Generals Of Hell. These elements of our image help to express the overall story, and make our music and our image more connected.”

PW: Being a huge fan of Asian horror films this was the first thing I thought of on seeing pictures of the band made up. Obviously you go deeper into things with mythology and folklore. This does again make me wonder about Taiwan in relation to movies, Ang Lee is famous but although Taiwan has a few horror films like ‘Double Vision’, ‘Silk’, ‘Fatality’ and ‘Good Will Evil,’ this again is a medium very much in its infancy, compared to say Japan and Korea. Do you think that this is something that will also perhaps take off now and what films from Taiwan do you personally like?

Doris: “Personally, the movie I like most at the moment is the one I acted in earlier this year – it’s called ‘Tears’. It’s about a police tragedy and the justice of the country.

“As for horror movies, I do like ‘Double Vision’. Over the past few years, there has really been a trend in East Asia for shooting horror movies, but at the moment the box office for this kind of movie is not as good as before. Maybe it’s because the story and image is basically copying what has been done in the past. Actually, I just found out that there’s something different in Thailand’s horror movies. They are not just designed to make you feel scared inside your heart, they also feature the sort of cruel and brutal scenes that will make you feel like you have the same hurt and pain as the characters!”

PW: I mentioned the packaging on Pandemonium, it really is a labour of love and I believe you have released other albums which also have special artwork and extras. What have you planned for the release of ‘Mirror Of Retribution’?

Doris: “As we decided to use the jewel box for the UK release of ‘Mirror Of Retribution’, we felt it was important to make an obvious visual impression with the artwork. First of all, we wanted the colours to grab the attention straight away. Then we wanted the content to be intense enough to really make people think, to feel the story…”

PW: The cover art on my promo is very striking as well as fantastical. It has a mirror and bound hands and I am assuming it ties in with the album conceptually; can you give us an insight into this?

Doris: “Yes, it’s one scene from the story told on our album. The main character has been bound by the cursed words from the Ghost King Of Hell – he can see life on earth fading away year by year in a mirror that can view everything, until eventually no more souls exist. He is the last life of the earth. He was forced to see and bear all the pain of the world.

“By the way, the bound hand is mine! My hands and fingers are very soft and weird, all the band members are afraid of me if I have a ‘finger show’ in front of them!!”

PW: Musically although it is a very lazy comparison your style of playing symphonic and orchestral black metal does have aspects similar to Cradle Of Filth. Was music like theirs and other extreme metal bands easy to get in Taiwan 10-15 years ago or were their restrictions on it before the Internet made things a lot easier?

Doris: “I have a very good friend who imports every kind of extreme metal, and has been doing so for many years, so it’s not been hard for us to get that kind of CD! We can have all the music that we want to hear with no problem. But the ‘customers’ are generally very few, so my friend only imports 10-50 CDs at a time. Of course, when the internet started up, it was much easier for people to get that kind of music in Taiwan; but, on the other hand, my friend lost a lot of his business…”

PW: You have had quite a few members coming and going in the band (14 I believe) since 1996. You joined in 1999 and have been in the band ever since. Why so many changes? Is it due to difficulties being in a band in Taiwan perhaps and do you see the line up being at its strongest now?

Doris: “Yes, now the line-up is the strongest it’s ever been. Freddy, our vocalist, is the original member; myself and guitarist Jesse joined the band about 10 years ago. The most changes in the line-up were back in the early days, because it was difficult at that time for the various members to agree about the kind of music the band should be playing. I guess it was hard to find people who were really into this style of music. Myself, Jesse and Freddy, the three oldest members, give a certain stability to the line-up, although we have experienced some change in the keyboard department; this is because the keyboard players have sometimes had their own solo careers, or they have had to go to the army, or get married, or return to their ‘normal’ jobs…”

PW: How would you say the band as a whole and yourself have developed since you joined?

Doris: “I think after I joined the band, different aspects of the music started to appear – that’s why my other name is ‘Thunder Tears’. I think I’ve poured some soft but deeply wrathful and sorrowful feelings into the music…

“As for myself, I learnt how to live my life, how to see which is the most important thing in your life. Process is the result, result is just the process. Money is important but not the reason to seek success. The key is to be determined and brave.”

PW: It’s kind of difficult making out just what Freddy is singing on the new album and I know you have used various languages in the past. Listening to ‘Venom In My Veins’ and ‘Forty Nine Theurgy Chains’ he is obviously singing in English is this something you are concentrating on more now?

Doris: “We tend to record two different versions of our albums – an English version and a Taiwanese version. The English version is for outside of Taiwan, the Taiwanese version is only for Taiwan. When we play in foreign countries, we sing in English for the whole show. Our producer, Rob Caggiano, helped us a lot when it came to transferring the meaning of our lyrics – he totally understood the core meaning and the spirit of the concept; he helped us to write down even more wrathful and aggressive English words based on the original meaning…”

PW: Instrumental ‘1947’ is about the 228 Massacre, can you tell our readers a bit about this please?

Doris: “1947 is the year of the beginning of the 228 Massacre. The song ‘1947’ is describing the sorrowful fate of all of the people in that generation.

“The story behind this album combines true historical fact with an ancient myth of hell. In the famous ‘228 Massacre’, which was the biggest ever massacre in Taiwanese history, tens of thousands of Taiwanese people were killed by the Chinese army. The final battle of the event occurred in the middle of Taiwan, where 40 local militia attempted to resist 2,500 soldiers from the Chinese army.

In the end, the militia lost their lives near the Sing-Ling Temple.”

PW: Obviously the band has opened many horizons and allowed you to extensively travel. Did differences between Western and Eastern ways of living seem strange to you at first? Where have you enjoyed visiting most and where have you not been that you would most like to go?

Doris: “Yes, especially the food. That’s the really different thing I have to overcome! Sometimes the food I think is a main dish is actually an appetiser. Water is water and beer is beer, but people in some foreign countries sometimes see beer as water!

“I would like to go to Canada again, I really love the fans there, they’re amazing! I also love the history of South America – I’ve been to Machu Pichu in Peru. It would be amazing if we could play there!”

PW: I am guessing there are plans to tour with the new material?

Doris: “Yes, there’ll be a tour from September 25th to October 28th with Satyricon and Bleeding Through in North America.”

PW: Well that is about all I have to ask, not yet managed to see the band live so hoping London might be on the agenda in the near future, anything you want to say in parting?

Doris: “I would love to play in the UK again, I have many good memories of London! I believe we’ll be there in the very near future.”

So there you have it, an insight into a band from somewhere quite different from the norm. I have learned a lot both researching this and by reading the answers and it has to make you think next time you are berating your way of life and how bad you have it, certainly when you are somewhere like England. The Taiwanese people have not had an easy time at all historically and for this reason it is quite remarkable that a band like Chthonic exists. It should also be mentioned that despite being from Taiwan and having to speak Chinese as well, Doris’s answers were all impeccably written and I did not change a single thing here at all, if only all English bands were so comprehensive! Check out Chthonic and new album ‘Mirror Of Retribution’ on Spinefarm records.

For more on the band check out http://www.chthonic.org/2008/en
http://www.myspace.com/chthonictw
http://www.spinefarmrecords.co.uk

Interviewed by Pete Woods

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