Band scene

Dressed in black, their faces painted like devils, death metal band Chthonic, the leading indie group from Taiwan, storm the Cultural Centre next Saturday (March 10) with their apocalyptic sound and erhu accompaniment to celebrate their fifth anniversary.

Formed in December 1995, with Freddy Lin (right) singing and playing Er-Hu (a traditional Chinese two-string violin), Jesse on guitar, Ambrosia Lang behind the keyboards, Doris Yeh on bass guitar and A-jay Choi on drums, Chthonic, first began to perform at clubs and schools in 1996.

They use the rock oddity erhu to distinguish themselves from other black metal bands. 'We want to create a feeling of solitude,' says Lin. 'It is fun to have a traditional chinese musical instrument which gives an appropriate mood.' He adds that Chthonic are a band who do not want to simply copy Western music.

Chthonic swept the 10th Yamaha Band Contest in Taiwan in 1997 becoming champions and grabbing best vocalist, best guitarist, best bassist, best keyboard player and best composer awards.

Their debut album Where The Ancestors' Souls Gathered was released in early 1999. The disc became the year's best-selling Chinese language indie rock release, moving 15,000 copies.

In the past year Chthonic performed at Japan's Fuji Rock Festival and played to a full house in Hong Kong. 'Hong Kong was one of the most impressive stops when we had our Asia tour last year,' Lin says.