Asian symphonic black metal band CHTHONIC, who made international headlines by championing Taiwanese democracy from the Ozzfest and Wacken stages last summer, have issued the following update:

"In order to facilitate the 2009 Free Tibet Concert, ChthoniC vocalist Freddy Lim, along with several musicians from Taiwan, visited the political and spiritual leader Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, India, where the Tibetan Government In Exile locates. Freddy expressed the mission of this concert, and many welcomes from Taiwanese people for Dalai Lama to visit anytime. Dalai Lama reiterated the idea that “Supporting Tibet is supporting freedom and human rights which are valued all over the world.”

ChthoniC has always been caring about human rights, especially for Tibet who suffered similar background to Taiwan’s. Ever since Chinese government claimed its sovereignty, Tibet has been under military threatening and international pressure. While Taiwan is aimed by a thousand of missiles from China and lost its stand in front of the world, millions of Tibetans fought hard and lost their lives and homeland.

ChthoniC held Free Tibet Concert in 2003 in Taipei with the attendance of Beastie Boys and many other artists from Hong Kong and Taiwan. Most artists went silent after getting onto the black list to perform in China, however ChthoniC remains the only one speaking up for Tibet from also a very politically sensitive country.

From human rights to Tibetan and Taiwanese independence, Freddy conveyed these issues during ChthoniC’s international tours. Freddy was very impressed with the smiles of the Tibetan orphans staying in school during holidays. ”Behind the beautiful smiles lies the fact that these kids might never see their families again. Their parents had friends bring them to India by walking through the Himalayas. Some kids did not even make it due to the cold and tough roads.

ChthoniC also named their tours “UNlimited Taiwan” when participating the Ozzfest in the US, the Wacken Open Air music festival in Germany, and many other events in Europe. ”Unlimited Taiwan” suggested that the United Nations somehow missed its believes for human rights when facing the powerful China with huge economical benefits.

Freddy’s visit to Dharamsala soon caught the attention of many international supporting groups of Tibet. Media coverage and interviews from Norwegian Voice of Tibet, Radio Free Asia in the US, and Tibet Times made this trip more visible to the world.

Year 2009 is the fiftieth anniversary of Tibet’s resistance since the Chinese invasion. Many famous artists such as Bjork and Radiohead have been supporting Tibet for a long time. ChthoniC would like to invite worldwide supporters of Tibet to join the 2009 Free Tibet Concert in Taipei, Taiwan. With the blessings from his holiness the Dalai Lama, ChthoniC affirms to make the 2009 Free Tibet Concert successful."

As previously reported, ChthoniC has recently finished recording their new album Mirror Of Retribution which is a concept album in Los Angeles with producer (and ANTHRAX guitarist) Rob Caggiano (CRADLE OF FILTH, BLEEDING THROUGH). This marks the band's first-ever recording sessions in America.

"We had a good time working in Denmark for three albums, but we had some exciting chemistry between us and Rob, a new producer with a fresh vision and a fresh environment," says ChthoniC vocalist Freddy Lim. "We like Rob's past work very much - especially the depth and strength of all the different instruments - and as a huge fan of Anthrax, it was our pleasure to work with him."

Since wrapping up their 2007 UNlimited tour, which included 60 North American concerts, high-profile festival appearances and European tours with ENSIFERUM, MARDUK and 3 INCHES OF BLOOD, ChthoniC has been busy both musically and politically, the group's members have been active in Taiwan's recent presidential elections. Vocalist Freddy Lim was even an official "youth spokesperson" for the pro-democracy DPP political party, and thanks in large part to his efforts, the youth vote (ages 20-29) for the DPP candidate -- originally estimated to be just 20% -- ended up being 56%.

Their previous studio effort, Seediq Bale, was recorded in 2005, although it was not released outside of Asia until more than a year later. Since then, they've seen the international reissue of 2002's Relentless Recurrence and a live CD/DVD (A Decade on the Throne), as well as the European compilation, Pandemonium, which featured re-recorded versions of older ChthoniC tracks.

While the band was pleased to have their music finally available worldwide, they're anxious for their newfound fans to hear their new material. "Although it's still symphonic and extreme, it is a new style of metal for us," Lim says. "There are more Oriental tastes, different genres of metal being mixed, and more emotional fluctuations in the music."

Be sure to pick up ChthoniC's new album Mirror Of Retribution, when it releases in April 2009.