CHTHONIC's New York Performance To Feature Second Act With Oriental Violinist
September 13, 2007, 17 years ago
The New Jersey-based Erhu Rock Fusion group HSU-NAMI have been added to Taiwanese black metal band CHTONIC's UNlimited New York September 16th concert at Manhattan's Highline Ballroom. Like Chtonic, Hsu-Nami prominently features a two-stringed Oriental violin called the erhu, also known as the hena.
"We are really excited to open up for Chthonic and see them perform live" says Hsu-Nami violinist Jack Hsu. "We have heard a lot about them from friends from Taiwan, and it'll be great to see a celebration of Asian culture with a western influence. I think both bands share this in different ways.""It's exciting that we can play with a different genre of rock band with the same Oriental instrument after we've toured with metal bands for more than 2 months" says Chthonic vocalist Freddy Lim. "I believe it's a good opportunity for all fans to discover new kinds of music."
Throughout the summer, during which Chtonic toured with OZZfest and played two dozen "off-fest" shows with NILE, the band has performed its tour's theme song, 'UNlimited Taiwan' which was written and recorded this spring "to emphasize the 'UNlimited' potential of Taiwan and the Taiwanese people" Lim says. Like the tour, which kicked off in Taipei earlier this summer, following the international re-release of 2002's Relentless Recurrence and last year's A Decade On The Throne two-CD/DVD live set, the song was named to protest how the United Nations limits Taiwan's full participation as an independent country. The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and the International Herald Tribune, among others, have recently devoted lengthy features to the message behind the tour.
