Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on June 2011

After blowing up last year’s Loud Park fest, Taiwanese black metal band Chthonic return to Japan for their first headlining tour. Ardent independence activists and outspoken supporters of self-determination for China’s ethnic minorities, Chthonic employ instruments like the erhu to refract the traditional music of China through the prism of heavy metal. Their brand-new album is Takasago Army, a reference to a ferocious ethnic Taiwanese unit that fought for the Japanese Imperial Army in World War II.

Jul 11, 7pm, ¥5,500. Club Quattro. Nearest stn: Shibuya. Tel: Creativeman 03-3462-6969.