Let’s Rock!

Taiwanese Heavy Metal Shreds in Finland

Chen Chun-fang　/　photos courtesy of GACC　/　tr. by Phil Newell

November 2025

中文日本語

This poster for the Formosa : Finland : Fest heavy metal concert features a Finnish reindeer, brown bear, and lily of the valley (the national flower) alongside a Taiwanese Formosan sambar, Formosan black bear, and moth orchid, echoing similarities between the two countries.

Taiwan and Finland are separated by 8,000 kilometers of distance and 40 degrees of latitude, but both adhere to the universal values of human rights, freedom, and democracy.

Another thing that Taiwan and Finland have in common is heavy metal music. Representative Freddy Lim of the Taipei Representative Office in Finland tells us: “Our two countries not only have historical and geopolitical similarities, but also many similarities in terms of heavy metal creativity, and we both have very high-quality metal.” This winter, Taiwan is holding the Formosa : Finland : Fest (F : F : F) multi-band concert in Finland, using the intense energy of heavy metal music to highlight Taiwan’s cultural capabilities.

Communicating with Europe through music

Finland is known around the world as a bastion of heavy metal music. Freddy Lim, who has visited the country many times as lead vocalist of the band Chthonic, which once signed a contract with a Finnish record company for multiple albums, shares his long-term observations: “Finnish heavy metal emphasizes incorporating their own culture, and you could say that Finnish folk metal is a highlight of the country’s musical genres. Meanwhile, in recent years heavy metal in Taiwan has also been continually incorporating local culture, generating a wide variety of styles among bands.” For example, Chthonic has songs that use the pentatonic scale and Taiwanese folk melodies, which make them especially appealing to European music fans.

With heavy metal as a shared language between Taiwan and Finland and Chthonic’s lead singer now serving as Taiwan’s representative in Helsinki, everything has fallen into line for the General Association of Chinese Culture (GACC) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) to jointly sponsor the Formosa : Finland : Fest heavy metal concert. This is a natural extension of MOFA’s Taiwan Culture in Europe 2025 program and GACC’s continuing international promotion of Taiwanese culture.

Taiwanese heavy metal music has incorporated local culture in a variety of ways, creating great diversity among bands of this genre. The photo shows Chthonic’s 2019 concert Taiwan Victory Live. (MOFA file photo)

The folk metal group Korpiklaani, who will perform at F:F:F, are well known for integrating Finnish culture into their songs.

Female lead vocalist: Crescent Lament

“We are very excited to be performing in Finland, an international bastion of heavy metal music. It’s a rare opportunity to have such an experience,” says Muer Chou, lead vocalist of the band Crescent Lament and F : F : F event leader. In the male-dominated world of heavy metal, this band with a female lead vocalist has attracted considerable attention. Chou, who is also a well-known author, deftly uses her high voice to sing about the emotions and resilience of Taiwanese amid the tides of history.

Although Crescent Lament’s songs usually tell fictional stories, they are based on a detailed knowledge of history, including the White Terror and February 28 Incident, and depict the struggles and endurance of ordinary people. They are especially adept at incorporating the melodious voice of the erhu (a two-stringed Chinese fiddle) into heavy metal to evoke Asian imagery.

Chou, who is a counseling psychologist besides being a musician, says that for her, music and counseling are connected, both having the effect of healing wounds. She admits that many people might feel that the band’s subject matter is overly politicized, but the scars of history have long been carved into the memories of Taiwanese. The goal of telling those stories through music is to enable people to understand these events and allow the world to hear the stories and voices of Taiwan.

Crescent Lament’s performance at F : F : F will feature work from their new EP The Folded Memory, released in October. It was inspired by the story of Pan Muzhi (1902–1947), a medical doctor who was killed in the February 28 Incident crackdown. His last message to his wife, written on the inside of a cigarette packet, captures the pain and tenderness of that era.

F:F:F event leader Muer Chou is looking forward to bringing heavy metal music from Taiwan to Finland. This will enable more people to know Taiwan’s stories and will foster contacts between bands from the two countries. (photo by Kent Chuang)

The band Crescent Lament is fronted by a female lead vocalist—a rarity on the heavy metal scene. Combined with lyrics written from a woman’s perspective, the band has drawn a lot of attention in the male-dominated world of metal.

A visual and audio shock: Flesh Juicer

Flesh Juicer, a Taiwanese heavy metal band that has garnered a great deal of international attention in recent years, will perform alongside Chthonic and Crescent Lament in Finland. Founded in Taichung in 2006, most of its compositions are based on religious culture and the distinctive local character of Taichung. They sing about social realities, and create a unique sonic vocabulary by skillfully incorporating the electronic soundscape of Taiwanese temple celebrations and the traditional pentatonic scale into heavy metal music.

Flesh Juicer bases its work on aspects of local culture, including folk customs and religious practices. One of the band members wears a pig mask, symbolizing otherworldly spirits and deities. They have an intense stage performance style that conveys a tension-filled musical aesthetic. As Muer Chou describes them: “The stuff that Flesh Juicer does is very heavy, and very suited to Finland. It’s thrilling to listen to.”

Taiwanese bands are using a variety of methods to incorporate local history, culture, and sentiments into their music as they take their sounds to Finland, one of the global bastions of heavy metal music. When these musicians weave together passion and local culture into melodies, in a dialogue that transcends language and locality, they enable the world to hear the soul of Taiwan.

Flesh Juicer’s music incorporates elements from traditional Taiwanese religion. Lead singer Gigo wears a pig mask, as often seen at temple festivals, which symbolizes the spirit of the band.

Lost Society, a new-generation Finnish heavy metal band.

From heavy metal pioneer to representative

Freddy Lim, Taiwan’s representative in Finland, has been the focus of much attention in Finland since taking office in July 2025. He has been featured in Suomen Kuvalehti, Finland’s most influential current affairs magazine; in Keskisuomalainen, the country’s oldest daily newspaper; and on Efter Nio, a prime-time talk show. The question he has been asked most often is: “When will Chthonic perform again in Finland?” “Nonetheless,” he says, “I hope I can introduce the country to a wider range of Taiwanese culture.”

Though all the Taiwanese bands performing at F : F : F are heavy metal groups and all draw inspiration from Taiwan culture, they integrate Taiwanese elements in different ways and offer a wide variety of styles.

Freddy Lim says that this concert not only involves performances by multiple Taiwanese and Finnish heavy metal bands, but also aims to highlight various aspects of Taiwan culture. For example, the Taiwanese bands will perform in Taiwanese-designed attire, the show will be enhanced with Taiwanese stage visuals, and professional chefs have been invited to prepare Taiwanese cuisine for attendees. “Heavy metal is our bridge for communication, but we’ve laid out other delights on that bridge and invite everyone to step up and taste them,” Lim adds.

The F : F : F deputy event leader, Taiwanese culinary Youtuber Soac Liu, says he is really looking forward to giving Finns the chance to get to know authentic flavors from Taiwan.

Freddy Lim (second left), Chthonic’s lead vocalist, is now Taiwan’s representative in Finland. He hopes that heavy metal music can serve as a bridge between the two countries and as a means to introduce more Taiwanese culture to Finnish people and convey Taiwan’s and Europe’s shared commitment to the universal values of human rights, freedom, and democracy.

A banquet of music and cuisine

Over the last ten years, Taiwan’s culinary community has been continually exploring what “Taiwanese food” is. From fine dining to ordinary small eateries, it is certainly diverse. Soac, who is responsible for curating the food and beverage element of F : F : F, says that what has occupied the largest part of his time since being hired is thinking about how to define Taiwanese cuisine.

Taking “umami” and “hot” as his core vocabulary, he has designed classics for the concert like red-braised beef noodle soup and Taiwanese popcorn chicken, using piping hot and umami-flavored dishes to convey Taiwanese people’s passion for food in daily life. Soac avers that in Taiwan even small eateries that don’t play around with their dishes and ingredients are able to use minimalist plating and simple tableware to create a fashionable ambience, demonstrating the confidence and style of contemporary Taiwanese cuisine. “Through these flavors, I hope that Europeans can sense how Taiwanese people savor life and bring tasteful moments into everyday living.”