Chthonic Frontman Freddy Lim Is Now A Taiwanese Legislator

Last month, we reported that Freddy Lim, singer for gothic black metallers Chthonic, was running for office in the band’s native Taiwan, as part of his own political party, the youth-oriented New Power Party.

Well, it seems that all of Kim’s hard work as paid off, as he has been elected Legislator in the fifth district of Taipei. Hats in the air, kaoliang for everyone!

We’ll see how much Lim’s political influence and that of the NPP shape the country’s politics. As I mentioned in my last place, Taiwan is in a tricky political moment now; China is pushing for reunification with Taiwan, as is the leading KMT party. Meanwhile, the NPP is strongly in favor of an independent Taiwan. Hopefully, Lim can keep the dream alive.

We’re excited to hear about Lim’s development as a politician (and hopefully on whether there’s a new Chthonic record coming out), but in the meantime, here are some encouraging words in support of Lim by his buddy Randy Blythe:

At the moment, I don’t have the words to describe how proud I am of the man in the middle of this photo, my friend Freddy Lim. Freddy is standing here with his band mates, the members of Taiwan’s black/death metal band, Chthonic. Why is Freddy wearing a suit while the rest of the band is in their crazy stage gear? Because Freddy decided to run for office in Taiwan’s national legislative elections this year, trying gain a seat in their parliament/congress (or whatever the Taiwanese equivalent of that is- it’s confusing to me). Not only that, he decided to start his own political party in order to do so, the New Power Party. I have been friends with Freddy & his bandmates since Chthonic played with us at Ozzfest in 2007- they have even flown me to Taiwan to play gigs & act in a crazy political/comedy/Kung fu movie. They are immensely cool people, & very engaged with their community in Taiwan. Freddy is also the president of Taiwan’s chapter of Amnesty International, & has a done a ton of charity work. Taiwanese politics is an INCREDIBLY complex subject that I only barely comprehend (this goes back to the WWII era & the Chinese Civil War between Mao Zedong & Chiang Kai-shek- basically China still claims Taiwan as its own, & there are people in one of the political parties in Taiwan- the KMT- founded by Chiang Kai-shek, who claim that they are the rightful rulers of China, not the communists- it’s freaking INSANE- technically & legally, the Chinese Civil War never ended), but basically Freddy ran on a platform of maintaining & solidifying Taiwanese national independence from China (which is another crazy issue, because technically no really knows Taiwan’s legal status as a nation) & trying to fix income quality in Taiwan- AND HE WON. One of the six mainstream party opponents in the race urged people not to vote for him because he “has hair that is longer than a woman’s hair and is mentally abnormal”- well, it looks like the people have spoken, so IN YOUR FACE, pal! Freddy is one of the most politically astute people I have ever met, & I am so proud of him for trying make a change in his country & community! CONGRATS, bro!

A photo posted by D. Randall Blythe (@drandallblythe) on Jan 16, 2016 at 10:15am PST

[via The PRP]