Only Heavy Metal

Taipei, Jan. 16 (CNA) Freddy Lim (林昶佐), the lead vocalist of the heavy-metal band Chthonic and a member of the newly established New Power Party, was elected Saturday as a legislator in Taipei's 5th District.

Running for political office for the first time, the singer defeated veteran legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方) of the Kuomintang by more than 6,000 votes.

Apart from his eye-catching stage costumes, Lim is best known for his staunch pro-independence stance.

In 2007, during the administration of then President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Lim and his band went on a concert tour in the United States, at the invitation of Taiwan's representative office in the U.S., to promote Taiwan's bid to join the United Nations.

Lim also campaigned for the DPP's presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) in 2008.

Lim later expressed anger at Chen's involvement in a corruption case that led to the former president's imprisonment in 2008, but the singer visited Chen in prison in 2012 and criticized the human rights conditions there.

During his legislative campaign, Lim was interviewed by reporters from Italy and Britain, who focused on the story of a heavy metal star making a shift to politics.

CHTHONIC will be releasing the eighth album 'Battlefields of Asura' on October 10th, the first music video ' Millennia’s Faith Undone’ will be out on September 4th.