We have a pope from Chicago, and now Finland has an envoy from a metal band. Freddy Lim is the frontman of the group Chthonic, and he was chosen by President Lai Ching-te as Taiwan's ambassador of the Scandinavian country.
Per The New York Times, Finland has the most metal bands per capita, with around 80 for every 100,000 citizens. “Working with my partners in the Finnish music industry for a long time has made me have a special feeling for this country,” Lim wrote in a social media post.
Lim was also picked for his human rights work and international exchange experience. From 2016 to 2024 he served as a national legislator; from 2010 to 2014 he was chairman of Amnesty International in Taiwan.
Chthonic have been putting out albums on Spinefarm Records for years, including 2009's Mirror Of Retribution, 2011's Takasago Army, 2013's Butik, and 2018's Battlefields Of Asura. Along with Lim on lead vocals, the band has Doris Yeh on bass and backing vocals, Jesse Liu on guitars and backing vocals, Dani Wang on drums, and CJ Kao on keyboards and synthesizer.
