China’s metal bands and headbanging fans gear up for Linkin Park’s arena rock debut.

For years the hype of Beijing rock has spread across China, passing from one mouth to another, filling blogs with words of praise and thanks. But while rock and indie bands bask in the international spotlight, metal has gathered its own army of Chinese fans. Within the distortion and double-bass lies an incredibly catchy and resonating pop sensibility, one of the big reasons why nu-metal bands like Linkin Park from the United States have been so successful and why tickets for their Shanghai show on November 18 have sold faster than any other foreign rock act in China's history.

“More young people are getting into the heavy distortion sound because it is so powerful,” says Qin Tong, front man of Beijing-based nu-metal band Honey Gun. “The Linkin Park show will help the modern metal scene by showing people what metal should be and what a metal show should look like.”

As the first rock band to play a huge arena show in China, Linkin Park will be setting the bar in front of thousands of inexperienced fans and young metal bands.

“Many people will see this show and think about our country’s metal music,” said Todd, drummer for Shanghai’s Mig21, “Right now it’s very hard to be a metal band in China because you can’t make any money.”

The potential for metal music to earn money may not be on the minds of all metal bands in China, but it is a big factor in their ability to play shows and record and sell albums. Emma Entertainment, the company behind the Linkin Park show, believes in this show and the potential opportunities it will provide for the future.

“Linkin Park will show that rock music is liked in China and that there is a legitimate business side to Chinese rock,” says Robb Spitzer, Emma's director of live events marketing. “This is a landmark show because it proves that Chinese music fans do have a broader interest.”

For some metal bands, finding a fan base has been a struggle, but by remaining positive, bands like Shanghai's Chaos Mind have continued playing the music they love.

“There are always the same people at our shows, never any new people,” says Xu Weida of rap-metal band Chaos Mind, “The point of our music is not to be angry; the real point is to make people healthier by releasing their anger and having fun.”

As more overseas bands come to China, the issue remains as to whether this can have a negative effect on the development of original music in China. Beijin-based metal label Dying Art Productions specializes in extreme underground music and sees potential danger in the influx of popular Western rock music like Linkin Park.

“The Euro-American mainstream culture can occupy the market of a developing country easily with strong commercial promotion, and very extreme underground music is destined to live in a very limited scope,” says Murk from Dying Art.

Metal and rock music as something professional and entertaining for a mainstream audience is a phenomenon with many implications, but one thing remains certain, music fans in China can expect more and more opportunities to watch their favorite Western bands basking in the spotlight and filling arenas with the sound of hard rock.

“Linkin Park is no joke, it’s a real band with real musicians and professional live production, ”Spitzer says. “I'm just looking forward to that moment when the house lights dip before the band comes on stage, and the crowd goes nuts.”

DETAILS

Linkin Park: Minutes to Midnight Tour
Sunday, November 18
Shanghai Hongkou Stadium
?100-1,600
Buy tickets at 400-707-9999 or www.emma.cn

Win VIP passes to the arena rock show of the year here.

China’s Metal Masters

Mig21 (Shanghai)

Influences:

Korn, Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park The newest edition to Shanghai’s metal clique, Mig21 formed six months ago when drummer Todd left his old band, Underground. “They were too punk; I want to play metal music,” Todd explains. Mig21's line up includes a DJ and two singers, Yao Yao and Ya Ya. “We play metal music because we are angry at some people like our bosses, old friends and sometimes each other,” Todd says. “Metal is powerful, strong music and we think it is cool.”

Chaos Mind (Shanghai)

Influences:

Metallica, Korn, Slipknot Shanghai’s Chaos Mind formed a year ago from the small but tightly-knit Shanghai rap-metal scene, and includes ex-members of the metal band Skatebomb. They play a funkier brand of metal with plenty of rapping. “Rap metal is a way to release our anger and have fun,” says drummer Xu Weida, “We are just four normal people, we don’t have angry personalities.” Look for a Chaos Mind debut album coming out at the beginning of next year.

Twisted Machine (Beijing)

Influences: Metallica

Now approaching their 10-year anniversary, Twisted Machine has long been China’s most influential rap-metal band. Their two previous albums, 2001’s “Twisted Machine” and 2003’s “Return to the Underground” helped Chinese metal bands realize the opportunities for success in this previously obscure genre. The Beijing quintet plays raw and rowdy metal with growling raps and smooth breakdowns. Twisted Machine sees great potential for metal in China. Next year, they plan to release their third studio album and a retrospective DVD to commemorate their 10 years of metal mania.

Honey Gun (Beijing)

Influences:

Motley Crue Vocalist Qin Tong formed Honey Gun in Beijing in 1999, and with a revolving set of band mates he has made Honey Gun one of the most well-known nu-metal bands in China. “All of us love the feeling you get from powerful things, like F-1 racing,” say Qin. “Metal music is like that.” Honey Gun released its first album, “240 km per hour,” on Pilot Records last year. “We want to express passion with our music. We want to help make people stronger so they can rock on,” Qin says. Look for a south China Honey Gun tour this November.

5 Thing You Didn’t Know about Linkin Park

1. Their debut album Hybrid Theory is the best selling record of this millennium, selling over 15 million copies.
2. Linkin Park was originally called Lincoln Park, but changed the spelling after they learned that lincolnpark.com was already in use.
3. For six months last year, singer Chester Bennington was a victim of stalker Devon Townsend who hacked into Bennington's email account and sent out messages pretending to be the singer and his wife.
4. Linkin Park singer/rapper Mike Shinoda made his art gallery debut this year with a show of his graphic design work in Los Angeles. Shinoda does all of the Linkin Park album artwork together with programmer/DJ Joe Hahn.
5. Linkin Park DJ Joe Hahn began his career as a special effects man, working on such television shows as X-Files and the Dune miniseries. He's also directed many of the band's videos, as well as videos for Static-X, Xzibit and X-ecutioners.

-Caleb March