It's Saturday night. You walk into a bar and find yourself swimming in a sea of drunks and half-drunks in ripped jeans, mesh shirts, and leather pants. A burly doorman in a big-hair wig, sleeveless Iron Maiden shirt, and aviator glasses relieves you of NT$100 (cover charge) and gives you your pick from a box of temporary tattoos. You pick a snake wrapped around a dagger, he applies it for you and screams in your face, "Rock on!" while sticking out his tongue, shaking his head, and raising his hands in "devil's horns" (fists with the first and fourth fingers raised).

The bar is packed tighter than Axl Rose's leather pants and the guitar grinds so loud your head feels like it's going to implode. The crowd is dressed like a set of Spinal Tap extras, and is moshing so maniacally people keep getting pushed onto the stage. The party continues until five in the morning, when the crowd finally disperses in search of cabs, lost friends, and food. Dazed, you realize you must have stumbled into a Crome Relic show.
Crome Relic is still in its infancy, having played only a handful of shows to date, but this has been no impediment to their popularity. They've already formed a nearly cult following.

Influenced by 1980s metal bands like Motley Crue and Guns'n'Roses, Crome Relic grinds out a rabid set of covers and originals. To keep the party at a fever pace, Crome Relic employs a variety of methods, like the give'er-ometer (a device to measure the crowd's excitement), and free alcohol for the loudest cheerers and most decked-out rockers.

The band formed to satisfy a desire felt by many headbangers living in Taiwan. As the band says, "dancing's fine, but sometimes you just wanna gun beers, throw up the devil's horns, and bang your head."

For information, or to purchase a Crome Relic t-shirt, contact their manager, Dax Germanstadd, at bennybtaiwan@yahoo.com.