Here we have another part of Promoting Bands for you. Hope you enjoy the bands in here!

If you want to check the earlier parts of Promoting Bands, you can do so at the following links: 
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10
Part 11
Part 12
Part 13
Part 14
Part 15
Part 16
Part 17
Part 18
Part 19
Part 20
Part 21
Part 22
Part 23
Part 24
Part 25
Part 26
Part 27
Part 28
Part 29
Part 30

Do you want your band to be part of an upcoming part of Promoting Bands? Don’t hesitate to send us an email, Facebook or Twitter message!

\m/

Tim van Velthuysen

Fister

A bit longer than a year ago I already mentioned them in our 16th part of Promoting Bands: the sludgers from Fister. At that moment their fourth full-length, No Spirit Within, was a few months old. Soon bass player/vocalist Kenny Snarzyk, drummer Kirk Gatterer and guitarist/vocalist Marcus Newstead will release No Spirit Within‘s successor, on September the 27th to be more precise. This successor is titled Decade of Depression and will be released, just as No Spirit Within, via Listenable Records. However, Decade of Depression doesn’t contain any new songs. With Decade of Depression Fister delivers seven covers in Fister-style and a re-recorded version of their own song The Failure. So, they may be covers but Fister executes them in their own, very nice way, giving songs such as Metallica’s For Whom The Bell Tolls and Danzig’s How The Gods Kill an extra raw and sludgy edge. You can see an album trailer for Decade of Depression below.

Fister Facebook
Fister Instagram
Fister Twitter

Petbrick

It may not directly be metal, but it surely is related to it and very nice. Petbrick, consisting of Iggor Cavalera and Wayne Adams, released their self-titled debut EP in May last year. Petbrick surely is recommended to everyone who likes the heavier sorts of electronical music such as industrial, but metalheads who can appreciate a bit of musical experimentation should also definitely check this out. In October Petbrick will be releasing a successor to this self-titled debut EP. This successor, a full-length, is titled I. I‘s opening song Horse is already available for a while, it kicks very heavily. On I Horse is followed by Radiation Facial, a song that also contains guest vocals by Full of Hell’s Dylan Walker. They recently released Radiation Facial, including a video.

Petbrick Facebook

The Hu

Maybe you already know The Hu from their viral videos for Yuve Yuve Yu and Wolf Totem. In July I interviewed The Hu’s Gala (throat singing/morin khuur), Jaya (jaw harp/tsuur/flute/throat singing) and Enkush (morin khuur/throat singing) before their show in The Melkweg, Amsterdam. You can read that interview here and our live review of that show here. At that moment The Hu already announced that they were going to release their debut full-length, titled The Gereg, on September the 13th. In my live review I mentioned one of their new songs coming from The Gereg, The Great Chinggis Khaan, giving me goosebumps. Recently The Hu released this song, together with a video. Whether you already know The Hu or not, you have to check this out. It’s a very nice song and it is very promising for The Gereg.

The Hu Official Website
The Hu Facebook
The Hu Instagram
The Hu Twitter

Māra

Recently I received the debut album of the Latvian metal band Māra. This debut is titled Therapy For An Empath and is already almost a year old. They released it in November last year. However, I hadn’t heard about Māra before. After the short up building intro of Therapy For An Empath‘s opener Label Me Insane Māra convinced me pretty fast. What power! Therapy For An Empath grooves very nicely, while it also contains quite some melody. This album is a very strong, heavily pounding debut on which vocalist Māra Lisenko, guitarist Denis Melnik, bass player Dmitry Lisenko and drummer Alberts Mednis show what they are capable of in a very awesome way. Māra really suprises me with this debut and they made me very curious about the full-length album they are currently working on. That full-length album is expected early 2020.

Māra Facebook

Vestigial

Vestigial, consisting of Tyler and Michael Stellema, both taking care of vocals and guitars, bass player Joey Barnett and drummer Mike Miller, released their debut full-length, titled Fallen Skies, in June last year. Fallen Skies surely is an album that’s worth checking out, for those who like pounding grooves as well as for those who like melody. However, since Vestigial released Fallen Skies they didn’t sit on their hands. In November Vestigial are going to release Fallen Skies‘ successor. This successor, again a full-length, is titled Crown of Serpents. Recently Vestigial released the first single coming from Crown of Serpents, Dethroned, which sounds very promising for Crown of Serpents!

Vestigial Facebook
Vestigial Instagram
Vestigial Twitter

The post Promoting Bands Part 31 appeared first on DutchMetalManiac.

Hey, you already toured Europe for almost a month right now. How is it going so far?

Gala: We’re doing really good and all of our headline show are sold out. We’ve also been playing at legendary festivals with legendary bands that we were growing up listening to. We feel so loved by the people of Europe and the UK because when we go to these big festivals like Rock Im Park, Rock Am Ring and even though at noon when we are the opening band thousands of people are still waiting for us and shouting “Hu! Hu! Hu!” which we think is fantastic.

Have you ever been in Europe before as individuals?

Jaya: As a band it’s the first time but personally the members came here with different bands before. It’s been so crazy because we got 23 shows in 30 days and everyday is just about playing shows, go to sleep in the bus and get up in wonderful cities and play and do the same.

You already mentioned that it is your first European tour and all shows already are sold out, including tonight’s one. How does that feel?

Gala: We feel so loved by the people here. We are not only touring here, we will actually do a North American tour in the fall in America and Canada. Not only that, we’re also going to release our first album, on September 13th. After that, next year we’re going to be back here again.

Nice. Also looking forward to tonight’s show?

All: Yeah!

Our readers question comes from Evelyn van Koot and her question is: what is the meaning of the band name The Hu?

Gala: It is a very ancient word. Hu is the Mongolian word for human. We chose this name because of the inclusive nature. We want to include everybody in the world. As in that we’re one big family. We want our messages and other things to be heard by every human being on this earth. When you say this word we believe that it means power, when you say “Hu!” you get that positive energy. We want to share this positive energy with everybody.

Your first two videos Yuve Yuve Yu and Wolf Totem went viral very fast. How did that feel for you?

Jaya: We are so honored and humbled by the reactions of the people all around the world. We believe that it went viral and successful because of our hard work. For example, in order to film our first music video for Yuve Yuve Yu we traveled over 5000 kilometers off road to Western Mongolia, we wanted to include the beautiful nature of the Mongolian land. So we went to the highest mountain and the highest desert. Some day would be like on top of the mountain with the snow while some other day would be like burning in the sun. Because of our hard work and message, I think that people reacted greatly. Secondly, with Wolf Totem we wanted to bring some message. Our music is a mixture of Western and Eastern, new and old. So we wanted to connect this whole spirit of the people, human beings, like Mongol warriors and bikers, even though they might have like thousands of years apart, but that warrior spirit can be translated to any generation, we can use that in a positive way, that power. We can be a warrior inside regardless of time, race and country.

What does coming from Mongolia mean to you?

Gala: It’s very important as Mongolians that we wanted to show the world how beautiful Mongolia is because we have such a rich history, traditions and beautiful things in music. For example, the musical instrument that we play called morin khuur, also known as horse headed fiddle, has been there for thousands of years, being played by Mongols, or the tovshuur and others. So we wanted to combine this beautiful Mongolian traditional music with the western music and show the world how beautiful it is while also sharing our message. The most important thing is actually our message, because we want to show all people to get energy and be strong when they listen to our music and get this energy, to do something good for the world, unite together and love this nature, the world as it is, we have to protect that. We want to inspire younger generations to get strong and stand against injustice in the world. That’s our message.

You already mentioned that you’re inspired by Mongolia’s past. Are you also inspired by Mongolia’s here and now?

Jaya: Of course, it’s all about today because of our mixing between old and new, the message is eternal. We are inspired by this old history and by being strong, but it’s for the younger generation. There are a lot of things going on in this world and we’re actually singing to them, we’re not singing to our ancestors. We are singing to the people who are on this earth today and try to inspire them to get strong and be united together, to do something good today for the future.

I’ve heard about a metal festival called Noise Metal Fest. How is the metal scene in Mongolia?

Enkush: We actually know the people who are in charge of Noise Metal Fest. They are trying to get more and more bigger stars every year. This year they brought Sepultura to Noise Metal and that was cool.

In May you met Mongolia’s president Khaltmaagiin Battulga. How was that for you?

Jaya: It was an absolute honor to see our president. He expressed his support and love for our music. He reminded us of how important it is to do something positive and stay strong together. We will represent Mongolia in the world positively. We’re trying hard and we’ll get better I think.

You call your musical style Hunnu Rock, which could be very dynamic as it was stated in the press releases. Does it also have boundaries or is literally everything possible?

Gala: There are no boundaries. We will do anything we want because we’re creating something. We started this style with our producer Dashka. He’s not like a traditional producer we would think of. He’s more like our band member who doesn’t go on stage. But he’s like a member of the family and he’s included in every song. It started three years ago, he found the idea while he was traveling in Western Mongolia in the Khovd Province, which was his father’s homeland and which is the birthplace of the throat singing. So, when he was there, he wanted to write some beautiful songs for his father and his ancestors. He thought that the combination of this traditional music and singing style with the Western rock music was going to sound amazing. So he started researching for instruments, music and tuning styles. In 2016, the four of us got together with Dashka and we went working on our first three songs and we eventually found this sound that we were looking for and it’s still evolving. This Mongolian traditional playing style with the tovshuur, the Mongolian guitar, has been there for thousands of years played by old Mongol tribes. The tuning is like fifth and fourth, which is the actual rock guitar playing style. Even the old Mongolian rhythms are just rock. That always has been there so we just needed to combine and mix it carefully with the rock music. That’s why we came up with this. We are the first band playing this new rock style right now, but we know that we’re not going to be the last band to play this style.

You already mentioned that on September 13th, you’re going to release your debut full length, The Gereg. The three songs that are already on Youtube will be on it. What can we expect from the other songs?

Jaya: Our first album, The Gereg, will be released September 13th. As for now, you can already pre-order it on our website. This album is all about the message and also inspiring others with courage. The name of the album is The Gereg because we chose this name. It is the diplomatic password introduced to the world by our ancestors. In the 13th century when you had this Gereg, you could go to many nations without any problems. We named our album The Gereg so that this album becomes our diplomatic password to the world so we can travel every nation, every country without any restriction and without any harm. We want to share our music and share our message through our music. We want to give people strength and pride. We also want to invite people to join us and be united and to do something good.

I’m looking forward to it. In September and October you are going to a North America. Also looking forward to that?

All: Yeah.

Do you already have plans for after October?

Gala: The North American tour will start in September, but it probably is going to be until mid December. We got so many dates, we haven’t announced all dates right now because it’s in process. We also are working on our second album. Half of the songs are already recorded actually. Four or five songs for the second album are recorded and we’re going to work on the rest of the songs. We also will be back in Europe shortly too.

Do you already have any idea and can you already tell something about when that second album can be expected?

The Hu’s manager/translator: Not yet.

Thanks for your answers. Is there anything you want to say to our readers?

Gala: Thank you so much for everything and we are so honored to be here in Europe and the UK because we feel so loved. Even though it’s our first step, everywhere we go all we get is love and support. So we are so lucky to be here and these reactions from the fans in Europe gives us the strength to do more and do better. We know that we will be here so many times and we’ll see you next time.

The Hu Official Website
The Hu Facebook
The Hu Instagram
The Hu Twitter

The post Interview: The Hu appeared first on DutchMetalManiac.

Around one hour before The Hu will be entering the stage the Melkweg opened its doors and the many people that are already waiting outside are allowed to come inside. Once inside the venue it soon is quite busy in front of the stage of the Melkweg’s Oude Zaal. There is no support act this evening so everybody is waiting and getting enthusiastic until the moment that the four band members, Gala, Enkush, Jaya and Temka, together with four live-musicians are entering the stage.

When that moment finally comes the enthusiastic outburst is immense. Soon people are screaming, clapping their hands along with the nice rhythms and getting their fists in the air while shouting “Hu! Hu! Hu!” This is a really nice party from the moment the band started to play. Of course, that’s because of the audience’s enthusiasm but the band themselves also contribute to this for a big part. Especially Gala and Jaya are cheering up the audience even more, sometimes even in Mongolian, but Mongolian or English, that doesn’t matter, because the message seems to come through. It can also be seen very clearly that they are really happy with the response of the audience.

Musically the traditional Mongolian instruments are of course standing out the most, especially the horse headed fiddle and the jaw harp. Besides that it is also very nice that there is not only a drummer, but also a percussionist. Of course the vocals can’t be forgotten to mention. The traditional throat singing sounds very hypnotizing, while the regular combination with the very nice sound of the horse headed fiddle makes it even more hypnotizing. The fact that The Hu’s show is, apart from a few moments, quite static isn’t something that matters, because of this hypnotizing atmosphere and the many people that are on stage. This is a show to dive in completely and because of the hypnotizing music, the nice rhythms and the good atmosphere that seems to succeed very well.

Of course the already released songs, Yuve Yuve Yu, Wolf Totem and Shoog Shoog are received with most enthusiasm. Yuve Yuve Yu even is played another time, as an encore. However, the other songs are also very well appreciated and all are received with quite some enthusiasm and loud applauding. Especially the song The Great Chinggis Khaan gives me goosebumps, but all songs that The Hu are playing this evening are strong for sure.

The Hu performed a very great show for sure and hopefully we’ll hear a lot more of this band in the future!

Our interview with The Hu will be online soon!

The Hu Official Website
The Hu Facebook
The Hu Instagram
The Hu Twitter

The post Live review: The Hu at Melkweg, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, July 1st, 2019 appeared first on DutchMetalManiac.