Archive for Hanzel Und Gretyl

Hanzel Und Gretyl – Hexennacht

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , , , on 29th December 2019 by izaforestspirit

Hanzel Und Gretyl
Hexennacht
Released 13th December 2019
Industrial Metal/Blackened Death Metal/Extreme Metal
Released via Metropolis Records

Hanzel und Gretyl - Hexennacht

The American industrial metal duo Hanzel Und Gretyl are back with a new album. It’s only been a year since their previous effort ‘Satanik Germanik’ came out and now ‘Hexennacht’ is here. Now perhaps it’s just me, but for a band to release an album this soon after the previous one seems a little bit rushed. I have had some bad experiences with bands that have done this in the past and not too many good ones. What often happens is that the new album is weaker than the previous one, resembling a collection of ideas, unfinished and unused from the recording sessions. Nonetheless I tried best to stay objective and to give ‘Hexennacht’ a go.

The good and (for fans of the older material) the bad news is that Hanzel Und Gretyl’s music is only getting heavier and metal-sounding. For better or worse, it is clear that with ‘Hexennacht’ they have essentially ditched most of the industrial / wacky space metal sound in favour of a more extreme, blackened death metal sound. The themes have not changed. The album is full of references to witches, monsters and all manner of things grim. Triple Hexx deserves a mention due to the additional chanting, the choir and the tribal style drum noises. Most of the other songs sound similar to each other. They have the same creepy tone as the ones on both the previous albums of the Grimm Shiza era – ‘Black Forest Metal’ and ‘Satanik Germanik’. Vas Kallas sounds as angry as ever and there is no shortage of angry blast beats. So why is it that even after several listens I still feel like I’m missing something…?

Well, the thing is that this is all getting a little too grim and serious for my liking. I got into Hanzel Und Gretyl via their ‘Über Alles’ album and that is still the one that I enjoy the most. The only song that has that kind of fun-sounding, wacky industrial feel to it is Der Kaiz3ern8tor. On here it is definitely an odd one out, a dancey, synth-infused industrial track among eleven songs of doom and gloom. It’s not exactly happy-sounding but it is strangely uplifting and easily one of the more memorable tracks on here.

Overall, ‘Hexennacht’ does not really offer anything dramatically new for Hanzel Und Gretyl. They are still continuing with same style that they began with ‘Black Forest Metal’. As far as the music goes, there is nothing really wrong with it. I just miss their wacky “German” space metal days. This grim stuff is nowhere near as much fun.

5/10
Iza Raittila

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Hanzel und Gretyl reveal new album details

Posted in Misc., News, Studio Report with tags , , , on 16th November 2019 by izaforestspirit

It’s only been a year since their last effort ‘Satanik Germanik’… Now the American industrial metal duo Hanzel und Gretyl are ready to unleash their latest creation onto the world next month. The new opus will be entitled ‘Hexennacht’ and it is expected to hit the shops on 13th December 2019 via Metropolis Records.

Here is the cover and the track-listing:

Hanzel und Gretyl - Hexennacht

1. Hexennacht
2. Draconia Teutonik
3. Nüll
4. Vultures ov Death
5.Wolves + Witches
6. Jägermond
7.Der kaiz3rn8tor
8. Hellmeister
9. Triple Hexxx
10. Cursed Be
11. O Great Hekate
12. Ein kleine Hexennacht Muzik

For more details visit:

https://www.hanzelundgretyl.com/

https://www.facebook.com/pg/hanzelundgretyl/

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Iza’s Highlights of 2018

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on 31st December 2018 by izaforestspirit

It’s that time of the year again! Time for my annual best of list or “highlights” as I prefer to call them. This year I have decided to do just one list rather than two separate ones for metal and non-metal. The main reason for this is that there have not been too many industrial/EBM releases that caught my attention this year. So without further ado, here are my top ten albums of 2018:

1. Powerwolf – The Sacrament of Sin
Genre: Power Metal
Powerwolf - The Sacrament of Sin

The German power metal wolves are back with a new album. And what an album it is!! I honestly cannot get enough of it. It may not be very profound as far as the themes go but it is hell of a lot of fun. Stand-out tracks are ‘Fire & Forgive’, ‘Demons Are A Girl’s Best Friend’ and ‘Nightside of Siberia’.

2. Lord of The Lost – Thornstar
Genre: Dark Rock/Gothic Industrial Metal
Image result for lord of the lost thornstar
I absolutely adore this band. They combine the best of dark rock with Gothic metal and Deathstars-like industrial metal. ‘Thornstar’ has to be their greatest and most complex album to date. In order to fully understand the concept, I would recommend that you download the 21 paged ‘Thornstar backstory’ from the band’s website. It’s a fascinating read that offers some insight into Pangaean history and culture. Alternatively you can simply enjoy music. Stand-out tracks are ‘On This Rock I Will Build My Church’, ‘Haythor’ and ‘Black Halo’.

3. Behemoth – I Loved You At Your Darkest
Genre: Blackened Death Metal

Behemoth are back with their long-awaited new album. As I mentioned in my review, this is not ‘The Satanist part 2’ but rather a mixture of both old and new Behemoth styles. It takes a few listens but once you get into it your patience will be rewarded. Stand-out tracks are ‘Wolves ov Siberia’ and ‘Bartzabel’.

4. Chthonic – Battlefields of Asura
Genre: Melodic Black Metal/Oriental Metal
閃靈 - 政治 / Battlefields of Asura
My favourite oriental metal band are back. Their latest album might not be a memorable as ‘Bú Tik’ but it has its moments. Music-wise it offers more of Chthonic’s unique blend of melodic black metal, death metal and oriental folk music with the addition of some choirs and guest vocals from the Cantopop singer Denise Ho. Stand-out tracks are ‘A Crimson Sky’s Command’ and ‘Millennia’s Faith Undone’.

5. MONO Inc. – Welcome to Hell
Genre: Gothic Rock/Dark Rock
Image result for MONO INC WELCOME TO HELL cover
More Gothic rock…’ Welcome to Hell’ is my favourite MONO Inc. album to date. Their music is essentially melodic hard rock but it also has this wonderful, eerie Gothic feel. Stand-out tracks are ‘Long Live Death’, A Vagabond’s Life’ and Reign of Rats’.

6. Grimner – Vanadrottning
Genre: Folk Metal/Viking Metal
Grimner - Vanadrottning

I had the pleasure of reviewing this album earlier this year. It’s been a long while since I’ve heard any folk metal that was this good. I would recommend this to fans of Finntroll, Ensiferum and Månegarm. Stand-out tracks are ‘Vanadrottning’ and ‘En Fallen Jätte’.

7. Monstrosity – The Passage Of Existence
Genre – Death Metal
Monstrosity - The Passage of Existence
My kind of death metal and my favourite death metal album of 2018. It is hard to pick out a stand-out track since in all honestly I like them all but ‘Kingdom of Fire’ and ‘Maelstrom’ are the ones that stuck in my head the most.

8. Hanzel und Gretyl – Satanik Germanik
Genre: Industrial Metal/Groove Metal/Extreme Metal
Hanzel und Gretyl - Satanik Germanik
‘Satanik Germanik’ is Hanzel und Gretyl’s heaviest and most metal album. As mentioned in my review it is darker and more serious than the material from the “Fukken Über’ era, much like its predecessor ‘Black Forest Metal’. Luckily that does not make it any less fun. Stand-out tracks are ‘I Am Bad Luck’ and the party song ‘Trinken Mit Der Kaizer (Die Bierz From Hell)’

9. Scandroid – The Darkness
Genre: Synthwave
Image result for scandroid the darkness
One of the few electronic releases that made it to my top 10. ‘The Darkness’ is the third album from Klayton (Celldweller/Circle of Dust)’s synthwave project Scandroid. Delightful retro synthesizer tunes, a little guitar and melodic vocals all with a futuristic feel. Stand-out tracks ‘Phoenix’ and ‘Red Planet’.

10. Auger – The Awakening
Genre: Darkwave
Image result for auger the awakening
A new discovery for me. I really enjoyed Auger’s show at Lumous Gothic Festival 2018. This British dark wave duo combine the best of darkwave and Gothic rock. I would recommend their debut album to fans of Blutengel, Gothminister and The Vision Bleak. Stand-out tracks are ‘Monster’ and ‘My Guardian’.

Honourable mentions:

Xentrifuge – Desensitized Parallels, Immortal – Northern Chaos Gods, Psyclon Nine – Icon of The Adversary. All good albums but with only a few outstanding tracks they missed out on a space in my top ten list.
IAMX’s latest album ‘Alive in The New Light’ also came out of the start of this year. While it didn’t make my top ten I did enjoy it, especially the track ‘Mile Deep Hollow’.
Check out the video here:

Best live show of 2018: Helloween live at South Park Festival in Tampere.
Biggest New Discovery: Auger
Most anticipated albums in 2019:
Blutengel – Un:Gott
Blue Stahli – Obsidian
Also hopefully new albums by Helloween and Rammstein.

Happy New Year Everyone!

Iza Raittila

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Hanzel und Gretyl – Satanik Germanik

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , , , , on 31st July 2018 by izaforestspirit

Hanzel Und Gretyl
Satanik Germanik
Released 6th July 2018
Industrial Metal / Groove Metal / Extreme Metal
Released via Metropolis Records

Hanzel und Gretyl - Satanik Germanik

The New York -based industrial metal duo Hanzel und Gretyl have been around since the mid-90s. They’re often hailed as the only non-German band in the Neue Deutsche Härte scene. Their music has evolved a great deal since the beginning, ranging from experimental-industrial to industrial metal, groove with even hints of black metal and melodic death metal. Their latest opus ‘Satanik Germanik’ promises to be their darkest and most metal-sounding album.

This is essentially picking up from where Hanzel und Gretyl left off with ‘Black Forest Metal’ – the first part of the so called ‘Grimm Shiza’ era. As the title suggests there are some satanic themes plus references to stories by the brothers Grimm. So if you enjoyed that album, there is a good likelihood that you will like this one too. However, if you were hoping for the more wacky German space metal from their ‘Fukken Über’ -era, then I would suggest you skip straight to the party track Trinken Mit Der Kaizer (Die Bierz From Hell). Good to see that these two haven’t lost their sense of humor.

As far as the style goes, most of the songs have a dark, gritty black metal tinge that is particularly audible in the guitars while the industrial elements are not as prominent as they were in their previous works. Singer Vas Kallas’s voice makes this eerie, croaking sound, like the old witch from the Grimm stories, which combined with the coarse guitar riffs gives the music a creepy feel. They also occasionally slow down the pace like on the groove metal styled track I Am Bad Luck, which puts the emphasis on the bass guitar. Speaking of the bass, it also comes into the fore on 13 Moons; a track that is probably the closest they have ever come to producing a black metal song.

In summary, ‘Satanik Germanik’ can easily be classed as Hanzel und Gretyl’s heaviest album to date. In many ways it sounds exactly like I expected it to. It is not another ‘Über Alles’, in fact it is very similar to ‘Black Forest Metal’. And yet it’s darker, haunting and more serious than the earlier works; even moreso than their previous album. Luckily there’s still the odd party track to please fans of their older material.

4/5
Iza Raittila

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Hanzel und Gretyl reveal new album details

Posted in Misc., News, Studio Report with tags , , on 25th May 2018 by izaforestspirit

The American industrial metal band Hanzel und Gretyl are back and they have recently announced that their new album is coming this summer. The long-awaited follow-up to ‘Black Forest Metal’ will be entitled ‘Satanik Germanik’ and it is due to hit the stores on 6th July 2018 via Metropolis Records.

You can check out the cover art below:

For more information go to:

https://www.facebook.com/hanzelundgretyl/

https://www.hanzelundgretyl.com/

https://www.metropolis-records.com/artist/hanzel-und-gretyl

 

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Hanzel Und Gretyl live in Helsinki

Posted in Gig, Live with tags on 29th May 2016 by izaforestspirit

Dorothy Polonium, Hanzel Und Gretyl
On The Rocks, Helsinki, Finland
27th May 2016

It’s been a while since I’ve been to Helsinki. The last time I was there was late November last year when I walked through some heavy snowfall to see Cradle of Filth live. Since then, I either didn’t have the money or the time to travel even if there was some interesting concerts happening in the city. Then a few weeks ago I discovered that Hanzel Und Gretyl were coming to play two shows in Finland. I’ve been a fan of their music for some time now so I decided that it was worth going to Helsinki to see them live. The gig was at a rock bar/ nightclub called On The Rocks. Like many of gig venues in the city, this one had a good atmosphere but it was fairly expensive.

First up was a Finnish alternative rock band called Dorothy Polonium. I really struggled to get into their music. The guitars sounded decent at times but the vocals were just plain weird. The singer’s melodic vocals sounded ok, but then for some reason she decided to start shrieking and shouting. It went from pleasant-sounding melodic metal/rock to some weird experimental/progressive rock with mismatched and downright odd-sounding vocals. 2/5

Hanzel Und Gretyl were fantastic. They played the newer songs first. I’m not too familiar with their latest album, however. Based on what I heard, their new material seems to be leaning more towards extreme metal rather than industrial. It’s still good but nowhere near as catchy as the older stuff. Luckily they played the hits as well including: ‘Third Reich From the Sun’, ‘SS Deathstar Supergalaktik’ and ‘Fukken Über Death Party’. It was apparently Kaizer von Loopy’s birthday, so the crowd sang something akin to the birthday tune and treated him to some beer. There was lots of funny stage antics which made the whole show great to watch even with some minor problems with the sound system. The best part was ‘Das Boot’ when they invited a few guys from the audience come on stage with them and drink beer from a massive New Rock boot. 4/5

After the show I got to meet the singer Vas Kallas and I had my photo taken with her.

Overall it was a really good show and I had a great time. Even my husband, who isn’t too familiar with Hanzel Und Gretyl’s music, admitted that they were entertaining to watch.

Iza Raittila

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