HANZEL UND GRETYL – The Germanic Sense Of Industrial Music
5 min read
1. Please introduce the band to the readers of our magazine.
VAS: Hanzel und Gretyl is an American Metal/Industrial band from New York City that has been creating music since 1993. The core members of Hanzel und Getyl are myself, Vas Kallas, vocalist, songwriter, live bassist.
KAIZER VON LOOPY: I am Kaizer von Loopy aka KyzrWölf- guitarist, songwriter, programmer, producer, and vocalist.
2. Do you consider the band Black Metal?
Vas: No, we are a not pure Black Metal. We are mostly considered to be an Industrial Metal band with diverse musical styles that we have experimented with throughout our 25 years. We both have many musical influences that basically evolve around metal, punk, biker, noise experimental, astrology, goth, kraftwerk, germany, slayer, dark magic, spirituality and extreme beer drinking apocalypse.
For the past 5 years we have concentrated solely on the darkness of the Grimms Fairy Tale of Hansel and Gretel and have created music revolved around this. But we’ve always had a very dark side to all our music since 1995.
I would also like to say that we have created a new sub genre of music called ‘Black Forest Metal’, which may only pertain to us, and our version of Black metal.
KAIZER VON LOOPY: That’s accurate! i wouldn’t say we are a black metal band in the classic sense by any means. i do however believe this current incarnation of Hanzel und Gretyl would be a good fit touring with any black metal band or in rotation on black metal playlists!
3. “SATANIK GERMANIK” is a wonderful album full of innovative music, please present it to the public.
Vas: First off, thank you very much for the compliment. We have a wide range of musical tastes between the two of us and always end up with songs that are somewhat unique. I demoed the music for ‘Satanik Germanik’ back in the winter of 2015, where I locked myself up in my apartment with a nice bottle of scotch and recorded all of my darkness into the computer with a bass and guitar. The music was very raw, true and simple. I do whatever feels right and whatever I want to be listening to.
I then gave it to Kaizer who added his musical ideas and arrangements to the songs along with ripping guitar and programmed drums.
KAIZER VON LOOPY: with “SATANIK GERMANIK” we thought it would be interesting to not only
present the Hansel and Gretel classic fairy tale with a black metal twist but to also draw from our personal experiences and culture as we have both grown up in Eastern Orthodox households. My great grandfather was an Eastern Orthodox priest in Romania over 100 years ago!
4. How did you decide to mix the Christian hymns in Greek with Black Metal music?
Vas: I have always considered a part of Black Metal to be some kind of ancient ritual, plus the fact that I am Greek, brought up in the Greek Orthodox church. I’m not a church goer or an extreme religious person, but I do love and respect the tradition of the religion as an artistic ancient expression of spirituality and history with the magic of incense, candles and dusty golden icons. All those chants are just chilling, dark and beautiful.
It’s not the first time that we used the church chanting…we’ve had this influence since our first CD. As they say you create what you know and what you are.
KAIZER VON LOOPY: Yes! as stated in the previous answer, we have always had an affinity for Eastern Orthodox chants, the spoken liturgy and even goat noises!! this stuff is in our DNA!
5. Do you have any memories from your support act in Marilyn Manson during 1995-1996?
Vas: The first time I met Manson he came to me back stage right before our first show with a bottle of Jack Daniels in one hand and a tray with lines of cocaine in another. I was completely in shock. He then told me that we all looked like baked potatoes because we are were all dressed in silver stage clothing! I was so young and naive. That was our first big tour ever with Hanzel und Gretyl.
KAIZER VON LOOPY: Manson walked by our dressing room door displayed his cock and balls to me and asked “are you familiar with this?” I responded with a resounding, “I AM NOW!…THANX!” …conversely his dad who was on tour with him was a very engaging and funny gentleman albeit donned in a “God Of Fuck” baseball hat!! he watched our show nightly and was very complimentary!! my fondest memory of that touring experience.
6. How did you manage to include a song of yours in the movie Mortal Combat?
Vas: In those days we were signed to Energy Records in NYC, which had a Publishing department and had connections which led to our music being featured in Mortal Combat.
KAIZER VON LOOPY:YES! Our first label Energy Records in New York City had bands appear on the
very first Mortal Kombat soundtrack so when it was time for the sequel “Mortal Kombat: Annihilation” they thought our music would be great for some of the fight scenes! It was released through New Line Cinema and included many popular bands in the genre such as Rammstein who we subsequently toured with throughout the United States in 1998 so it was a big boost for our visibility as a new and emerging band.
7. What are your next plans?
Vas: We’re beginning to think about the next creation for HUG. These ideas take time… plus we’ll be releasing special merch items which includes the Satanik Germanik demo tape and other interesting products. We also hope that we will be able to tour in 2019.
KAIZER VON LOOPY: We are also currently refining our live set and stage show for future touring endeavors. we’ve been touring worldwide and extensively for quite a while. We needed to take a bit of time to tend to some of the performance details.
Info: https://www.hanzelundgretyl.com/
