Hanzel und Gretyl

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Hanzel und Gretyl
HUG MERA -2.jpg
Hanzel und Gretyl in 2010
Background information
Also known as"HuG"
Origin New York City, United States
Genres Industrial metal, Neue Deutsche Härte, industrial rock (early)
Years active1993–present
LabelsEnergy Records, Metropolis Records
MembersKaizer von Loopy
Vas Kallas
Past membersChris Kling
Anna K
Mark Baker
Joe Letz
Greta Brinkman
Jordan Marchini
Acey Slade
Jon Osterman
Fiona Doherty
Pat-5000
Louis Echeverria
Robbie Whiplash
Dmitry Pushnoy
Yannik Bockelmann
Website hanzelundgretyl.com

Hanzel und Gretyl are an American industrial metal band founded in New York City by Kaizer von Loopy and Vas Kallas in February 1993.

Contents

History

Machines Good People Bad (1995–1999)

Hanzel und Gretyl formed in early 1993. In April 1994, they completed a demo entitled Kindermusik. Of the 200 cassette tapes manufactured, most were sent to record labels and fanzines and some were sold on consignment at a local music store called Bleeker Bob's.

In January 1995, after refusing offers from at least one major label to resubmit their demo with only English lyrics, they signed with Energy Records, an independent record label based in New York City. HuG recorded and released their first album, Ausgeflippt , in October 1995.

The single "Shine 2001" topped the Alternative Press dance chart at No. 1 shortly after its release.

Performing only several local shows on Manhattan's lower east side, they were recruited to provide support on two US tours in 1995 and 1996 with Marilyn Manson. [1]

In 1997, they released their second full-length album, Transmissions From Uranus , that featured a video game in which the object was to transform Loopy and Vas into alien-like insectoid space creatures. The enhanced CD was again cited for its progressive-minded musical stylings and groundbreaking technological advances. This led the band to tour the US extensively with Tommy Victor's Prong, giving them even broader exposure nationally. In between shows on Prong's Cold Fusion tour, Hanzel und Gretyl headlined a Halloween show in Des Moines, Iowa with hometown band Slipknot in direct support. During the same year, Hanzel und Gretyl's song "9D Galactik Center" appeared in New Line Cinema's Mortal Kombat Annihilation and was also played at the 1997 MTV Music Awards. Furthermore, the song "Robot Logik" from the same album was used in radio commercials for the Howard Stern Show .

In 1998, clad in custom-made lederhosen, Hanzel und Gretyl toured the US in direct support of Germany's Rammstein on the band's first ever headlining tour of the states after meeting and playing with the band at a CMJ Music Marathon show in New York City. HuG also supported Rob Halford's 2wo in Los Angeles during the Rammstein tour.

In 1999, Hanzel und Gretyl completed a full-length CD entitled Oz Faktor that is currently unreleased by Energy Records. The CD depicts a displaced Hanzel und Gretyl lost in a quasi-"Wizard of Oz" type setting.

Fukken Über (2003–2013)

After a long hiatus due to the dissolving of their label, Energy Records, the band signed to Metropolis Records in 2002 and immediately began recording for their long anticipated third album, Über alles . Described by Kaizer von Loopy as a "futuristic Wagnerian rock opera" and released in 2003, it marked a distinct stylistic change for the band favoring heavy guitar riffs and Germanic themes over the more genre expanding electro-metal style for which they had become known in the 1990s.

The CD was met with a fair amount of controversy over its parodic cross-referencing of both German and American stereotypes set against a surreal and spaced-out WWII backdrop but nevertheless attained a four out of five star review in Kerrang! magazine and equally high praise from New York City's prestigious The Village Voice . Following the release of the album, the band toured the US as a headliner on their aptly named "Fukken Uber Tour" and later in direct support of The Genitorturers in the states and Canada after which they returned to the studio to record a new album.

In September 2004, the band released their fourth album, Scheissmessiah .

The album was immediately hailed as required listening for fans of industrial metal alongside Nine Inch Nails, KMFDM and Ministry by Revolver Magazine.

The band continued to grow harder and heavier touring the states in support of My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult and Ministry for a three-month stint on their "Evil Doer Tour" throughout the US and Canada. [2]

Hanzel und Gretyl co-headlined, along with Slick Idiot, the first Gothicfest at the Odeum Expo Center in Illinois. [3]

In 2006, the band toured North America for the release of their four-song EP Oktotenfest 2006 with label mates Bella Morte as direct support. Also in 2006, they provided direct support on Cradle of Filth's UK tour.

February 2007 saw the release of 2012: Zwanzig Zwölf . Drawing more and more from death metal and black metal sentiments, 2012 is HuG's heaviest offering thus far leading to HuG's first-ever headlining shows overseas beginning in Moscow, Russia in September 2008. In January 2009, Hanzel und Gretyl kicked off their extensive headlining "World Fukken Tour 2009" including shows throughout the US, Europe, UK, Scandinavia, Russia, Ukraine, New Zealand and Australia ending with a final show in New York City on December 19, 2009.

On August 8, 2010, with the number 87 as the numerical representation of the band and the words "More German Than German" found on their backdrop and T-shirts Hanzel und Gretyl performed to a capacity crowd on the main stage at M'era Luna Festival in Hildesheim, Germany.

Born to Be Heiled , Hanzel und Gretyl's sixth full-length CD release on November 27, 2012 was launched as a debut release for the newly formed Metropolis Metal Records, a subdivision of Metropolis Records that focusses on their more metal based electronic and industrial bands.

Beginning in June 2012, Hanzel und Gretyl followed up the completion of Born to Be Heiled with multiple extensive headlining tours including Australia, New Zealand, US, Canada, Russia, and Europe.

Hanzel und Gretyl für immer , an album composed entirely of remixes of their previous CD, Born to Be Heiled, was completed by Kaizer von Loopy in July 2013 and slated for worldwide release by Metropolis Records on October 8, 2013.

Grimm Shiza (2014–2017)

October 2014 saw the release of HuG's 7th album, Black Forest Metal and the beginning of a new era for the band. Perhaps their darkest and most metal sounding release to date, BFM employs satanic themes cross-referenced with forest motifs from the original Brothers Grimm fairy tale. U.S. and European tours followed the release.

2015 found Hanzel und Gretyl playing select dates in the US and returning in October to Europe, UK, Russia and also Greece for the first time in the band's history.

September 25, 2015, Hanzel und Gretyl appears in the DVD / Blu-ray release Rammstein in Amerika , being interviewed amongst the likes of artists Steven Tyler, Kiss, Marilyn Manson, Iggy Pop, Korn, Slash and others discussing Rammstein's first shows in America with Hanzel und Gretyl in 1997 and 1998 and eventual ascent which led to Rammstein's sold out show at Madison Square Garden on December 11, 2010.

2017–present

On July 26, 2017, Loopy released the solo album Reichstar under the name 'KyzrWölf', also stating a new HuG album coming in 2018. [4] [5] [6] On February 24, 2018, a new album titled Satanik Germanik was available for pre-order, [7] with another album titled Hexennacht being released in 2019.

Members

Discography

Machines Good People Bad
Fukken Über
Grimm Shiza
KyzrWölf

Filmography

Related Research Articles

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<i>Über alles</i> (album) 2003 studio album by Hanzel und Gretyl

Über alles is the third studio album by American industrial metal band Hanzel und Gretyl, released on May 20, 2003 via Metropolis Records. The album was critically well-received and is generally regarded as the group's most prominent and identifiable work to date. The album is the first of a highly conceptualized trilogy of DIY industrial metal operas that denote a distinct change in style for the group marked by aggressive metal style guitar riffs, gritty orchestral sampling and guttural German spoken vocals.

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<i>Scheissmessiah!</i> 2004 Hanzel und Gretyl album

Scheissmessiah is the fourth full-length release by American industrial metal band Hanzel und Gretyl. It was released on October 12, 2004, via Metropolis Records. It is a concept album that parodies Handel's Messiah with a satanic metal twist.

<i>Ausgeflippt</i> 1995 studio album by Hanzel und Gretyl

Ausgeflippt is Hanzel und Gretyl's debut full-length album, released on October 10, 1995, via Energy Records. Much like their second full-length album, Transmissions from Uranus, it is mostly techno-industrial, unlike later releases. The album featured mostly German and English lyrics, but also featured lyrics in Romanian, Greek and French. It received some good reviews upon its release, and even spawned a successful single in the form of "Shine 2001", which reached number one on the Alternative Press Dance Chart.

<i>Transmissions from Uranus</i> 1997 studio album by Hanzel und Gretyl

Transmissions from Uranus is the second full-length album by American industrial metal band Hanzel und Gretyl. It was released in 1997 via Energy Records. It followed the pace set by the band's debut release, Ausgeflippt, as its style was very electronically oriented. The album enjoyed significant success, with the song "9D Galactic Center" included on the soundtrack to Mortal Kombat Annihilation. This was the band's last release on Energy Records, as the company went out of business in 1998. It was also the band's last release with a focus on machines and space and the last album to feature any song performed in a language other than German or English, with the song "Astronafti" performed in Greek, as their image changed radically upon the release of their third album, Über alles, which was a satire of totalitarian regimes.

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<i>Black Forest Metal</i> 2014 studio album by Hanzel und Gretyl

Black Forest Metal is the seventh full-length album by American industrial metal band Hanzel und Gretyl. It was released via Metropolis Records on November 11, 2014. The album was successfully funded via a PledgeMusic crowdfunding campaign on June 26, 2014.

<i>Born to Be Heiled</i> 2012 Hanzel und Gretyl album

Born to Be Heiled is the sixth full-length album by American industrial metal band Hanzel und Gretyl. It was released via Metropolis Records on November 27, 2012. The album was one of the debut releases for the Metropolis Metal Records, a subdivision of Metropolis Records. The album was a basis for the remix album Hanzel und Gretyl für Immer.

<i>Hanzel und Gretyl für immer</i> 2013 Hanzel und Gretyl album

Hanzel und Gretyl für immer is a remix album by American industrial metal band Hanzel und Gretyl and a companion album to 2012's Born to Be Heiled. It was released via Metropolis Records on October 8, 2013. The album is a remix album of Born to Be Heiled. All of the remixes were done by KyzrWolf, a side project of Kaizer van Loopy.

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Satanik Germanik is the eighth full-length album released by American industrial metal band Hanzel und Gretyl. It was released via Metropolis Records on July 6, 2018. The album is based around forest motifs from the original Brothers Grimm fairy tales and satanic themes.

<i>Hexennacht</i> (album) 2019 Hanzel und Gretyl album

Hexennacht is the ninth full-length album released by American industrial metal band Hanzel und Gretyl. It was released via Metropolis Records on December 13, 2019. The album is based on satanic and Black Forest themes, and was released on a Friday the 13th in December by coincidence. The song Eine Kleine Hexennacht Musik is a parody of the Mozart song Eine Kleine Nachtmusik.

References

  1. ↑ "Hanzel und Gretyl". Darkersideoflight.com. Retrieved August 30, 2017.
  2. ↑ "Ministry / My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult / Hanzel Und Gretyl Kool Haus, Toronto ON – October 14, 2004". January 1, 2006.
  3. ↑ "GOTHICFEST 2005 Comes to Chicago in September". PRWeb. Retrieved August 30, 2017.
  4. ↑ "KyzrWölf - Reichstar (2017, File)". Discogs.com. July 26, 2017. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
  5. ↑ "FukkenÜber.com: Der Unofficial Hanzel und Gretyl Website". Fukkenuber.com. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
  6. ↑ "Kyzrwölf Official". YouTube . Retrieved March 24, 2020.
  7. ↑ "STORE". Hanzelundgretyl.com. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
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