Hanzel und Gretyl
New York City, New York, United States | MAJOR
Music
Press
"Breeding Ministry's industrial shitstorm with White Zombie's hard rock stomp New York's Hanzel und Gretyl make for an intriguing and ultimately kick-ass prelude. Led by goggle-sporting maniac Kaiser Von Loopy (an early indication of their unrestrained lunacy) they simply demand attention, high-fiving the front rows while blasting out some of the catchiest yet hardest-hitting anthems around successfully pitting both sides of somebody else's crowd against each other in an impromptu screaming contest is quite a feat, but when you can do so on your first ever visit to the UK it's damn near incredible."
-Ryan Bird/ Kerrang! - Kerrang! - May 22, 2007
Hanzel und Gretyl, the musical offspring of vocalist/guitarist Vas Kallas and guitarist/programmer/vocalist Loopy, crawled out of the New York City's underground industrial-music scene 1993. They released two albums on Energy Records and opened for acts like Rammstein and Marilyn Manson before the label's eventual bankruptcy that left the band wandering in the woods of legal red tape. HuG returned in 2002, signed with industrial powerhouse Metropolis Records, and released the guitar-driven UBER ALLES a year later. They followed that up with SCHEISSMESSIAH in 2004.
Sounds LIke: Shuddering metal thunder that's frequently punctuated by lightening bolts of synthy electronics. Loopy's foundation of guitars competes with Kallas' vocals-in both English and German-for the title of Most Aggressive Sound on the Album. The band mitigates the malevolence, however, by planting its tongue firmly in cheek on such songs as "Disco Fire Sheiss Messiah" and "Scheissway to Hell". And then there's HuG's battle cry: "Fukken ¸ber!" shouts Loopy, laughing. "We're high art mixed with low camp. It's rock and roll! You can't be too full of yourself."
-Brian Stillman - Revolver - Oct 2005
HANZEL UND GRETYL
Scheissmessiah (Metropolis 2004) Blitzkrieg guitars, psychotic percussion, lyrics screamed in German by rock's angriest sounding woman-what's not to like? On 'Scheissmessiah', the band dispenses with industrial's oh-so-serious facade, delivering tongue-in-cheek anthems like "Disko Fire Scheiss Messiah" and "Blut! Zex! Fire! " without ever taking a break from it's brutal delivery.
- Brain Stillman - Revolver - June 2005
Discography
90's - "MACHINES GOOD PEOPLE BAD"
* Kindermusik, (200 cassette tapes) independent
release/Energy Records, 1994
* Ausgeflippt, Energy Records, 1995
* Transmissions From Uranus, Energy Records, 1997
* Oz Faktor, Energy Records, *UNRELEASED* 1999
00's - "FUKKEN UBER"
* Über Alles, Metropolis Records, 2003
* Scheissmessiah, Metropolis Records, 2004
* Oktötenfest 2006 EP, Metropolis Records, 2006
* 2012: Zwanzig Zwölf, Metropolis Records, 2008
Photos
Bio
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 indie record label based in New York City. HuG recorded and released their first full-length album, Ausgeflippt, in October 1995. With lyrics in five different languages and no two songs sounding alike, the album made a clear statement as deviating from the often predictable and monochromatic themes of many electro and industrial bands of the time. 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 immediately embarked on two U.S. tours with Marilyn Manson. The first in 1995 with Clutch as direct support and again in 1996 as direct support for Manson themselves.
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 lead the band to tour the U.S. extensively with Tommy Victor's Prong, giving them even broader exposure nationally. In between shows on the Prong tour, HuG headlined a Halloween show in 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 U.S. in direct support of Germany's venerable 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 HuG 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. As of yet, HuG's entire 90s discography remains out of print and a rare find item in the industrial realm. Mint condition, factory sealed copies have been known to sell for upwards of one hundred dollars.
After a long hiatus due to a legal dispute with their former label which had dissolved, 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 90s. 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 U.S. 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 along side Nine Inch Nails, KMFDM and Ministry by Revolver Magazine. Served up devilishly as a "Handel's Messiah from hell", HuG continued to grow harder and heavier touring the states in support of My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult and in direct support of Al Jourgensen's Ministry for a three-month stint on their "Evil Doer Tour" throughout the U.S. and Canada. In 2005, Hanzel und Gretyl headlined North America's largest goth festival, "Gothicfest 2005", in Illinois and were featured yet again in Revolver Magazine's "bands to watch". In 2006, the band toured across America and Canada as a headliner with label mates Bella Morte in direct support upon the release of the four-song EP "Oktotenfest 2006". With song titles like "Fukken Uber Death Party" and later "Bavarian Bierhaus Blood", HuG's home-brewed putsch soon led to a full-scale U.K. tour in direct support of Cradle of Filth in 2007. Shortly thereafter, they began work on their fifth full-length album, 2012: Zwanzig Zwölf, released in February 2008. Drawing mor
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