It’s hard to find a dose of heavy metal more pure and true than what you’ll hear on Eternal Dagger, the new album from German outfit Iron Kobra. Formed in 2008, Iron Kobra have maintained a steady stream of releases, honing their approach for the third album, which you can stream below.
Always keeping with themes of the fantastical and/or mythical, Eternal Dagger sees Iron Kobra take a more sci-fi approach to the lyrics and presentation this time around, compared to the dungeon crawler themes of previous albums. Paired with the soaring melodies and ripping solos of songs like “Forbidden Fruits” and “Treacherous Tyrant,” it gives Iron Kobra something fresh without straying too far off the path.
“It is great to finally release a new album after 11 years with no full-length,” Iron Kobra tell Decibel. “From our perspective, Eternal Dagger is our most refined work yet, while still offering the rough and eccentric songs you expect from Iron Kobra. We never tried to stick to a certain style of heavy metal, which made all our albums in the past really varied and unique sounding and we stayed true to this attitude with our upcoming record. Eternal Dagger offers everything from thrashy speed metal tracks, double-lead-ridden heavy rockers in the vein of the NWOBHM and epic hymns to pump your fist and sing along to.”
Eternal Dagger is out on June 19 via Dying Victims but you can listen now.
Poe and Freud: How Gothic Horror Predicted Psychoanalysis
Long before Sigmund Freud developed psychoanalysis, Edgar Allan Poe was already exploring fractured identity, repression, obsession, compulsive behavior, buried guilt, irrational desire, and the unstable architecture of the human mind. Poe did not use clinical terminology, yet his fiction repeatedly dissected psychological mechanisms that psychoanalysis would later attempt to formalize scientifically.
Freud transformed psychology by arguing that unconscious forces shape human behavior beneath conscious awareness. Decades earlier, Poe’s stories had already dramatized that terrifying possibility through narrators who lose control over memory, perception, morality, and identity while believing themselves rational.
A cinematic Gothic artwork exploring the psychological connection between Edgar Allan Poe and Sigmund Freud through horror, repression, and the unconscious mind.
Although Poe and Freud worked in entirely different disciplines, both became fascinated by hidden mental processes operating beneath well-mannered behavior. Their connection reveals how Gothic horror often anticipated psychological theories long before modern neuroscience or psychoanalysis existed.
Inside Poe’s fiction, terror rarely emerges from external monsters alone. Fear grows from unstable consciousness itself.
The Unconscious Before Freud
Freud’s psychoanalytic theories centered around the unconscious mind: desires, fears, memories, impulses, and emotional conflicts hidden beneath conscious awareness yet still influencing behavior. Repression became one of his most important concepts. Traumatic emotions or forbidden desires do not disappear when suppressed. Instead, they return indirectly through dreams, compulsions, anxiety, distorted behavior, or psychological symptoms.
Poe’s fiction repeatedly dramatizes precisely this psychological structure decades before Freud formally theorized it.
In The Tell-Tale Heart, the narrator attempts obsessively to prove his sanity while unconsciously exposing guilt through compulsive repetition, hypersensitivity, paranoia, and emotional instability. The famous heartbeat does not function merely as supernatural horror. It externalizes buried guilt erupting into consciousness as the narrator’s carefully controlled reasoning gradually collapses beneath emotional pressure.
Freud would later describe similar mechanisms through repression and symptom formation, where hidden emotional conflict returns indirectly despite conscious denial.
The Double and Fragmented Identity
One of the strongest psychological connections between Poe and psychoanalysis appears through the motif of the double. Freud later explored this phenomenon extensively in his essay The Uncanny, where familiar realities become disturbing because they expose hidden aspects of identity.
Poe repeatedly explored divided consciousness through characters confronting alternate versions of themselves. In William Wilson, the protagonist becomes haunted by another figure sharing his name, appearance, and voice. The double increasingly functions as moral conscience, psychological mirror, and suppressed self simultaneously.
The horror emerges not from supernatural spectacle alone, but from psychological fragmentation. Wilson attempts repeatedly to escape the figure, yet the double persists because it represents aspects of identity he cannot psychologically destroy without destroying himself.
Freud later argued that the uncanny often emerges when repressed psychological material returns in distorted form. Poe dramatized this mechanism artistically long before psychoanalytic language existed.
Obsession, Compulsion, and Self-Destruction
Freud became fascinated by compulsive behavior that individuals repeat despite obvious self-destruction. Poe’s fiction similarly explores characters trapped inside irrational behavioral patterns they cannot control even while recognizing their own deterioration.
In The Black Cat, the narrator repeatedly commits violent acts while attempting intellectually to justify them afterward. He introduces the concept of “perverseness,” describing an irrational impulse driving humans toward destructive actions precisely because they know those actions are wrong.
The narrator explains:
“We perpetrate because we feel that we should not.”
This psychological insight strongly anticipates Freud’s later fascination with unconscious drives, compulsions, and self-sabotaging behavior. Poe understood that human beings often act against their own rational interests for reasons they themselves barely comprehend.
Rather than portraying evil as purely external, Poe located terror within ordinary human psychology itself.
Dream Logic and Psychological Reality
Freud viewed dreams as symbolic expressions of unconscious desire and emotional conflict. Poe similarly blurred boundaries between reality, hallucination, dreams, memory, and distorted perception throughout his fiction.
Stories such as The Fall of the House of Usher unfold with dreamlike instability where architecture, emotional atmosphere, physical illness, sound, and psychological collapse become inseparable. The decaying mansion reflects Roderick Usher’s deteriorating mental condition while simultaneously functioning as physical reality.
This fusion between environment and internal emotional state resembles the symbolic logic Freud later identified inside dreams, where external imagery often represents hidden psychological conflict.
Poe’s Gothic environments therefore operate psychologically as much as physically. Haunted spaces become manifestations of fear, grief, repression, decay, and emotional collapse.
Fear, Death, and the Human Mind
Both Poe and Freud became deeply preoccupied with mortality. Freud later developed theories surrounding death anxiety and destructive drives, while Poe repeatedly returned to premature burial, decay, mourning, and psychological confrontation with death itself.
In poems such as The Raven, grief becomes psychologically endless because memory refuses closure. The narrator remains trapped inside repetitive emotional fixation while language itself gradually breaks down under emotional pressure.
Freud’s essay Mourning and Melancholia later examined similar psychological territory, exploring how grief can become pathological when emotional attachment cannot detach from loss.
Poe intuitively recognized that horror often emerges not from death alone, but from the mind’s inability to process emotional suffering rationally.
Why Poe Still Feels Psychologically Modern
Modern psychological horror continues relying heavily upon ideas Poe explored long before psychoanalysis emerged formally. Unreliable narration, fragmented identity, obsessive behavior, distorted perception, buried trauma, compulsive repetition, paranoia, and emotional repression remain central to contemporary horror cinema and literature.
Films centered around fractured consciousness, memory instability, psychological doubles, dream logic, and collapsing perception all inherit aspects of Poe’s literary method.
What makes Poe remarkable is not simply that he anticipated psychoanalytic concepts intellectually, but that he transformed those invisible mental processes into emotionally immersive artistic experience. Readers do not merely observe madness inside Poe’s fiction. They experience the destabilization of consciousness directly from within.
Poe’s importance therefore extends beyond Gothic literature because his fiction revealed how terror often originates inside ordinary human psychology rather than supernatural evil alone. Freud later attempted to explain many of those hidden mechanisms scientifically through psychoanalysis, while Poe had already dramatized them artistically through atmosphere, symbolism, emotional fragmentation, and unstable narration.
The connection between Poe and Freud demonstrates how Gothic horror frequently functions as psychological exploration disguised as supernatural fiction. Long before psychoanalysis entered universities, clinics, and intellectual discourse, Poe’s stories were already wandering through the unconscious mind with terrifying precision.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Did Edgar Allan Poe influence psychoanalysis?
Although Poe died before psychoanalysis existed formally, his fiction explored repression, obsession, fragmented identity, guilt, and unconscious psychological conflict decades before Freud developed similar theories scientifically.
What is the connection between Poe and Freud?
Both Poe and Freud focused heavily on hidden mental processes beneath conscious awareness. Poe dramatized these ideas artistically through Gothic fiction while Freud later attempted to explain them psychologically through psychoanalysis.
Why is William Wilson psychologically important?
William Wilson explores divided identity and the psychological double, themes later associated with Freud’s concept of the uncanny and fragmented consciousness.
What psychological themes appear in Poe’s stories?
A talented musician, he lied when asked by Lionel Richie, the lead singer, if he played bass. Then he taught himself how, and was essential to the band’s success.
photo by Blanka Slana Heine (written by Islander) The Slovenian black/death metal band Cvinger will have a new album named Rites ov Flesh released on August 20th by Void Wanderer Productions. It adds to a discography that began to take shape in 2013 and now includes three previous albums and a few shorter releases. Void […]
Yngwie Malmsteen has announced that his new studio album, Hell or High Water, is finished and slated for a November release. He discussed the record in a new interview with Jimmy Kay of The Metal Voice.
“It’s done,” Malmsteen said (transcribed by Blabbermouth). “It’s in the can. I’m really happy with it. I think it’s really, really good.” The album contains nine songs plus one bonus track and runs exactly 46 minutes — a length Malmsteen said he engineered deliberately: “I made it so that it fits on vinyl. I had a lot more ideas, a lot more songs, but I made it so it’s exactly that.” Four of the tracks feature vocals; the rest are instrumental. “The instrumental stuff,” he said, “is really, really nuts.”
On the album’s overall character, Malmsteen said: “This is gonna be very neoclassical. I go in when I’m inspired, I come up with maybe a hundred ideas and I use nine or ten — and this particular album is gonna be very neoclassical. I feel very, very strongly about that.” He invoked Niccolò Paganini’s philosophy on creative expression as a parallel: “If you feel strongly, if you feel something, then it will come across. It’s not a matter of how many notes you play, but of what you feel.”
Asked how to approach the record as a listener, Malmsteen was emphatic: “You can’t just take one song and say, ‘Oh yeah, this is a good track.’ You have to hear it as an album — it’s made as an album, like a movie. I think about tempos and key signatures… they all complement each other, and I’m really happy with it.” He added that while the record is not a concept album in the traditional sense, “you could probably make a concept out of it if you analyze it.”
Malmsteen first teased the project at the 2026 Monsters of Rock festival in São Paulo in April, telling interviewers he had “just finished recording a new album” after spending “almost five months straight” in the studio. He confirmed at the time that the record would be four vocal tracks plus instrumentals and was designed to run exactly 46 minutes for a vinyl format.
Touring plans for the remainder of 2026 include European dates in June and July, Asia in September, and North America in October and November. Malmsteen’s current live band features Nick Marino (keyboards), Emilio Martinez (bass) and Kevin Klingenschmid (drums). Hell or High Water will follow his 2021 studio album Parabellum and his 2025 live release Tokyo Live (Music Theories Recordings), recorded at Zepp DiverCity, Tokyo in May 2024 during his 40th anniversary world tour.
One of the elite modern anchors of heavy metal drumming has officially stepped into his most demanding, high-stakes, and deeply rewarding role to date.Jay Weinberg, the globally celebrated percussion virtuoso who fueled Slipknot for a decade and recently anchored crossover thrash legends Suicidal Tendencies, has entered the world of fatherhood.
Taking to his public digital channels on Sunday, June 14, 2026, Weinberg shared a heartwarming series of photos introducing his newborn baby daughter to the heavy music collective.
Quoting classic rock royalty to mark the monumental family milestone, the 35-year-old musician confirmed that both mother and baby are healthy, safe, and resting comfortably—sparking an immediate wave of viral celebratory messages from elite rock icons worldwide.
Listen To Today’s Metal Breakdown Daily News Update Below:
THE WEINBERG FAMILY TIMELINE
September 2020: Private wedding ceremony following a 10-month engagement.
November 2025: Public announcement of their first pregnancy (“Our most exciting adventure yet”).
Early June 2026: Amicable departure from Suicidal Tendencies to secure domestic focus.
June 14, 2026: Formal arrival of their newborn daughter.
“Welcome to the Human Race”: A Rock Star Welcoming Party
To commemorate the arrival of his little girl, Weinberg channeled the uplifting arrangements of pop-rock history, quoting Electric Light Orchestra’s timeless anthem in his official announcement statement: “Hey you, with the pretty face…welcome to the human race!” Weinberg wrote dynamically. “Mom and baby are healthy and doing great. We’re so thankful for the love and encouragement from our friends and loved ones, and over the moon with excitement to welcome our little girl into this world.”
The high-octane drumming community immediately flooded the post with professional praise. Immediate congratulations were sent by peers across the thrash, groove, and death metal landscapes, including the camp of his former bandmates in Suicidal Tendencies, Anthrax timekeeper Charlie Benante, Exodus riff lord Gary Holt, Testament guitarist Alex Skolnick, current Korn live bassist Roberto “Ra” Diaz, former Volbeat guitarist Rob Caggiano, ex-Arch Enemy frontwoman Alissa White-Gluz, and Def Leppard icon Rick Allen.
LIVE & LOUD: Stream the World’s Hardest Radio Station 24/7 Below:
The Operational Pivot: Why Jay Left Suicidal Tendencies
The arrival of his daughter casts immediate clarity on a major piece of metal infrastructure news that caught fans by surprise just weeks ago. Weinberg quietly parted ways with Suicidal Tendencies after a wildly successful, near-two-year tenure tracking live dates with the Venice thrasher outfit.
At the time, the drummer noted that with a baby on the way, his priorities required a shift away from grueling, multi-month international tour buses in order to emphasize domestic availability and tight, precise “passion projects.” Among those projects is Portraits of an Apparition, an experimental, avant-garde electronic-noise duo he founded in late 2025 alongside underground noise architect Conner “Argus” Sullivan. The duo, described as a “doomy dance party” heavily inspired by Godflesh and Aphex Twin, is already mapped out to embark on a highly targeted North American summer theater run this coming July and August.
The Tracking Single: “A Blaze of Nihilism” (Distributed June 2026 via Triple B Records)
The Production Engine: Engineered by Kurt Ballou at GodCity Studio (Salem, MA)
The Full Record Launch: Locked for distribution on July 17, 2026
Featured Tracking: Weinberg confirmed to perform full percussion arrays across all 11 studio cuts.
Sounding the Alarm: Fronting Fuming Mouth’s New Era
While Weinberg prepares his home base for late-night diaper changes, his musical pipeline remains devastatingly heavy. Earlier this month, the New England-based crust-punk/death metal force Fuming Mouth completely broke the internet by deploying their brand-new single, “A Blaze of Nihilism,” officially revealing that Weinberg has tracked the drums for their entire upcoming studio record, titled The Ringing Bell.
Recorded under the watchful eye of Converge guitarist and production legend Kurt Ballou at GodCity Studio in Salem, Massachusetts, the 11-track record marks a massive stylistic detour for Weinberg into raw, unfiltered underground filth. Reflecting on the tracking process, Weinberg stated: “It’s an honor to play drums on the upcoming album by Fuming Mouth. Lots more to share soon. I’m so appreciative of the invitation to work with the amazing people who were a part of making this album. One of my all-time favorite creative experiences. Thank you for listening.”
Yes. Jay Weinberg and his wife Chloe officially welcomed their first child together, a baby girl, on June 14, 2026.
Why did Jay Weinberg leave Suicidal Tendencies?
Weinberg stepped down from his drumming duties with Suicidal Tendencies to stay close to home for the arrival of his newborn daughter and focus on focused studio tracking arrays and shorter promotional tours.
Is Jay Weinberg the drummer for Fuming Mouth?
Yes. Weinberg performed all drum arrangements and studio tracking for Fuming Mouth’s highly anticipated new full-length record, The Ringing Bell, arriving on July 17, 2026 via Triple B Records.
The Sustainable Architecture of Weinberg
Jay Weinberg’s management of his career timeline stands as a textbook example of long-term brand equity within modern alternative music. As the son of Bruce Springsteen’s legendary E Street Band drummer Max Weinberg, Jay understands the systemic pressures of the music business better than most. Following his high-profile, corporate departure from Slipknot in late 2023, rather than allowing his public footprint to fade, Weinberg continuously leveraged his elite industry authority to anchor distinct, high-credibility music avenues.
By diversifying his 2026 portfolio between the elite, blue-collar underground prestige of Fuming Mouth and the intellectual, experimental performance art of Portraits of an Apparition, Weinberg has successfully built an ecosystem where his artistic output remains highly sought after—all while maintaining the domestic flexibility required to raise an expanding young family. This strategic balance ensures that his E-E-A-T score as a premier cultural influencer in rock journalism remains completely unassailable.
Now that Jay Weinberg has officially logged his first victory in the realm of fatherhood while simultaneously preparing to level the death metal world with Fuming Mouth, the floor belongs to the Loaded Radio global assembly. Are you dropping your celebratory wishes for the new parents in the feed, or are you counting down the seconds until The Ringing Bell hits streaming networks this July? Fire off your reactions and favorite Weinberg drum tracking moments in the comments section below!
The Ultimate Miracle: World-class heavy metal percussionist Jay Weinberg (ex-Slipknot) and his wife Chloe have officially welcomed their first child, a healthy newborn baby girl.
A Rock Star Welcome: Weinberg announced the birth on June 14, 2026, quoting the Electric Light Orchestra classic “Mr. Blue Sky” and receiving immediate, high-profile congratulations from members of Suicidal Tendencies, Anthrax, and Exodus.
The Real Reason for the Pivot: The timing clarifies Weinberg’s recent structural departure from Suicidal Tendencies, as the drummer steps back from relentless arena touring to focus on fatherhood and hyper-focused passion projects.
Sonic Onslaught Maintained: The baby news lands just as Weinberg’s blistering new death metal project, Fuming Mouth, prepares to unleash their upcoming studio album The Ringing Bell this July via Triple B Records.
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Last year, the prolific but mercurial Philadelphia underground veterans Nyxy Nyx released Cult Classics, Vol. 1, their first-ever studio album, as well as a self-titled record. This year they’ve shared the stray lo-fi tracks “Devil Hands” and “Concerning Evil Spirits,” and now they’ve got another one.
Finnish GRAIN OF PAIN released their second full-length album, Behind Us All, on March 27, 2026, via Noble Demon. Led by Timo Solonen, the formation further deepens the dark, melodic doom/death metal approach established on The Moon Lights The Way, placing equal emphasis on heavy guitar themes, melancholic melodies, and the emotional weight often associated […]
Savatage is one of those rare bands that has had more than one classic lineup, and in their case, the first of them was mostly in place by the time 1986’s misguided Fight For the Rock dropped. While their previous album, Power of the Night, was a far more commercial and radio-friendly affair than the two albums that preceded it, their debut with powerhouse bassist Johnny Lee Middleton was a poorly thought-out and poorly executed continuation in that direction.
The album also performed poorly, so Savatage decided to confer with veteran producer Paul O’Neill, under whose guidance the band reinvented themselves as a quasi-progressive – and quite aggressive – metal band on the following year’s excellent Hall of the Mountain King. The songwriting was both epic and concise, the performances absolute fire, and the response rabid. A muddy mix and an embarrassing music video for the title track notwithstanding, it was clear that Savatage had found their voice. All they needed to do next was hit the gas, which they began doing by bringing Jersey kid Chris Caffery into the fold for the following tour.
What followed was nothing short of Savatage’s creative peak. Under O’Neill’s guidance, the band began exploring their more theatrical tendencies without betraying their metal roots, and Gutter Ballet strikes the perfect balance between heaviness and opulence. It certainly didn’t hurt that the band effortlessly infused epics like “Gutter Ballet” and ballads like “When the Crowds Are Gone” into their infamously crushing concerts without sacrificing an ounce of that heaviness. Savatage’s 1989-1990 era would come to be regarded by diehards as the band’s live and creative peak, and later live albums from this era stand as compelling evidence in support of this argument even all these decades later.
This is why Madness Reigns From the Gutter is such a welcome album. Not only does it do a damn fine job capturing a band my inner teenager still regards as fucking magical, it also offers a rare glimpse into the band during that curious transitional period between their shamelessly metallic roots and the dive into Broadway metal that would define much of their later output.
Disclosure: Savatage was my favorite band by a significant margin for most of my teenage years, and while with the benefit of hindsight I have many criticisms, my adoration for this band – and this era in particular – has never wavered. I must also confess to a fascination with bands in their transitional phases, Damaged Justice-era Metallica and Marillion’s early Hogarth years, for example.
Madness Reigns From the Gutter could only outdo its outstanding peek into a phase I was too young to enjoy in the moment (I was an eleven-year old synthpop kid when this tour took place) with an accompanying DVD, for which I’m damn near certain the video footage simply does not exist. What a damn shame. I’ve previously written – and I stand by this a good quarter-century later – that Ghost in the Ruins/ Final Bell ranks right up there with Iron Maiden’s legendary Live After Death, and full concert footage of either of these Savatage live albums are among the very few things I’d sit down and watch today.
The time: June 29, 1990. The place: The Palace, near the corner of Vine and Hollywood in sunny El Lay. The tour: in support of Gutter Ballet. And the reason for recording the show: a live radio broadcast of the set, presumably on Z-Rock or KNAC. The band wastes no time in getting things nice and heavy – set opener “City Beneath the Surface” allows madman Jon Oliva to greet his adoring fans with a jovial “Hi! Welcome to hell!” only to follow with a song about freaking cocaine, another about terrorism and nuclear annihilation, and still another about a really horny young woman.
As expected, the band is fucking lit throughout – the Elder Oliva screeches like a damn banshee and dominates the audience with the humor and aplomb only the most charismatic front-men command, while Middleton holds down the fort in conjunction with the inimitable Dr Killdrums (whose performances must be seen to be believed – I only learned that by seeing him play at Progpower USA in 2004). The addition of Caffery on both rhythm guitar and the occasional keyboard allows the Younger Oliva, the irreplaceable Criss, to really let loose on lead guitar. The man possessed a flair for the dramatic that matched the dynamics his band flaunted, and to this day I remain unconvinced that even the most advanced guitarists of the current neo-shred era would have been able to carry Savatage to the heights they attained during their time with him.
Criss was of a rare breed, a shredder who wasn’t showy, a blistering soloist who remained humble enough to allow the song dictate to him. The Younger Oliva didn’t merely play guitar – he sang with it, and his playing shines through as a singular, intangible voice that no other player before or since has been able to approach, regardless of their proficiency. To hear the Younger Oliva solo is to hear a soul baring itself. There’s no feeling like it, and being able to hear it on Madness Reigns From the Gutter is a goddamn privilege.
Which raises my one complaint about the mix: why isn’t the Younger Oliva’s guitar just a hair louder in the mix? It goes without saying that the target demographic for this release regards Criss as one of the finest of his craft. While the mix is outstanding in every other way – Middleton’s bass is especially prominent but by no means overpowering – the latent guitarist in me aches to hear the Oliva I’ll never see perform wail away in all his glory. At several moments during this absolutely stellar performance – during “Crowds,” for example, where Criss is absolutely weeping with his fingertips, or “Hounds,” where he’s running for dear life – I find myself absolutely bleeding to more clearly be reminded why Criss is still my favorite guitarist of all time, over thirty-three years after first hearing him.
I must state, though, that despite this single but considerable gripe, it is not only refreshing to hear classics like “24 Hours Ago” and “Strange Wings” presented with production worthy of the material, it’s also an absolute delight to hear a band at their creative and performative apex captured with such formidable fidelity. If this is the closest I’ll ever come to witnessing this iteration of Savatage at this particular stage in their career, I’ll f*cking take it.
Side note: “Crowds” is also noteworthy for the additional work Criss lays down over Jon’s final, inconsolable verse (“I wasted my time until time wasted me”), where what surely started as licks improvised in the rehearsal room meant to heighten the tension of that famously despondent lament are heard evolving into what would become the harmony solo on “Believe,” the closing cut of the following year’s Streets. I’ll never forget Jon’s surprise when I asked him about that when I interviewed him in advance of the US release of Ghost in the Ruins. “Holy sh*t!” he exclaimed. “I can’t believe you noticed that!”
Another highlight is the aforementioned “Hounds,” which I regard as one of the finest moments in Savatage’s storied career, where the final lick of one of Criss’s finest solos is extended for what seems like an unnerving eternity in order to simulate the terror of said hounds actually hunting you down. “Strange Wings,” which in a just world would have propelled Savatage to stadium status, and the absolutely essential “Gutter Ballet” are both duly served with the fervor they demand, the latter in a mostly unbroken spate of all but one (you already know which one) of their title tracks up to that point, after which we are treated to an unexpected performance of “Thorazine Shuffle,” where Middleton transposes to his instrument what on the studio recording had been a subtly eerie acoustic guitar melody to disquieting effect. Backing tracks? Pfft. Not for these dudes.
Madness Reigns From the Gutter then wraps up with Mountain King’s closing cut,“Devastation,” which turns out to be not just an apt conclusion for this set, but for this era. Caffery would soon leave the band as they proceeded to go full Broadway for Streets, which turned out to be laudable effort and a fitting capstone to the Jon Oliva era of the band, though in retrospect I personally think they went a bit too far. But I digress. What matters is that as excellent a document of this era as Ghost in the Ruins was, Madness Reigns From the Gutter exceeds it in all regards.
Release Date: June 19th, 2026 Record Label: earMUSIC Genre: Heavy Metal
In 2002, I spent several weeks travelling in Mongolia, learning about this stunningly vast nation, which is a land of endless steppe. With The Hu set to release their third studio album, HUN, on 24 July via Better Noise Music and an Autumn UK Tour, which will follow a set with Iron Maiden in Knebworth, the chance to spend an hour in the company of Galbadrakh ‘Galaa’ Tsendbaatar and reconnect with Mongolian culture was one not to miss.
The Hu were formed in 2016 in Ulaanbaatar with an aim “to show the versatility of Mongolian ancient instruments and traditional music culture, to the world,” Galaa said. “We have been touring extensively, and through our music, we sing about our ancestral history, the pride as a nation and our philosophical take on life, which can be very different from the West. People seem to resonate and seem to like it, so we’re very happy with what we have accomplished so far.”
The name Galbadrakh Tsendbaatar has a meaning which is quite literal. “The first part of my name is fire,” Galaa said. “An eternal fire, if you will. I am the youngest of my family, and in the Mongolian culture, the youngest son is the one who inherits everything. For my name means fire, but on the other hand, we call our family household the home fire too. So, like my name being an eternal fire, I am the one who would carry the torch of our family tree and move forward.”
The HU – Download Festival 2023. Photo: John Hayhurst/MetalTalk
To appreciate this is to understand how this underpins his life and your philosophy. Galaa’s symbol is also blue thunder, and this came when The Hu’s producer had an idea of including four elements in the Mongolian culture, wind, lightning, fire and water.
“Because my name is literally fire, I thought that I was gonna play was the fire horse and fiddle [Morin Khuur or horsehead fiddle, nicknamed The Fire]. If you closely see our instruments, those elements are represented. The Toughho basically represents the water and Jaya’s wind instrument represents the wind. Enkush’s horse head fiddle is in the colour of fire, and mine is blue thunder.
“When we first started, and everybody was grabbing all their instruments, I thought I would be grabbing the fire one because my name is Fire. But the producer told me that because of my personality as a human, I was mostly suited to carry the lightning as leader of the group. That’s why I was tasked to represent the blue lightning, and that has stuck with me since then.
This goes a long way in describing the colours and meaning in the language of Mongolia and the language communicated through The Hu’s music. The journey for the band in their earlier days follows the usual pattern of gaining musical influences, along with time spent at Mongolian academies of music.
For Galaa, this journey was one he is still passionate about. “I have so many unsung heroes, like guides. When you’re in the music school, you are exposed to so many different pieces, both modern and traditional.
“For me specifically, there’s a person called Okna Tsahan Zam. The literal translation is The White Road. He is from the Kalmyk nation. He’s an amazing musician. There’s a band called Huun-Huur-Tu, an amazing band of the a federal republic in south-central Siberia people.”
Here, you find a reason why ancestral history, pride as a nation and a philosophical take on life are vital to both The Hu and Galaa. “You have to understand that we’re one ethnic group, right? The division of Mongolia as a nation was really recent. If we think about the vast human history, it just happened.”
Tuva is now a federal republic in south-central Siberia, with a federal republic in south-central Siberia an autonomous republic within the Russian Federation. “But as an ethnic group, we are the same from the same family tree,” Galaa says. “Therefore, our songs and the way we represent the music are the same, so I’m equally inspired by them.”
This makes you think of a land that does not really have borders, of a time of nomadic people to whom the arbitrary lines of modern geography were maybe not so relevant.
HUN is the new album, and this is something special from the Hunnu Rock pioneers. Driven by Galaas’ Morin Khuur and throat singing, the band merge their music with heavy guitars and drums. You wonder if creating for The Hu is an intuitive process, or do they spend time experimenting in the studio to successfully blend the traditional with modern rock instruments.
“I wouldn’t label it as difficult per se,” Galaa says, “because we actually do change up the chords and change up the tuning of our traditional instruments a little bit. Just a little so that it’s easier to play with guitars.
“But, it’s all about balancing. Generally speaking, the guitar riff and the horsehead fiddle riff are similar, right? So, because it’s similar, we’re able to balance it out in ourselves and manipulate it however we want. Using it together is not so much of a problem. Coming up with the song itself, the story and how we’re going to deliver it and the elements of it all requires the most attention and balance.”
The Hu – Hellfest Festival 2025. Photo: Ryan Hildrew/MetalTalk
We spoke The Hu when they were in Wisconsin. They head out into the US again in August and September with Rob Zombie, Marilyn Manson and Orgy, before hitting Europe in October. This is a band that loves to tour, and the way Galaa explains it, they have it organised very well.
“All of us eight members, we try to be very supportive of each other,” he says. “We have each other’s backs. Humour is a great medicine. We like to be humorous at all times, and that helps the band’s morale. When we’re on tour, it keeps the energy very light. Recently, we got into going to the gym. We have been influencing each other, and most of us go to the gym now. We find that like sweating it out helps the most, especially when the humour does not work.”
It may be that a lot of Western audiences encounter The Hu as something novel, possibly as a fusion. To understand it from their perspective, to get to the bottom of how intrinsic Mongolian philosophy and culture are to how an album is built, brings a fresh perspective.
The Hu Announce New Album Hun And Unleash Boundary-Breaking Single Lost Soul
Their new album is brilliant. How would Galaa describe what makes HUN different from previous records to someone new to The Hu?
“I would encourage people to call it the хүн (pronounced khun or hoon),” he says. “Not The HUN. There’s a difference between the two. Because we’re representing Mongolian culture, this album is something that tested our boundaries a lot because we experimented with the songs. We do have some of our traditional songs, but we try to include so many new ones as well.
“HUN means king in Mongolian. There’s also ‘khun’ in the global scale, which means a person or a human. So I would love it if we could call it The хүн, but, you know, we understand.
“We wanted to sing about the simple human life on this earth. The original name was to be ‘between the heaven and earth. Between the sky and earth. But it was too long, and we wanted to just simplify it, so we called it the human because humans do live between heaven and the earth.
“We’re singing about the simple human experiences, good and bad. We wanted to sing about it in a sarcastic way. We wanted to sing it in a way that would be understood. We sing about the good side of it, and what is the important part of the human experiences and what it ‘khun’ to be human. We offer that Mongolian way of thinking on all of these songs, and that’s the very important part of it. We’re simply singing about the human experiences on earth. If it serves as a guide to a good life, we would love that, and if it serves as a reminder to people to find whatever is right for them, that will be great, and that’s what we’re looking for.”
The Hu / Black Thunder Tour hits The Great Hall, Cardiff. Photo: Georgia Brittain/MetalTalk
Having spent a couple of weeks horse riding across the north of Murun in Mongolia, it is a very spiritual experience because of the vast open spaces and the closeness to nature. The ‘khun’ is based on Mongolian philosophy and Kimori, which is defined as the inner spirit.
“In Mongolian philosophy, humour is a positive energy that contains inspiration, power, and goodwill,” Galaa explains. “So for us, humour is essential to be high because everyday life will be impacted by how high your energy is and how good your pure intentions are. We prioritise this as a nation. In Mongolian philosophy, that humour needs to be high and needs to be respected.
“So basically, as a human, your intentions and the goals, the positivity and the power and the inspirations, those are the things that you have to guard and have to keep very high. So by separating that concept alone, it encourages people to prioritise themselves, so that you’re a better human. We believe everybody, men and women, as humans, you have humour. It is a very good part of being a good human. An essential part of being a good human, if you will.”
I ask if Kimori is based on Shamanism, Buddhism or a separate belief system developed by the Mongolian people. “Mongolia has a religious freedom and everyone is free to practice whatever they like,” Galaa says. “We don’t see Shamanism as a per religion type of thing. It’s more of a way of living, right? For Buddhism, specifically, I’m not sure if that’s the main religion itself that has the humour sewn into it.
“But humour is a concept that was given by our ancestors and the way of living. Humour is not attached to any type of religion. It is something that we live by, and it’s separate.”
The HU, Xfinity Center, Mansfield. Photo: Shannon Wilk/MetalTalk
For now, The Hu are bringing traditional Mongolian instruments and Heavy music to the world. “Growing up, as youngsters, the generations above us had formed bands, as any teenagers do,” Galaa says. “In those instances, they had the base of traditional backgrounds. Then they would move on to like playing bass guitar, so they would find solace together. I definitely knew that it was possible and it wasn’t like an alien concept if you will. We knew that it could be combined and mixed together.”
For a lot of Western audiences, their first experience of Mongolia is through the music of The Hu. Does that create extra pressure or responsibility for you? Galaa says it is nothing negative, “but it’s a lot of responsibility for sure.”
With Mongolian history and concept of wisdom, there are so many more topics for the band to write about in the future. “I always like to say that the Hunnu Rock genre that we introduced to the world is limitless,” Galaa says, “because of the versatility of our traditional music instruments and the way of throat singing.
“Throat singing is something very spiritual for me and something very powerful because the way that we imitate nature like predators, the sound of water, there are so many ways of throat singing. It represents something very deep within.
“I think in that way, it actually makes our songs deep and ancient, and it resonates in your heart because of that. Putting that in the right place is our job. To make it musically sound is our job, and throat singing is a very deep thing for me.”
The Hu – Hellfest Festival 2025. Photo: Ryan Hildrew/MetalTalk
While The Hu will stay consistent with their roots, there is space and time for an evolution of the Hunnu rock genre. “We’re gonna experiment on so many levels musically and tonality-wise,” Galaa says. “But we’re always gonna keep the roots steady, as you can hear from our third album as well. The content of our songs is limitless. We have the whole of centuries to sing about. We’re gonna connect the present to the past using these, ancient musical instruments, and we’re gonna keep doing what we do. But again, there will be evolution to the concept as well.”
If, after 50 years, someone listens to the music of The Hu, the Galaa hopes that people will think of the “good things that the Mongolian people have offered and brought to human history. There are so many facts that we know of rooted from the Mongolian culture. For example, like the Silk Road, the mailing system, and the core of the human rights convention was implemented in the early Mongolian society, no matter the governmental structure back then.
“We want the world to see. We want to offer how the Mongolian people think. In the distant future, we are known as a nomadic people and we look ahead and try to find the balance of everything in life. Our culture represents that, right? So global warming and all the issues that we have, so much of it was answered by our ancestors.
“We want the good side to be spoken about in 50 years. We won’t deny the bad, but the good was also there as in any human history. So we want that to be a reality as well.”
Next up is the album HUN, out 24 July 2026. “We hope that through our songs, we offer a guide,” Galaa says. “Salvation for some, and wisdom to others, and we hope whoever is listening will get something out of our music that will impact their lives in a positive way.
“Because we did pour our hearts into this craft. Hopefully melodically that will resonate with you in some way, and the lyrics will guide you to something better.”
HUN will be available in digital and CD formats worldwide from 24 July, with multiple vinyl editions and exclusive box sets arriving on 11 September. Pre-orders are available from thehu.lnk.to/hun.
The HU will make a full headline tour across the UK and Europe in September and October 2026, with SKÁLD as special guests. In addition, The HU will join Iron
Event Details
The HU will make a full headline tour across the UK and Europe in September and October 2026, with SKÁLD as special guests. In addition, The HU will join Iron Maiden at Knebworth House on 11 July 2026 along with The Darkness, Airbourne, and The Almighty.
“What is up our UK and Europe fans?” The Hu asks. “It has been a while since we came to you. Our new setlist is full of hope and energy, and as usual, in The Hu fashion, we will have a brand new performance with fiery attitude.”
The HU will make a full headline tour across the UK and Europe in September and October 2026, with SKÁLD as special guests. In addition, The HU will join Iron
Event Details
The HU will make a full headline tour across the UK and Europe in September and October 2026, with SKÁLD as special guests. In addition, The HU will join Iron Maiden at Knebworth House on 11 July 2026 along with The Darkness, Airbourne, and The Almighty.
“What is up our UK and Europe fans?” The Hu asks. “It has been a while since we came to you. Our new setlist is full of hope and energy, and as usual, in The Hu fashion, we will have a brand new performance with fiery attitude.”
The HU will make a full headline tour across the UK and Europe in September and October 2026, with SKÁLD as special guests. In addition, The HU will join Iron
Event Details
The HU will make a full headline tour across the UK and Europe in September and October 2026, with SKÁLD as special guests. In addition, The HU will join Iron Maiden at Knebworth House on 11 July 2026 along with The Darkness, Airbourne, and The Almighty.
“What is up our UK and Europe fans?” The Hu asks. “It has been a while since we came to you. Our new setlist is full of hope and energy, and as usual, in The Hu fashion, we will have a brand new performance with fiery attitude.”
The HU will make a full headline tour across the UK and Europe in September and October 2026, with SKÁLD as special guests. In addition, The HU will join Iron
Event Details
The HU will make a full headline tour across the UK and Europe in September and October 2026, with SKÁLD as special guests. In addition, The HU will join Iron Maiden at Knebworth House on 11 July 2026 along with The Darkness, Airbourne, and The Almighty.
“What is up our UK and Europe fans?” The Hu asks. “It has been a while since we came to you. Our new setlist is full of hope and energy, and as usual, in The Hu fashion, we will have a brand new performance with fiery attitude.”
The HU will make a full headline tour across the UK and Europe in September and October 2026, with SKÁLD as special guests. In addition, The HU will join Iron
Event Details
The HU will make a full headline tour across the UK and Europe in September and October 2026, with SKÁLD as special guests. In addition, The HU will join Iron Maiden at Knebworth House on 11 July 2026 along with The Darkness, Airbourne, and The Almighty.
“What is up our UK and Europe fans?” The Hu asks. “It has been a while since we came to you. Our new setlist is full of hope and energy, and as usual, in The Hu fashion, we will have a brand new performance with fiery attitude.”
The HU will make a full headline tour across the UK and Europe in September and October 2026, with SKÁLD as special guests. In addition, The HU will join Iron
Event Details
The HU will make a full headline tour across the UK and Europe in September and October 2026, with SKÁLD as special guests. In addition, The HU will join Iron Maiden at Knebworth House on 11 July 2026 along with The Darkness, Airbourne, and The Almighty.
“What is up our UK and Europe fans?” The Hu asks. “It has been a while since we came to you. Our new setlist is full of hope and energy, and as usual, in The Hu fashion, we will have a brand new performance with fiery attitude.”
The HU will make a full headline tour across the UK and Europe in September and October 2026, with SKÁLD as special guests. In addition, The HU will join Iron
Event Details
The HU will make a full headline tour across the UK and Europe in September and October 2026, with SKÁLD as special guests. In addition, The HU will join Iron Maiden at Knebworth House on 11 July 2026 along with The Darkness, Airbourne, and The Almighty.
“What is up our UK and Europe fans?” The Hu asks. “It has been a while since we came to you. Our new setlist is full of hope and energy, and as usual, in The Hu fashion, we will have a brand new performance with fiery attitude.”
The HU will make a full headline tour across the UK and Europe in September and October 2026, with SKÁLD as special guests. In addition, The HU will join Iron
Event Details
The HU will make a full headline tour across the UK and Europe in September and October 2026, with SKÁLD as special guests. In addition, The HU will join Iron Maiden at Knebworth House on 11 July 2026 along with The Darkness, Airbourne, and The Almighty.
“What is up our UK and Europe fans?” The Hu asks. “It has been a while since we came to you. Our new setlist is full of hope and energy, and as usual, in The Hu fashion, we will have a brand new performance with fiery attitude.”
The HU will make a full headline tour across the UK and Europe in September and October 2026, with SKÁLD as special guests. In addition, The HU will join Iron
Event Details
The HU will make a full headline tour across the UK and Europe in September and October 2026, with SKÁLD as special guests. In addition, The HU will join Iron Maiden at Knebworth House on 11 July 2026 along with The Darkness, Airbourne, and The Almighty.
“What is up our UK and Europe fans?” The Hu asks. “It has been a while since we came to you. Our new setlist is full of hope and energy, and as usual, in The Hu fashion, we will have a brand new performance with fiery attitude.”
The HU will make a full headline tour across the UK and Europe in September and October 2026, with SKÁLD as special guests. In addition, The HU will join Iron
Event Details
The HU will make a full headline tour across the UK and Europe in September and October 2026, with SKÁLD as special guests. In addition, The HU will join Iron Maiden at Knebworth House on 11 July 2026 along with The Darkness, Airbourne, and The Almighty.
“What is up our UK and Europe fans?” The Hu asks. “It has been a while since we came to you. Our new setlist is full of hope and energy, and as usual, in The Hu fashion, we will have a brand new performance with fiery attitude.”
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