Huntsmen played their Mandala of Fear record release show to nobody in person, but to tons of people online. The band is now streaming the whole show in full above, which also features saxophonist Bruce Lamont (Corrections House, Bloodiest).
Grab Mandala of Fear here.
“Dear friends,
On Friday, we learned that Gov. Pritzker issued a shelter-at-home order, effective today (Saturday), in an effort to contain the spread of COVID-19, which was the right thing to do. What this means for Huntsmen is that our live stream make-up set for the OM/Wovenhand show that we planned for tonight has once again been canceled.
But lo! We scrambled, called people, pulled levers, and moved things around, and managed to pre-record our entire live set last night, while we still had mobility to do so. Unfortunately we weren’t able to make it a live stream, but we will be releasing the recorded set tonight at 8pm CT/9pm ET, and hanging out to chat and shoot the shit with y’all while it runs.
You might notice we are smiling a lot when we’re playing (Bruce remarked inscrutably that we’re the happiest metal band he’s known). It’s because once we had set up, in the room where we recorded American Scrap, among just our friends with the world seeming to darken and hold its breath outside, it became clear how much hard earned love and patience we have for each other, how many roads we’ve traveled together, how many connections we’ve made with our listeners, how many strange beasts we have left to track through the unknown together.
And it became clear that this is how we light the path through the black wood. So we let rip and were silly at times and sang a bunch of shit out of tune, but that is what Huntsmen is about, and that’s what we invite you to share with us- this gathering of rebel souls.
When the world is darkening, the temptation to assimilate with the darkness emerges- the survival instinct to close yourself up, hoard resources, look at every stranger as a menace.
Don’t be like everyone else. Be defiant hope. Lend your strength as if it is a fathomless well within you- once you start, you’ll find out that it is. Reach out to your neighbor and care for them, they are just you from another angle.
Special thanks to Barrett Guzaldo for once again recording us (“Sure, I don’t have anything else going on”), Bruce Lamont for pouring sex/sax on our shit, and Shan Khan for the masterful videography.
We love you all.
Chris“
