#50: Voodoo Kungfu (零壹)
There is no other China-based band that features a high diversity of ethnic influences.
Background Info (Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives):
Country of origin: China
Location: Beijing (early); Los Angeles, California, United States (later)
Status: Active
Formed in: 2003
Genre: Folk Metal, Nu Metal, Sludge Metal
Lyrical themes: Politics
Current label: Unsigned/independent
Years active:1998–2003 (as Masturbation), 2003–2012 (as 零壹), 2013-present
Voodoo Kungfu is one of the first folk/folk-inspired metal bands hailing from China that I came across many years ago. Their earlier material was not easy to digest back then (mainly due to spoof-like shrieking), but I have seen how the band’s sound has developed through time. Their latest music draws not only from Han Chinese folk influences (instrumentation, especially in Celestial Burial), but also largely from Mongol and Tibetan chanting traditions, plus the Mongolian morin khuur.
Pretty sick if you’d ask me. Some singles like Saw feature both chanting styles at once. The blending is glorious, with the crushing doom-sludge and nu metal riffs completing the fiery concoction.
Favorite Albums:
- Dark Age (2011)
- Celestial Burial (2019)
Favorite Songs:
- Mongol (Celestial Burial)
- Man of determination (Celestial Burial)
- Sea of Laughter (Celestial Burial)
- Saw (Single, 2019)
- Mongolian Stallion (Single, 2019)
