Ulytau ( kk, Ұлытау, ''Ūlytau''), literally meaning "the great mountain", is a popular Turkic neopagan instrumental

folk metal Folk metal is a fusion genre of heavy metal music and traditional folk music that developed in Europe during the 1990s. It is characterised by the widespread use of folk instruments and, to a lesser extent, traditional singing styles (for exampl ...

trio from

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

. Their music combines the sound of the violin and electric guitar with the

dombra The ''dombra'', also known as ''dombyra'' ( kz, домбыра, uz, dombira, ba, думбыра) is a long-necked Kazakh, Uzbek and Bashkir lute and a musical string instrument. The dombyra shares certain characteristics with the komuz a ...

, a traditional two stringed instrument from their country. The band is named after the district of Ulytau in Central Kazakhstan, the mythical birthplace of the nation.

Biography

Ulytau was conceived as a project by producer Kydyrali Bolmanov in 2001 to merge Western and Eastern music with arrangements of classical music from such composers as

Kurmangazy Sagyrbayuly Kurmangazy Sagyrbaev ( kk, Құрманғазы Сағырбайұлы, ''Qūrmanğazy Sağyrbaıūly''; 1823–1896) was a Kazakh composer, instrumentalist (kobyz, dombra), and folk artist. He influenced Kazakh musical culture. He was born in 18 ...

Antonio Vivaldi Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist and impresario of Baroque music. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lifetime was widespread a ...

Niccolò Paganini Niccolò (or Nicolò) Paganini (; 27 October 178227 May 1840) was an Italian violinist and composer. He was the most celebrated violin virtuoso of his time, and left his mark as one of the pillars of modern violin technique. His 24 Caprices f ...

and

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

. They have since toured Germany, England, Scotland, Poland, USA, Turkey, China, Japan and Russia. The band was awarded the "Golden Disc" in 2001 for their song "Aday" that was based on a composition from Kurmangazy of the same name. The song was also featured on the

Rough Guide Rough Guides Ltd is a British travel guide book and reference publisher, which has been owned by APA Publications since November 2017. In addition to publishing guidebooks, the company also provides a tailor-made trips service based on customer ...

compilation to the music of Central Asia.

Discography

*''

Jumyr-Kylysh ''Jumyr-Kylysh'' is the debut (and thus far, only) studio release from the all-instrumental Turkic/ Kazakh folk/pagan metal band Ulytau, which hails from the Ulytau District in Kazakhstan. The album features modern, metal-based interpretations and ...

'' (2006) (In Germany released 2009 as ''Two Warriors'')

Members

Line-up

*Erjan Alimbetov -

Dombra The ''dombra'', also known as ''dombyra'' ( kz, домбыра, uz, dombira, ba, думбыра) is a long-necked Kazakh, Uzbek and Bashkir lute and a musical string instrument. The dombyra shares certain characteristics with the komuz a ...

*Maxim Kichigin - Guitar *Alua Makanova - Violin *Nurgaisha Sadvakasova - Violin (previous)

Session musicians

*Roman Adonin - Keyboards *Oleg Tarnovskiy - Guitar *Serik Sansyzbayev - Bass *Rafael Arslanov - Drums

References

External links

* Folk metal musical groups Kazakhstani musical groups Musical groups established in 2001 {{Kazakhstan-stub