Huntress
BAND PROFILE
Huntress
WHO IS HUNTRESS?
One thing is for certain, the name Huntress is not one that will soon be forgotten, once your ears have been exposed to the magic. Originally from California, the female-fronted, five-piece heavy metal outfit was birthed from the underground when lead singer Jill Janus met an existing underground band called Professor. The band is relatively new to the scene, as they formed Huntress in 2009 and are still more than active today. In 2010, Huntress' EP, Off With Her Head was released. The tracks of the EP introduced the talent of the band tremendously, showcasing a heavy-hitting, classic sound. A perfect blend of death and thrash metal, the sound is further complimented by strong and memorable vocals. One year later, in 2011, Huntress first single was released, titled "Eight of Swords," a track from the band's unforgettable debut album, Spell Eater. The well-received first album of Huntress was released to the public on April 27th of 2012. It was recorded earlier last year under Napalm Records, a company that has produced numerous successful metal acts, such as DevilDriver, Leaves' Eyes and Xandria.
Vocalist of Huntress, Jill Janus, performing live.
The dark, angelic voice of Huntress, Jill Janus, brings something new to the table. It's a rarity to come across a metal vocalist that has a fluid ability to both sing beautifully and scream furiously (yet well-understood). Janus delivers both styles very well, and could easily be considered one of the strongest female voices in metal today. This blonde-haired warrior did not start off singing heavy metal ballads, but instead developed her singing through the art of opera at a young age. While growing up in New York with three other siblings, Janus' mother noticed that her daughter had a unique voice, and decided to further her training. Janus' voice was recognized as a four-octave soprano range, a gift that led her to perform with New York's Orpheus Theater at age ten, and eventually progressing to tour Europe at age fourteen. She was awarded a vocal scholarship to pursue the study of music theory at the American Music and Dramatic Academy located in New York City. Consistently developing vocally, Janus searched for worthy musicians to collaborate with and to affirm the reality of the Huntress concept. The journey to discovering band mates would prove to be an exhausting one, as Janus would audition a number of musicians over the span of nearly ten years, repeatedly unconvinced that the musical components of Huntress would ever cross her path.
Permanent, current lineup of Huntress.
Finally, in 2009, after her year-long stint with an all female band called Chelsea Girls came to a conclusion, she met the members of Professor, a band hailing from Highland Park, California. After Janus shared her demos with the group of musicians, they decided to give the idea of Huntress a try, and the results of their decision have been musical gold thus far. The musical talent of Huntress is fueled by Blake Meahl (lead guitar), Anthony Crocamo (lead guitar), Ian Walden (bass) and Carl Wierzbicky (drums). Since joining forces, the brutally harmonious members of Huntress have been touring nonstop since the release of their debut album. In 2012, the group toured extensively with metal legend Dragonforce, hitting most major European venues. Also in 2012, Huntress was a guest on the Paganfest America Tour, which featured bands such as Alestorm and Arkona. They finished the year by touring with Canadian metal act 3 Inches of Blood, ripping up the entire West Coast of the United States. At the end of Huntress' busy year, they were actually honored with two nominations for the Loudwire 2012 Music Awards; one nomination was for New Artist of the Year, and the second was for Rock Goddess of the Year.
Members of Huntress doing what they do best - rocking out.
The tour life has yet to fade for this blossoming behemoth of a band, as they have already secured a ton of killer performances for the year of 2013. This year, you'll have several chances to catch the mighty Huntress on tour. In January, the group was confirmed to be a guest of the United Kingdom based Download festival in June, a prestigious event in metal showcasing such legends as Iron Maiden, Mastodon, Rammstein, and Queens of the Stone Age, and many more acts that shouldn't be missed. Huntress will also be performing alongside an unforgettable lineup at this year's Rockstar Mayhem Festival, which will be a metal-lover's dream. The festival is set to hit all key cities of the United States and will be featuring Huntress amongst bands such as Mastodon, Rob Zombie, Machine Head, and Amon Amarth. Don't miss your chance to witness the power of a Huntress performance.
POWERFUL HUNTRESS VIDEOS
"SPELL EATER"
"EIGHT OF SWORDS"
HUNTRESS LINKS
♪ SUPPORT THE BAND: BUY MUSIC AND MERCH HERE ♪