It’s a tribute to the diversity and creativity of the metal genre that a band can still come up with a totally new inspiration for their music. Such a band is Mongol!

Hailing from Edmonton, Alberta, Mongol’s folk metal is inspired by the ancient Mongolian Empire, which was the largest land empire in history, at various times it included China, Korea, Mongolia, Persia (now Iran), Turkestan, and Armenia. It also included parts of Burma, Vietnam, Thailand, and Russia. This Empire increased contacts between people; and enabled the introduction of such innovations as paper, the compass and gunpowder. It is no exaggeration to say the Mongolian Empire helped shape the modern world.

Now, Mongol stand poised to unleash their latest album ‘The Return’, inspired by an ancient Mongolian prophecy of the return of Genghis Khan, Lord of All the People Dwelling in Felt Tents, from his grave. In the album, on seeing the sorry state of the world today, Genghis seeks to remake it as the New World Khanate.

Inspired by Kalmah, Wolfchant, Falconer, Dimmu Borgir, lead guitarist Luke Barry (Zev) describes Mongol’s sound as “melodic, eclectic, diverse, genre-defying, epic!”

As he explains. “We derived the band name, Mongol, from the fierce warriors of the Mongolian Steppe. To draw inspiration we have watched Mongolian films and read their oldest text “The Secret History of the Mongols” and other source material. In addition to this we have traveled to Mongolia and spent some time there, which was a great wellspring of inspiration.”

Live, Mongol resembles the warriors that inspired them, “bringing a unique energy to the stage that showcases our vast spanning sound perfectly. When the crowd isn’t banging their heads to one of our heavier songs, they are dancing joyously or clinking their beers with brethren in the mosh pit, singing along to catchy melodic choruses!”

The Return is due out via Sliptrick Records on October 5th.

Tracklisting:

“Prophecy Of The Blind”
“The Return”
“Sacrificial Rites”
“Takhil”
“Amongst The Dead”
“To The Wind”
“Dschingis Khan”
“The Mountain Weeps”
“River Child”
“Warband”

“Prophecy Of The Blind” lyric video: