The band was created back in the summer of 2008, when Adrian (former vocalist) and Julen (guitarist) met and started talking about heavy metal, because they where both wearing Iron Maiden clothes. After a small talk about their musical tastes, they soon decided to start a heavy metal project, and then Julen’s brother, Mikel (guitarist), also joined in. The first rehearsals, just with two guitars, the vocals, and a rhythm machine as a drummer, where inspiring enough for them to decide that they wanted to stay together and build a real heavy metal band, and so did they. It didn’t take long to find Gaizka (former drummer) and Jon (bassist). The band was complete.
The style of the band was pretty clear from the very beginning. Even if individual influences could be different between them, they all loved classical heavy metal iconic bands such us Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Metallica or Helloween, so they decided to play what they enjoyed, without inventing something new at all. But there actually was a kind of distinctive element in their music: the songs were written in Euskera (Basque language). The name of the band ‘Etorkizun Beltza’ means black future, which synthesises how we humans, and specially the selfish interests of the big economical powers, are leading the world to a complete disaster, and this is exactly what the lyrics of the band mainly talk about.
With their first demo EP (Etorkizun Beltza, 2010), they started playing small gigs in bars and small venues, and gaining experience about the world of live music. The second EP (Zoramenaren Maisuak, 2012), was a little step in sound and composition quality, and the new material allowed the band to start playing in some more venues and small festivals around Bizkaia.
But definitely, what stablished this group of musicians as a recognised heavy metal band in their area, was their first LP (Esnatu Gara?, 2015). By this time, Gaizka had already left the drums, but Gorka joined the band and just fit in perfectly. As the previous two demos, this album was also auto-recorded and produced, but this time Julen did and excellent recording and mixing job, giving to the new riffs, solos and melodies, the minimum of quality they deserved. This was very close to a profesional recording, with nine very nice small heavy metal bombs in it, and the feedback, both from the audience and the press, was very positive. The growth as a band was also reflected in their shows, with much more energy on the stage, which opened the doors to play with some known bands such as Night Demon, Cloven Hoof, Air Raid, Vhäldemar, In Mute, Eraso!, The Wizards, Legen Beltza, and many more.
Now, after five years, with a new member (Imanol) as the lead voice of the band, and renewed energy, Etorkizun Beltza are back with their first studio album ‘Ekaitzen Osteko Sua.’ This might be the biggest jump for the band since it was created, with a much more elaborated compositions, and a great production job done by Chromaticity Studios. The style of the songs keeps the roots of the band: some thrasher riffs, some power metal solos and screams, hardcore breakdowns from time to time, slower hard rock rhythms, but everything glued with the most traditional heavy metal vibe.
Band Line-Up:
Jon Lamborena – Bass / Vocals
Gorka Mena – Drums
Imanol Orozko – Lead vocals
Mikel Unamuno – Guitar
Julen Unamuno – Guitar / Vocals
Read our review here.
