Tengger Cavalry is not your run-of-the-mill metal band. Combining elements of traditional Central Asian nomadic music with heavy metal, Tengger Cavalry has developed a unique sound by incorporating Mongolian nomadic instruments into the mix. That unique sound came stateside last year when frontman and founder Nature Ganganbaigal relocated the band’s home from China to New York City and took Tengger Cavalry on tour in May.
The band recorded parts of their travels, which have been put together to make a tour documentary. The video shows Tengger Cavalry driving from place-to-place, rocking out to Joan Jett, playing live and doing a radio interview.
The video was shot and edited by Uljmuren, Tengger Cavalry’s morin khurr (horsehead fiddle) player. Check it out below.
After the successful tour, Ganganbaigal returned to Inner Mongolia to seek inspiration for new music. The following photographs and captions are Ganganbaigal’s from his travels.
“Nature’s next goal is to stay on grassland with native nomad friends to absorb some real nomadic energy. His expedition points towards New Barag Right Banner in Inner Mongolia. New Barag Right Banner is a small town that located in the middle of the grassland and you need to drive up to 4 hours to get to the town. It is a typical nomadic place. Blue sky and green land is all you got here. Horse, sheep and cows everywhere too. Nice and chill. Very peaceful, slow and long melody with simple pentatonic notes rise up in your hearing nerves in the most natural way.”
“While everyone would like to spend a whole day enjoying the landscape’s awesomeness, there are plenty of works to do everyday. As a nomad, you need to pump the water up from the underground for your herd to drink, twice a day. You need to keep an eye on your sheep of where they are going and make sure they are within the reach. You need to catch a horse from the herd to tame him and communicate with him; horses are wild and needed to get familiar with your body language and way of communicating. You need to drive your horses to the distant place to herd them. And for cooking, Mongolian milk tea and lamb ribs always need to be prepared.”
Tengger Cavalry released their latest album, Blood Sacrifice Shaman, in 2015. They’ll be hitting the road with Incite after an appearance at Shadow Woods Metal Fest.
Tour Dates:
9/16 – White Hall, MD @ Shadow Woods – no Incite
9/17 – Asheville, NC @ The Rabbit Hole
9/18 – Hattiesburg, MS @ Tavern
9/19 – Austin, TX @ Grizzly Hall
9/20 – San Antonio, TX @ Paper Tiger
9/21 – Ft. Worth, TX @ Rail Club
9/23 – Phoenix, AZ @ Club Red
9/24 – San Diego, CA @ Brick By Brick
9/26 – Los Angeles, CA @ Whisky A Go Go
9/28 – Sacramento, CA @ Starlite
9/29 – Oakland, CA @ Oakland Opera House
9/30 – Portland, OR @ Ash Street Saloon
10/1 – Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw Theater
10/2 – Bellingham, WA @ Shakedown
10/3 – Seattle, WA @ Crockodile
10/5 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Metro
10/6 – Denver, CO @ 3 Kings
10/7 – Kansas City, MO @ Riot Room
10/8 – Champaign, IL @ Hi Drive
10/9 – Chicago, IL @ Reggies
10/10 – Columbus, OH @ Rumba Cafe
10/11 – Detroit, MI @ Smalls
10/12 – Toronto, ON @ Hard Luck
10/13 – Ottawa, ON @ Mavericks
10/14 – Montreal, QC @ Katacombes
10/15 – Revere, MA @ Sammy’s Patio
