The HU’s Mongolian Thunder Strikes London
Mongolian metallers The HU are currently on tour, and we were lucky enough to score a ticket to their London show on Friday 9 October at the O2 Academy Brixton! Having previously supported Iron Maiden on a North American tour and recorded a cover of Metallica’s ‘Through the Never’ for The Metallica Blacklist, they’re no strangers to the genre or its fans. In 2019, ‘Wolf Totem’ reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Hard Rock Digital Song Sales chart, while ‘Yuve Yuve Yu’ reached No. 7, making The HU the first Mongolian musical act to top a Billboard chart. Combining traditional Mongolian instruments and throat singing with metal, they sound like nothing you’ve ever heard before…
Kicking off the evening, French folk band SKÁLD, whose name comes from the Old Norse word for poet, warmed up the crowd with their atmospheric sound. Drawing on Norse legends and epic poetry, their music combines haunting vocals in Old Norse and other Nordic languages with traditional instruments, creating an otherworldly experience. If you’re new to their music, we’d especially recommend ‘Ó Valhalla’ and ‘Draumakona’ as starting points!
SKÁLD’s sound is as much felt as heard, conjuring images of Viking longships emerging from the fog. There’s something ancient about their music that calls to the primal nature within us all, making you want to rush into battle or wander naked through a forest. SKÁLD’s set was an excellent start to the gig – sharpen your axes, the Vikings are coming!
The HU burst onto the stage and launched straight into ‘Lost Soul’, immediately getting the audience fired up for an energetic set! Despite one fan making a nuisance of himself by dancing onstage early in the set, The HU didn’t let the interruption disrupt their performance, delivering their powerful sound song after song.
The four core members of The HU, Galbadrakh ‘Gala’ Tsendbaatar, Nyamjantsan ‘Jaya’ Galsanjamts, Enkhsaikhan ‘Enkush’ Batjargal and Temuulen ‘Temka’ Naranbaatar, are joined by four additional musicians for their live shows: Unumunkh Maralkhuu on percussion, tumur khuur and backing vocals; Jambaldorj Ayush on guitar and backing vocals; Odbayar Gantumur on drums; and Nyamdavaa Byambaa on bass and backing vocals. You might wonder whether having eight musicians on stage is overkill, but the ensemble worked like a well-oiled machine. The guitar, bass and drums provided a solid backdrop for the throat singing, morin khuur (a traditional Mongolian stringed instrument), tumur khuur (mouth harp) and tovshuur (a two- or three-stringed Mongolian lute), supporting these distinctive sounds without overpowering them.
If you’ve only listened to their music on record, you’re not prepared for what it’s like to hear them live. The throat singing isn’t just something you hear; it resonates deep in your gut, creating an altogether otherworldly experience that’s difficult to put into words. The morin khuur and tovshuur are wielded to maximum effect, creating haunting layers of sound reminiscent of a violin or fiddle, but with a distinctive flavour all their own.
While songs like ‘Wolf Totem’ and ‘Warrior Chant’ feel like a summons to battle, raising goosebumps in the process, ‘Echoes of My Father’ offered a deeply poignant and sombre moment that transcended the language barrier beautifully. The band then effortlessly brought the energy back up with ‘Grey Hun’. Despite having only a handful of English phrases at their disposal, they had absolutely no trouble whipping the crowd into a frenzy!
You might assume that instruments like the morin khuur and tovshuur aren’t suited to shredding, but you’d be dead wrong! ‘Horsemen’, in particular, showcased their incredible shredding skills, bringing these instruments, steeped in ancient heritage, firmly into the modern age.
A clear fan favourite of the night was ‘Yuve Yuve Yu’, with the crowd singing along with such ferocious energy that it was truly infectious! Arguably the catchiest song in their repertoire, it’s still stuck in our heads – and we don’t speak a word of Mongolian! It’s a proper foot-stomping tune that will have you singing along in no time, and it was undoubtedly one of the night’s standout tracks.
Ending the main set with ‘This Is Mongol’ felt like the perfect way to round off an amazing gig. Following an impassioned chant of “HU! HU! HU!”, the band returned for a one-song encore, delivering their cover of Iron Maiden’s ‘The Trooper’ – a fitting tribute to the British metal legends who introduced them to many Western fans.
The cover was accompanied by an inflatable stone Mongol soldier, alongside more of the stunning on-screen visuals that had featured throughout the set. If you’re looking to reinvigorate your love of metal and discover something innovative and fresh, check out The HU! If you didn’t manage to catch them here in the UK, their tour continues across Europe into November!