Mongolian Metal: The HU

The HU (root word for human being) is a Mongolian folk metal band my oldest introduced to me a few years ago. They blend traditional Mongolian instruments and throat singing with metal, offering hard-hitting riffs to almost orchestral-style melodies. After listening to a few of their tracks, it comes as no surprise that they are such a success. Since their 2019 debut album, The Gereg, they have toured worldwide and collaborated with bands from From Ashes to New, Papa Roach, Lzzy Hale and others.

For Star Wars fans, they have produced music for both Jedi: Fallen Order and Jedi: Survivor. Check out this article from Revolver in 2020.

You can read more about the band on their official website here.

The first song I heard was Wolf Totem, a single they also re-recorded with Jacoby Shaddix of Papa Roach. I find it hard to describe why I like this band. Is it their uniqueness, blending their culture with metal music? Their incredible talent? The fact that they just seem to be really nice guys?

Yeah, but it’s more than that. I like The HU because of how their music makes me feel. I may not understand a word (though you can use the closed caption feature on YouTube if you want to), but I feel, for lack of a better word, energized after listening to them. While that can be said about many metal bands, this hits me differently in a way I can’t describe.

While Wolf Totem was the first song I heard, their re-release of Song of Women with Lzzy Hale is one of the ones that has hit me the hardest. It’s a tribute to their mothers (and all women) and a perfect example of how metal music can have gentleness to it.

So, here they are, The HU. Check out three of their videos below, Wolf Totem (both versions) and Song of Women.