The Hu (stylized as The HU) is a Mongolian

folk metal Folk metal is a fusion genre of heavy metal music and traditional folk music that developed in Europe during the 1990s. It is characterised by the widespread use of folk instruments and, to a lesser extent, traditional singing styles (for exampl ...

band formed in 2016. With traditional Mongolian instrumentation, including the

Morin khuur The ''morin khuur'' ( mn, морин хуур, morin khuur), also known as the horsehead fiddle, is a traditional Mongolian bowed stringed instrument. It is one of the most important musical instruments of the Mongol people, and is considered a ...

, the

Tovshuur The ''tovshuur'', also known as ''topshur'', ''topshuur'' or ''tovshuur'' (Mongolian Cyrillic: ; mn, , tobshiğur) is a two or three-stringed lute played by the Western Mongolian ( Oirats) tribes called the Altai Urianghais, the Altais, Tuva ...

, and Mongolian throat singing, the band calls their style of music "hunnu rock", ''hu'' inspired by the

Hunnu The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, the supreme leader after 20 ...

, an ancient Mongol/Turkic empire, known as Hünnü in Mongolia. Some of the band's lyrics include old Mongolian war cries and poetry.

History

Two videos on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

released in late 2018, "Yuve Yuve Yu" (28 September) and "Wolf Totem" (16 November), had together garnered over 161 million views by March 2022. On 11 April 2019, "

Wolf Totem ''Wolf Totem'' () is a 2004 Chinese semi-autobiographical novel about the experiences of a young student from Beijing who finds himself sent to the countryside of Inner Mongolia in 1967, at the height of China's Cultural Revolution. The author, ...

" reached No. 1 on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

''s

Hard Rock Digital Song Sales The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in '' Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, p ...

, making The Hu the first Mongolian musical act to top a ''Billboard'' chart. In addition, "Yuve Yuve Yu" reached No. 7 on the same chart while "Wolf Totem" debuted at No. 22 on ''Billboard''s

Hot Rock Songs Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (formerly known as Rock Songs and Hot Rock Songs) is a record chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine. From its debut on June 20, 2009, through October 13, 2012, the chart ranked the airplay of songs across alternati ...

chart. On 17 May 2019, The Hu met Mongolian President

Khaltmaagiin Battulga Khaltmaagiin Battulga (; mn, Халтмаагийн Баттулга, Haltmaagiin Battulga, , also referred to as Battulga Khaltmaa; born 3 March 1963) is a Mongolian politician and sambo wrestler who served as the 5th President of Mongolia fr ...

, who congratulated the band for their accomplishments in promoting the country. On 6 June 2019, the band released the lyric video for their third single "Shoog Shoog". In June and July 2019, they performed twenty-three concerts in twelve European countries. The band released the music video for their fourth single "The Great

Chinggis Khaan ''Chinggis Khaan'' ͡ʃʰiŋɡɪs xaːŋbr /> Mongol script: ''Chinggis Qa(gh)an/ Chinggis Khagan'' , birth_name = Temüjin , successor = Tolui (as regent)Ögedei Khan , spouse = , issue = , house = Borjigin , ...

" on 23 August 2019.

''The Gereg'' (2019–2021)

The Hu released its first album on 13 September 2019. The album's title is ''

The Gereg ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'', which is the term used for a diplomatic passport from the time of

Genghis Khan ''Chinggis Khaan'' ͡ʃʰiŋɡɪs xaːŋbr />Mongol script: ''Chinggis Qa(gh)an/ Chinggis Khagan'' , birth_name = Temüjin , successor = Tolui (as regent)Ögedei Khan , spouse = , issue = , house = Borjigin , ...

. ''The Gereg'' was internationally released under Eleven Seven Records. The band embarked on their first North American tour from September 2019 through December 2019. On October 4, the band released a new version of "Yuve Yuve Yu", featuring new vocals by Danny Case of

From Ashes to New From Ashes to New is an American rock band from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The band's lineup frequently shifted in its early years, musician Matt Brandyberry being the founding and sole constant member of the group. The band has released three stu ...

. In November, their song "Black Thunder"/"Sugaan Essena" was featured in the video game '' Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.'' On 13 December, the band released a remix of "Wolf Totem", featuring

Papa Roach Papa Roach is an American rock band from Vacaville, California, formed in 1993. The original lineup consisted of lead vocalist Jacoby Shaddix, guitarist Jerry Horton, drummer Dave Buckner, bassist Will James, and trombonist Ben Luther. After ...

lead vocalist

Jacoby Shaddix Jacoby Dakota Shaddix (born July 28, 1976) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, TV presenter and actor. He is best known as the founding member and the continuous lead singer of the California-based rock band Papa Roach since the band's fo ...

. This version will be featured in the upcoming horror film ''The Retaliators''. On 1 May 2020, a remix of "Song of Women" featuring

Lzzy Hale Elizabeth Mae "Lzzy" Hale (born October 10, 1983) is an American musician, best known as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of hard rock band Halestorm, which she co-founded with her brother Arejay Hale in 1997. Career Hale began writing and ...

Halestorm Halestorm is an American rock band from Red Lion, Pennsylvania, consisting of lead vocalist and guitarist Lzzy Hale, her drummer brother Arejay Hale, guitarist Joe Hottinger, and bassist Josh Smith. The group's self-titled debut album was re ...

was released online. On 27 November 2019, The Hu were awarded the highest state award for Mongolia, the

Order of Genghis Khan = The Supreme Decoration of the Mongolian State, the Order of Chinggis Khaan = In 2002, the State Great Khural backed the initiative of the second President of Mongolia, N. Bagabandi, and approved the Parliamentary Resolution No. 21 to award the S ...

, for promoting Mongolian culture around the world. On 28 June 2020, The Hu uploaded their

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

relief effort fundraising concert on YouTube. In an interview before the concert, the band stated they plan to release their second album in 2021. In July, a

Simlish Simlish is a fictional language featured in EA's ''Sim'' series of games. It debuted in ''SimCopter'' (1996), and has been especially prominent in ''The Sims'' franchise, as well as in its spinoff ''MySims'' series. Simlish can also be heard ...

version of their song "The Legend of Mother Swan" was featured in the video game ''

The Sims 4 ''The Sims 4'' is a social simulation game developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. It is the fourth major title in ''The Sims'' series, and is the sequel to '' The Sims 3'' (2009). The game was released in North America on Septem ...

'' as part of the "Nifty Knitting" stuff pack. On 3 December 2020, the band released a cover version of

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

's "

Sad but True Sadness is an emotional pain associated with, or characterized by, feelings of disadvantage, loss, despair, grief, helplessness, disappointment and sorrow (emotion), sorrow. An individual experiencing sadness may become quiet or lethargic, and ...

". In 2020, The Hu were selected as one of 53 artists to participate in Metallica's 30th anniversary album, the ''Metallica Blacklist''. For the album, The Hu provided a cover of "Through the Never" and the album was released on 1 October 2021 although The Hu's version of "Through the Never" was published on

Apple Music Apple Music is a music, audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users select music to stream to their device on-demand, or they can listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the Internet radio stations Apple M ...

and

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

on 10 September 2021. All of the profits of the album are being donated to various charities, with each band providing a cover being able to choose which charity the profits from their song are being donated to. The Hu chose to donate all of the profits from their song to The Giving Day Charity Fund. In September and October 2021, the band returned to North America for "The Hun Tour", which was their first live performance since the onset of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, featuring a mix of songs from ''

'' and their then unreleased new studio album '' Rumble of Thunder''.

''Rumble of Thunder'' (2022–present)

On 12 May 2022, The Hu released the single "This Is Mongol". On 8 July, the band released the single "Black Thunder" and announced their second album, '' Rumble of Thunder'', which was released on 2 September.

Personnel

Members

*Galbadrakh "Gala" Tsendbaatar –

morin khuur The ''morin khuur'' ( mn, морин хуур, morin khuur), also known as the horsehead fiddle, is a traditional Mongolian bowed stringed instrument. It is one of the most important musical instruments of the Mongol people, and is considered a ...

throat singing Throat singing refers to several vocal practices found in different cultures around the world. The most distinctive feature of such vocal practices is to be associated to some type of guttural voice, that contrasts with the most common types of voi ...

(2016–present) *Nyamjantsan "Jaya" Galsanjamts – tumur hhuur,

tsuur The tsuur (Mongolian), choor (Kyrgyz) or chuur (Tuvan) is an end-blown flute of varying lengths that is common among Inner Asian pastoralists. It is similar to the sybyzgy (Kazakh) and kurai (Bashkir). In western Mongolia it is mainly used by ...

, throat singing (2016–present) *Enkhsaikhan "Enkush" Batjargal – morin khuur, throat singing (2016–present) *Temuulen "Temka" Naranbaatar –

tovshuur The ''tovshuur'', also known as ''topshur'', ''topshuur'' or ''tovshuur'' (Mongolian Cyrillic: ; mn, , tobshiğur) is a two or three-stringed lute played by the Western Mongolian ( Oirats) tribes called the Altai Urianghais, the Altais, Tuva ...

, backing vocals (2016–present)

Touring members

* Unumunkh "Ono" Maralkhuu – percussion, tumur hhuur, backing vocals (2019–present) * Jambaldorj "Jamba" Ayush – guitars, backing vocals (2019–present) * Nyamdavaa "Davaa" Byambaa – bass, backing vocals (2020–present) * Odbayar "Odko" Gantumur – drums (2019–present)

Former touring members

* Batkhuu Batbayar – bass, backing vocals (2019–2020)

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Music videos

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hu Mongolian heavy metal musical groups 2016 establishments in Mongolia Folk metal musical groups Musical groups established in 2016 Musical quartets