Mongolian heavy metal band perform using traditional tribal instruments

Kevin D. Carignan January 11, 2019 2 min read

As one of the least densely populated countries in the world, Mongolia is known for its vast open landscapes and breathtaking landscapes. Among the relatively few people who live there is a folk metal band, HU—A group of musicians who merge traditional Mongolian music with Western heavy metal sounds. Despite their isolated lifestyle, HUs have managed to gain fans all over the world thanks to the internet.

After 7 years of creating their unique sound, the band plans to release their debut album this spring, and if their first two singles are any indication, it will be epic. Le Hu recently uploaded two videos to Youtube in their footsteps, Yuve Yuve Yu and Wolf Totem. In just over 3 months, the two videos have accumulated nearly 9 million views.

The videos introduce the world to their own unique genre which they call “Hunnu Rock” – a mix of heavy metal-style pounding bass with traditional Mongolian folk instruments. The band can be seen (and heard) playing the morin khuur—A two-string horse-head violin played with a bow — and a tovshuur– another two-string instrument, but played with the fingers. They also explode their lyrics in the style of traditional Mongolian throat singers, a technique that involves simultaneously producing several throaty pitches.

Music plays an important role in Mongolian culture, where various ethnic groups and tribes take great pride in their sound. HU Dashka member reveals, “We wanted to come up with our own stuff that we can give to this big musical family. Do something new. However, the group did not expect to gain such rapid fame on the Internet. Guitarist Temka explains their motivation: “We are trying to spiritually express this beautiful thing about Mongolian music. We believe that we will speak to everyone’s soul through our music. But we weren’t expecting this.