The Hu: Mongolian folk rockers ready to conquer the world with throat singing and traditional instruments
- Like many metalheads, the band grew up listening to Iron Maiden, Nirvana, Metallica and AC/DC
- Unlike their peers, their traditional roots give them a uniquely powerful sound that is impossible to resist
It’s noon and Jaya is waiting for friends at one of the many fancy coffee shops springing up in Ulan Bator, the Mongolian capital. Temka is playing video games at home; Gala is munching on popcorn while watching an old film, dressed in his pyjamas. Enkhush hasn’t even woken up yet; when he does, he grumpily knocks his horse-shaped alarm clock to the floor.
Mongolian millennials are much the same as those anywhere else, it seems.
Then, though, Gala puts down his popcorn, goes to his front door and opens it. There before him is the expansive wilderness of the steppe. He shares the view with his friends through his smartphone and all four are transported to the mountains and lakes of the western part of Genghis Khan’s country.
This is how the music video to Yuve Yuve Yu (“How strange, how strange”) starts.
Clad in leather and wielding instruments such as the morin khuur and tovshuur, The Hu, the band behind the song, unleash a sound as powerful as their backdrop is stunning. The urbanites transform into throat singers and the confined spaces of the city melt into infinite landscapes the vastness of which can only be captured by drones.
The clip has been viewed more than 16.5 million times on YouTube. Their second single, Wolf Totem, which brings riders of both horses and Harley-Davidsons together against an even more evocative backdrop, is not far behind, with more than 11 million views. Mongolian folk metal – or hunnu rock – is apparently what rockers across the globe have been waiting for.
