THE HU // Appetite for Dominion

Berserkers, Centurions, Khans – one of these are not like the others. The first two have been fodder for epic metal since the dawn of distortion; the great Mongol Empire only entered rockdom when Mongolian metal band The Hu invaded the scene just four short years ago.

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Bloodthirsty conquests of Hun warriors are the stuff of legend. The Chinggis Khanate was one of the largest trans-continental empires the world had ever seen. If we can’t set scenes of brutal close-quarter combat to metal, then metal has failed us all.

So what are the Hu? The Hu combine traditional Mongolian instrumentation, including the Morin khuur or “horsehead fiddle” and Mongolian throat singing to evoke the epic battles of the Khan. Creating an intriguing, otherworldly style of metal these worldwide “Hunnu-style” metal sensations reached the welcome ears of Western fans; and we dig it. A lot.

Since forming in 2016, they’ve played major festivals like Germany’s Rock im Park; featured in AAA video games like Jedi: Fallen Order; and courted Papa Roach’s Jacoby Shaddix to guest on a remix of Wolf Totem. Their President even gave them Order of Genghis Khan for promoting Mongolian culture. Soon, they’ll be playing Australia’s very own Download Festival plus a couple of special side-shows in March. If this is your first time getting to know The Hu, prepare for war!

Hysteria: Did you expect the huge and enthusiastic response in the West for your debut album The Gereg?

We expected some kind of success because we worked so hard to make the album and our music videos, but the support has exceeded all of our expectations. We’re very honoured and humbled by the reactions of the people all around the world.

Is there much of a rock/metal scene in Mongolia to begin with? Are bands like The Hu rare?

Mongolia does have a rock and metal scene and it is getting more recognition in the last few years. We are the only band who’s playing the Hunnu style rock in the world at the moment. We hope that we will not be the last one to play it.

How did you get the band together in the first place?

In 2016, the four band members together with Dashka started working on the first few songs. Creating and arranging these songs helped us find the sound we were looking for.

Tell us about the throat singing you guys do – is that a hard technique to master?

Throat singing has been a Mongol technique for generations. Our grandfathers, fathers, mentors always did it. We genuinely respected that it came from our ancestors and wanted to respect and honour them while attempting to master the technique. We practised this style for years since we were kids to be able to control it, apply it and now we’re infusing it into our songs because it feels natural to us. It’s who we are, it’s what we know, it’s where we come from. It comes from an honest human place that we’re proud of and comfortable with.

We are the only band who’s playing the Hunnu style rock in the world at the moment. We hope that we will not be the last one to play it.
[THE HU]

In your videos there’s full scale re-enactments of battles; is this a common occurrence in Mongolia, much like Civil War re-enactments in the US or Roman battles in Europe?

The re-enactment of battle in our video is actually from a Mongolia motion picture titled No Right To Die. The movie is about the life of Chinggis Khaan. What was special for us is that the original actor, Tumurbaatar Tsegmid, who played the role of Chinggis Khaan reprised his role to join our music video shoot at the birth place of Chinggis Khaan which is shown right at the end of our video.

Will the the Hu ever run out of material on the Mongolian Empire? There’s so many Khans and campaigns you could write about.

The Mongolian Empire is only a part of the rich Mongolian culture and history. We are looking forward to sharing all aspects of our culture so we don’t anticipate to run out of material anytime soon!

Do you think the Hu will inspire more people to read about Mongolian history?

We definitely hope so and we’ve actually heard this from many fans we’ve interacted with that our music has opened the door to learn of Mongolian history and culture.

What’s the feeling in the Hu camp about playing Download Australia?

We are all very excited for Download and to come to Australia as this will be the first time visiting Australia for all of our band members!

What’s next for the Hu? More touring, more records?

We have more touring this year for our The Gereg World Tour, more dates are still being published. Also, we’re working on our next album which we hope to share next year.