The HU

The HU (stylized in all caps) is a metal-inspired rock band from Mongolia that checks all the right boxes with muscular riffs, a monster sound, pounding drums and a sense of raw power. There is much more though. They also bring Mongolian folk motifs, traditional instruments and throat singing, and shoehorn all that seamlessly into western musical format. The members have all studied music formally in Mongolia's equivalent of a conservatory, so they display remarkable levels of musicianship underneath the metal bluster (Gala and Enkush play morin khuur, Jaya plays tumur hhuur and tsuur, and Temka plays tovshuur). Their instrumentation adds a lot of subtlety especially between the fiddles and the flute and their gruff vocals turn their performances into a primal affair, except when they take it down a few notches for some power ballads.