Inside Mongolian metal band The Hu’s Hunnu rock revolution

“Heavy metal” has grown over the years into such a broad umbrella term that the number of contemporary variations on the genre are nigh-limitless: sludge, speed, stoner, melodic, symphonic, death, doom, deathdoom, blackgaze, djent, groove, kawaii, viking. Tucked into a handful of these niches are several other associated subniches, and perhaps no heavy metal niche claims more subniches than folk metal—the incongruous creative space in which hand drums, violins, mandolins, and accordions make contact with distortion pedals, drop D tuning, and lots, and lots, of guttural screaming.

To speak with Galbadrakh “Gala” Tsendbaatar, lead throat singer of the Mongolian four piece called The Hu, is to understand that even in this moment we live in where it seems that every possible iteration on heavy metal music has been categorized, there are plenty of others that defy easy labels. The Hu—comprising Tsendbaatar, Enkhsaikhan “Enkush” Batjargal, Nyamjantsan “Jaya” Galsanjamts, and Temuulen “Temka” Naranbaatar; and touring members Unumunkh “Ono” Maralkhuu, Jambaldorj “Jamba” Ayush, Odbayar “Odko” Gantumur, and Nyamdavaa “Davaa” Byambaa—play a distinct style the band has dubbed “Hunnu rock,” named for the nomadic Xiongnu empire, and which straddles the line between classic hard rock and heavy metal from song to song and album to album.

The Hu have sculpted their aesthetic since forming in 2016, crystalizing its details in their 2019 debut record The Gereg, and further honing it in their 2022 record Rumble of Thunder. They’ve made a name for themselves elsewhere with contributions to the Star Wars games Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (2019) and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor (2023), too. With their latest release, Hun, The Hu further codify their sound as one of a kind, even among the diverse and original offerings found across folk metal’s spectrum, incorporating traditional Mongolian instruments like the morin khuur (the horsehead fiddle), the tumur khuur (jaw harp), tsuur (end-blown flute), and tovshuur (lute) as the foundation of each track—a subject Tsendbaatar spoke about in our recent conversation on the cusp of Hun’s release earlier this summer.

The Hu mix Western rock with traditional Mongolian instruments.

Blgunee Hiroshi

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Andy Crump: Every time I listen to (Hun), I hear a new influence, like Metallica. I'm curious where you draw inspiration from outside of the Mongolian folk elements, because it feels like there's a lot else that goes into this record, too.
Galbadrakh Tsendbaatar: This album carries a lot of different types of songs for us, and it showcases how much potential our Hunu Rock genre has, and the qualities and characteristics of it as well. Some of the songs took longer than usual to make. Some of them were made really fast. But it took a lot of recording to get the right versions of them all, so the right amount of challenge was taken to create the album and the songs in it.

AC: That makes a lot of sense. Each track has an individual identity from the others. They have the same sound, but they don't sound the same. How would you categorize Hunnu rock? When I listen to it, sometimes I hear hard rock, others I hear heavy metal, with the folk influences tying them together. Do you think of this more as folk rock music or folk metal? It fits in both places.
GT: So, I wouldn't categorize it as either, really. It’s been 10 years since we started this band, and introduced the Hunnu rock genre. In that genre, what we're trying to do is combine the elements of traditional instruments into modern rock and metal elements. Since (The Hu) started, there have been a lot of artists who have been creating using the same method, if you will; there are so many artists that are trying to mix their cultural, traditional instruments with those rock and metal components. So, as you're calling it hard rock or heavy metal, we’re calling it Hunnu rock. Showcasing that fusion between these ancient elements with modern elements is the goal, and that creates a very unique sound.

AC: You describe it as a method. Thinking about that word, and “fusion,” I’m curious how the method works as far as creating that fusion. If there's a particular track that embodies that dynamic, I'd love to hear about it; I want to know how that  process works for you artistically.
GT: The method is a combination of a lot of the different things, but the rhythm itself has certain characteristics: the bass and the throat singing. Combining throat singing into the songs is one of the elements that we showcase in the Hunnu rock genre, and the rhythm of the bass guitar is closely related to how we play the traditional instruments as well, so (each song) has to have the perfect balance of the traditional instruments and the classical instruments. That’s the method we try to aim for.

You can hear it on “Wolf Totem” (from The Gereg)—that strikes the perfect balance of traditional instruments with guitar riffs and the rhythm from the modern drums as well. If I had to choose a song to represent the genre, I would say “Wolf Totem.”