Like their nomadic ancestors, Mongolian folk metal band The Hu is always on the move. Only one day after their co-headlining Psycho Thunder tour with Asking Alexandria, they embarked on their own Warrior Souls US tour, showcasing music from their latest album, Rumble of Thunder and from their first album, The Gereg. Unlike Genghis Khan who conquered nation-states through violence, the band has captivated the globe with their unique fusion of ethnic Central Asian musical traditions, metal, and classic rock. Also, their role as cultural ambassadors has been recognized by the Mongolian state and named the “Artist of Peace” by UNESCO in 2022.
The diversity of the audience at their Santa Ana show–from burly men with black metal t-shirts and cowboy hats to petite aunties and young girls with dyed hair–reflects how their messages resonate across cultures and generations, which is even more profound given that the band sings in their native language. Their music centers around themes of honoring ancestors and the Earth, ensuring protection and justice, and igniting inner strength, and their live performance depicts all these themes with authenticity and power. On stage, the band expressed their ferocity through fist pumps, hair flips, and head bangs, and the audience responded in kind, bouncing and fist pumping along as if in a hypnotic trance.
Their throat singing and guttural chants blended with the rumbling bass and round timbre of the tovshuur (Mongolian guitar) created an earthy, thunderous effect. The vibrations from the ground traveling into your bones was a visceral reminder of humans’ innate connection to the land, a connection that the band frequently expresses through their songs. “Upright Destined Mongol” celebrated the might of the Mongolian regime and featured electrifying morin khuur (horsehead fiddle) solos, while “Black Thunder,” which depicts the devastating rage of a thundering sky, was more ominous, the throaty growls punctuated by high-strung fiddle interjections.
To introduce their song “Mother Nature,” they shared that “Mother nature provides us with everything, let’s respect and honor her!” This ode was the most laidback song of the set, with the fiddles providing a peaceful drone over the airy, gentle vocals which delivered a reassuring message. The band’s deep spirituality and cultural connection to nature shone through in this song, illuminated by the audience’s flashlights and reverent atmosphere. In stark contrast, the next song, “Sell the World,” was a gritty and haunting number that serves as a scathing condemnation of society’s plundering of nature. They didn’t sing the lyrics insomuch as snarl them, and the twanging tumur khuur (jaw harp) and screeching fiddles contributed to the unsettling atmosphere of the song.
Paying homage to one of their core musical influences, they performed two covers of Metallica songs, “Through the Never,” which was on The Metallica Blacklist tribute album featuring over 50 artists, and “Sad But True.” The additional layers of rhythmic and harmonic complexity and heavier involvement of the guitar, alongside idiomatic adlibs on the traditional Mongolian instruments, came together in a way that remained very much distinctive to the band’s sound.
They closed out their 90-minute set with two songs that catapulted them into fame, “Yuve Yuve Yu” and “Wolf Totem.” It was an evening of grounded virility, cultural pride, and hypnotic head-banging, one that leaves you feeling like a warrior in your soul.
Click on the photo below to view our photos from the show:
