The Hu "Gereg" 2019****

It was two years ago in December, when music magazines published their best-of-the-year lists, that I first came across the name of The Hu - I remember remarking in this blog that only Classic Rock magazine could have included both The Who and The Hu among the year's best. So I checked the band on youtube, and I liked what I saw. Also: Mongolian folk metal? How can a genre this cool be missing from my collection? Strangely enough, this is wasn't my first encounter with Mongolian rock: a friend of mine spent some time with nomads on the Mongolian steppes, and brought back the CD of a local band called Mohanik. I made a copy which I've listened to from time to time but, good as it is, it's really alternative rock often imbued with oriental melody. On the other hand, Hu belong to a different genre; plus their CD is easier to get, so I went ahead and ordered it from amazon.

The members of Hu apparently all have music diplomas and come from Mongolia's capital Ulan Bator, a Soviet-style "modern" city - so, urban kids rather than the yak-herding nomads most of us envision when we think of Mongolia. But they're clearly in love with their country's nomadic and war-like past, and their lyrics and music reflect that: while many other folk rock bands employ traditional instruments only to give a folk color to their music, here they are often placed in the frontline, especially the Morin Khuur (horsehead fiddle), while other instruments include the Tovshuur (a kind of lute), Tumur Khuur (jaw harp), and Tsuur (flute). These are all relatively crude compared to their Western counterparts and indeed Mongolian melodies don't have the complexity of Western music, but they usually have a pleasant buccolic quality and soothing effect. In The Hu's case, however, these are often amplified and played in a galloping, militaristic, manner. Combined with the loud and hollow drums, it makes for an exhilerating noise that rockers can identify with. The band combine mainstream rock vocals with that highly idiosyncratic guttural throat singing of the region which became more widely known in the 90's when Huun-Huur-Tu briefly became "world music" stars. I never expected to hear it in the context of rock, but it seems pretty natural - after all in metal we're accustomed to deep booming voices and otherworldly growls. Throat singing is practiced by all Hu members, often in harmony. It is the first human sound we hear on the opener "The Gereg", whose propulsive riff and repetitive chorus are strangely reminiscent of Rammstein. The band's rousing choruses are probably the main factor in the band's success with rock/metal audiences: instantly catchy, they make you want to sing along even though you don't understand a single word, which (seeing as the band sings in their mothertongue) probably is the case for all of us. The first song I heard from The Hu, and probably the most westernized of all, is "Yuve Yuve Yu". It's basically a Status Quo-like boogie with a bluesy riff and catchy chorus, while "Shoog Shoog", with its riff and chorus reminding us of bands like AC/DC and Rammsten, is another tune that may instantly appeal to Western ears. "Wolf Totem" is introduced with the atmospheric sounds of the morin khuur, before it's taken over by a metallic riff, sinister throat singing and defiant war cry "Hu!Hu!Hu!Hu!". "The Great Chinggis Khaan" is slower, with hefty throat singing and a suitably heavy/epic chorus, while the rest of the album is closer to folk than metal, similar to a heavier form of traditional Chinese music - with the obvious exception of the vocals which are unique to Mongolia. These may be less exhilerating for rock fans; I find myself less carried away by the energy and more attentive to the musicians' playing: especially the horsehead fiddle on "Mother Swan",  Jew's harp on "The Same" and flute on "Shireg Shireg". Needless to say, masterful as their playing and deep as their knowlegde of traditional music is, the real draw here is their ability to dumb down this ancient spiritual music into something Western teenagers can enjoy, by combining it with big fat riffs, punchy choruses, and the kind of boastful lyric one expects from the likes of Manowar. Don't get me wrong: the dumbing down is the genius move that turns what would otherwise be an indulgence for chin-stroking intellectuals into something fresh and fun to listen -or, occasionally, headbang- to. One final word of praise must go to the production: It's very clean, the sound is full but never clattered, with the instruments clearly audible. It's nuanced, heavy at the right places and lyrical at other. I especially like the drum sound, the playing is not fast or loud, but huge, hollow and imposing where appropriate. This is for sure one of the most original metal CDs I've heard in the last decade!

***** for The Gereg, Wolf Totem, Shoog Shoog, Yuve Yuve Yu

**** for The Great Chinggis Khaan, The Legend of Mother Swan

*** for The Same, Shireg Shireg, The Song Of Women