The Hu

M

ongolian band The Hu formed in 2016 under the membership of Galbadrakh Tsendbaatar (a.k.a. Gala; morin khuur/throat singing), Nyamjantsan Galsanjamts (a.k.a. Jaya; tumur hhuur/tsuur/throat singing), Enkhsaikhan Batjargal (a.k.a. Enkush; morin khuur/throat singing) and Temuulen Naranbaatar (a.k.a. Temka; tovshuur/backing vocals) to perform Mongolian folk music to a heavy metal backing utilizing traditional Mongolian instruments, including the Morin khuur, Tovshuur and Mongolian style throat singing, calling their style "hunnu rock", hu inspired by the Hunnu, an ancient Turkic/Mongol empire (known as Xiongnu in western culture).

The band came to notice in late 2018 with the release of videos for Yuve Yuve Yu (Translation: "How Strange") and Wolf Totem, had together garnered the act over 100 million views by February 2021. On 11 April 2019, Wolf Totem reached 1 on Billboard's Hard Rock Digital Song Sales, making The Hu the first Mongolian musical act to top a Billboard chart. Yuve Yuve Yu reached 7 on the same chart.

The act's debut album, The Gereg, would arrive in 2019; "Gereg" being the term used for a diplomatic passport during the time of Genghis Khan.

In October of 2019, the band released a new version of Yuve Yuve Yu, featuring new vocals by Danny Case (of From Ashes to New). A month later Black Thunder/Sugaan Essena was featured in the video game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. December of 2019, the band released a remix of Wolf Totem, featuring Papa Roach lead vocalist Jacoby Shaddix for featuring in the horror film The Retaliators. December of 2020 saw the act release a cover version of Metallica's Sad but True. Later that same year, Batkhuu Batbayar would depart.