It is incredibly difficult to come up with a new sound, no matter the genre, so bands often find themselves being likened to others, but that was not the case when Mongolian band The Hu burst onto the scene with their video for “Wolf Totem” (85 million views). Although in the Western world we had heard of throat singing, to have it coming at us from a fully fledged folk metal band playing instruments we had never seen before was quite something. Their debut album ‘The Gereg’ was a worldwide smash, so now it was time for the follow-up which came out in September 2022 and to say I was disappointed is something of an understatement.

What made this band stand out was not only the instruments they played, and the way they sang, but the music itself and we have gone from being part of the hordes of Genghis Khan to something way more sedate and, it must be said, mainstream. “Triangle” is just as exciting as the song implies, this from a band who were shifting the dynamic and getting their country recognised for exciting music – there cannot be many Mongolian bands who have had the chart success these have. Mind you, I note that this album has not been nearly as successful so it might have been better if they had stayed with their roots, as most of this is pretty boring. Folk metal is something which brings together two of my favourite genres (six years ago I flew from New Zealand to the UK just to attend a folk festival), and is full of live and passion, but this sounds like it is falling into pirate metal and is running the risk of becoming a pastiche of itself.

It will be interesting to hear if they revert back to the drama of their original music or keep pushing this style (this album is already available in three different versions of 12 songs, 13 or 18, not that they are trying to keep the interest going at all), but if it is the latter then I for one will not be seeking them out again.

Rating: 6/10

Links:
https://betternoise.com/
https://www.thehuofficial.com/