Saturday, July 18, 2020

CD Odyssey Disc 1388: The Hu


I’m enjoying a lovely Saturday afternoon futzing about with music. I’ve done a little music shopping (picked up the latest albums from the Chicks and Margo Price), caught up on uploading a bunch of CDs, worked on some personalized playlists of my own design and now this!

Disc 1388 is…. The Gereg
Artist: The Hu

Year of Release: 2019

What’s up with the Cover? As band logos go, I declare this one all kinds of cool.   

How I Came To Know It: I saw a video for “Wolf Totem” and I knew I had to hear more of these guys.

How It Stacks Up: I only have one Hu album, so it can’t really stack up. Pointy bits, scrolly edges and lots of metallic sheen. Someone make this into a necklace!

Ratings: 4 stars but almost 5

What do you get when you cross traditional Mongolian throat singing with western rock and roll? A kick-ass record, that’s what.

With “The Gereg,” the Hu have created a record loaded with restless energy. A confluence of folk and rock that Gram Parsons couldn’t have imagined in his wildest dreams. Welcome to the future of musical fusion.

In the wrong hands this musical crossover could feel gimmicky or strained, but neither is the case on “The Gereg”. The record is the perfect mix of traditional beats and rhythms, and rock riffs. The power and dread realized in the throat singing loads every song wit a portentous energy. It feels epic and powerful, the kind of stuff you play while storming an evil wizard’s castle or lining up in a shield wall. Everything just sounds…heroic.

The music has a galloping energy that made me wish I had a car so I could have the opportunity to turn it up and drive faster. Songs like “Wolf Totem” thumps along with an inexorable momentum that you don’t listen to so much as you are swept into. It’s a rolling earthquake of rock and roll.

The crossover of styles is perfect on “Shoog Shoog” which opens with some traditional instrumentation (I am not familiar enough with Mongolian folk instruments to know which, but it sounds like some kind of flute), that gives way to chanting and then an absolutely dope bass line (again, not sure what it is played on, but it sounds great). The full effect makes you feel like you’re taking a 50 km turn at 90, and relying on centrifugal force and the gods of rock to pull you through. They do.

The band is a four piece, each of whom plays a traditional Mongolian instrument. Three of them throat sing, with only tovshuur player Temka eschewing duties on that front. FYI a tovshuur is a Mongolian instrument similar to a lute. Temka is damned good at it; obviously good enough that he gets a pass on skipping out on the throat singing.

All of the vocals are in Mongolian, but it doesn’t take anything away from the experience. The Hu have a great tone and their combined throat singing gives a fresh twist on harmony which is compelling and intriguing. I recently heard “Song of Women” with guest vocalist Lzzy Hale of Halestorm. It is awesome to hear the song in translation and with her more soaring classic metal style, but it is great either way. The liner notes come with side-by-side original language and English translation, which helps you follow along if you are so inclined (although the font is hard to read, if I were to quibble).

“The Gereg” is a revelation, and not only because it sounds so fresh to my Western ears (although it does). This music is infectious and uplifting. It leans forward from start to finish, but never loses its balance. “The Gereg” is the Hu’s first album, and I can’t wait to hear what they do next.

Best tracks: The Gereg, Wolf Totem, The Legend of Mother Swan, Shoog Shoog, Yuve Yuve Yu

1 comment:

Chris said...

We've been spinning this one quite a lot recently. The sense of movement and menace is palpable.

Their videos are also quite breathtaking.