Wolf Totem The HU

Mongolian metal band The HU masterfully blends folk with modern metal in their powerful song, Wolf Totem. This track, from their 2019 debut album The Gereg, taps into something vast and deep that, without knowing the Mongolian language, the listener immediately finds awe-inspiring in the Wagnerian sense.

At the core of the track is The HU's signature Mongolian throat singing - thuvan - that runs through and over the music of traditional instruments like the stringed tovshuur and morin khuur that have been electrified. In Wolf Totem, these elements create an otherworldly atmosphere, evoking the vast steppes and the spirit of Mongol warriors as well as the headbanger's sense of total freedom.

The music - voice very much included - is a force of nature. All four members - Temuulen 'Temka' Naranbaatar, Galbadrakh 'Gala' Tsendbaatar, Nyamjantsan 'Jaya' Galsanjamts, Enkhsaikhan 'Enkush' Batjargal - rumble-sing words that celebrate courage, loyalty and pride using metaphors of wolves and nature.


Wolf Totem is an atavistic anthem that in its rawness and heaviness, becomes that paradox - a life-affirming dirge to human weakness. It is nothing short of magnificent.