The HU brought Mongolia to Hertfordshire on Saturday, playing a triumphant set at Knebworth Park for Eddfest in support of Iron Maiden.
The band rumbled through material from their forthcoming third album, Hun, alongside a run of fan favourites, with lead throat-singer Gala telling the crowd: “We are so happy to be here. Thank you so much. We love Iron Maiden, we love England.”
The HU played:
‘Lost Soul’
‘Horsemen’
‘Shadow’
‘Grey Hun’
‘The Real You’
‘Yuve Yuve’
‘Wolf Totem’
‘This Is Mongol’
The Knebworth show capped a London run that started with the band heading straight for the tourist trail, taking in Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and the British Army’s Household Cavalry in Whitehall. It was there that things took a turn nobody could have scripted. A Lance Corporal with the Life Guards Squadron spotted them on CCTV, recognised them instantly, and persuaded his commanding officer to let the band into the stables at Horse Guards Parade to meet the horses and guards. They were introduced to Overlord, the squadron’s biggest horse, and posed for photos with members of the cavalry, every animal standing at least 16.2 hands high.
“The other guys were asking who they were, and I knew immediately,” the Lance Corporal said. “I discovered them from their song (‘Sugaan Essena’) on the game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. I’ve been listening to their albums ever since.”
Which is exactly how this band works. A video game soundtrack, a barracks in Whitehall, a Mongolian throat-singing quartet, and a soldier who knew every word. We’ve said it before and we’ll keep saying it. There is nothing else like The HU.
The band also played an intimate acoustic evening at the Mongolian Embassy in Kensington, treating a small audience to stripped-back renditions of ‘This Is Mongol’, ‘Black Thunder’ and new single ‘Grey Hun’. RAMzine was in the room for that one.
Hun arrives on 24 July via Better Noise Music, with Gala (morin khuur, throat singing), Jaya (tumur khuur, tsuur, throat singing), Enkush (morin khuur, throat singing) and Temka (tovshuur, throat singing) turning the page on a bold new chapter for Hunnu Rock. The album lands digitally and on CD worldwide, with vinyl variants and a boxset following on 11 September. A version of ‘Lost Soul’ featuring Jonny Hawkins of Nothing More appears on the digital edition only.
Hun tracklist: ‘Warrior Chant’, ‘Lost Soul’, ‘The Men’, ‘Echoes of My Father’, ‘Shadow’, ‘Horsemen’, ‘Greed’, ‘The Real You’, ‘Grey Hun’, ‘Universe’, ‘Second Face’.
