I had no idea this was a thing.
It was linked in a FB group I’m in with little to no explanation. I listened. Then I listened again.
Then I got an axe and went out to crush my enemies, see them driven before me, and hear the lamentation of their women. I did hit up iTunes fist, though, and downloaded both songs of theirs I could find.
I really like that!
Better than the bands that I’ve heard before: Modest Mongolian Mouse, My Mongol Jacket, Ulaanbaatar-a-palooza, or Camper Van Mongoloid.
I gotta have it.
I came across this amazing performance of 苍狼大地 (roughly . Wolf Land/Land of the Wolf) by 譚晶 (Tan Jing) on the Chinese Version of King of Mask Singer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIe4eQi8Ars
When I heard it the first time, I immediately thought it was Mongolian. I’m not 100% sure, but I think it’s not sung in Mongolian, but Mandarin. The guy in audience crying is me. Just incredible!
Edit: I never thought I’d say this, but after nearly 40 years, someone has outdone Clare Torry vocals on The Great Gig in the Sky
There’s the original by 腾格尔 (Tenger/Tengri): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cdE0zrR1Zo
That’s some strange awesome music there. I really like when bands use folk music and instruments in music. I wish more bands would try and do stuff like that.
Someone I went to grade/high school with up and moved to Russia and is currently managing a Tuvan Throat Singing band (he even did a TEDx talk a few years ago). There’s clearly influences from that in the singers vocals. I’d be willing to say the vocals are throat singing. Just a bit clearer and buried in modern instruments.
Also, the guy in the first video has my ringtone. Had me looking around for my phone.
You might like Heilung, sort of a proto-norsk thing: Heilung | LIFA - Krigsgaldr LIVE - YouTube
Thanks for sharing, great stuff! If Immortan Joe used them instead of the Doof Warrior, Max and Furiosa would be history!
I now need a Hu-band shirt Any idea how?
I think it’s safe to say that I’d really rather not have to fight those guys, in any form.
If you turn on YouTube’s closed captioning, you get an English translation of the lyrics. They have a high opinion of Genghis Khan.
I think…oh…yes. Yep, I just ovulated.
Good stuff, but there’s something viscerally barbaric (in a good way!) about The Hu’s Wolf Totem.
The FB group page I first saw it on was for U.S. Army Tankers and Cavalry Scouts, and the guy posting it was basically (jokingly) nominating it for the official song of Cavalry Scouts.
I’ve heard worse suggestion than Wolf Totem.
There is a lot of music from west African countries that have that mix of traditional and modern instruments. Much of it is mesmerizing.
FWIW, Wolf Totem is showing on FB as being WILDLY popular with active duty and vets of the Armor and Cavalry persuasion.
I have one of two-stringed instruments played with a bow called Morin Khuur or “horsehead fiddles.” It’s from Inner Mongolia, and never been played. Looks cool on top of the piano though.
Lingyi, Tan Jian is obviously singing in Mandarin, or at least my non native mandarin ears are picking up some obvious mandarin wording. Maybe intersped with some Mongolian?
I love the throat singing. Tibetan monks do these when chanting. It is simply mesmerizing. I still have multiple memories from the 1980’s being awakened in the dark to the sound of the long Tibetan horns calling the monks to prayer. Making my way through still star lit skies into a huge hall with dozens and in some case hundreds of monks seated cross legged in rows, chanting with steam rising off of their short cropped hair, lit by the soft glow of hundreds of yak butter lamps, and the throat chanting would go one for what seemed hours as dawn would break through the temple lattice.
I like this. Good to learn of it.
But of course. When the Father of the Nation is almost surely the champion badass of history’s conquerors’ league (getting there the hard way), admiration is to be expected. If any dude was Metal it was Temudjin.
I never paid attention to the lyrics until I linked to the the Karaoke MV from Tenger and noticed it stated it was in Mandarin. Like you, I know just enough Mandarin to usually recognize it when I hear it and I’m 99% sure the entire song is in Mandarin as Mongolian sounds completely different.
Amazing song and performance by Tan Jing though!
Mongolian group Khusugtun made it to the finals of Asia’s Got Talent with their throat singing. They are a bit more traditional in their singing, but equally as metal as HU.
