Over 800 years ago, Mongolian emperor Genghis Khan conquered vast areas of Europe. While that empire has long since disappeared, Mongolians are again roaming across Europe, now dominating music festival stages in the form of The HU, including Download Festival, Hellfest, and Glastonbury.

“For us, this summer is the European festival season and we get to see our crazy fans during this time,” band member Temka says via a translator.

The hard rock band have become Mongolia’s biggest cultural export since Genghis Khan, ever since 2018 when their videos for songs ‘Yuve Yuve Yu’ and ‘Wolf Totem’ went viral.

The band’s combination of metal riffing and Mongolian folk music fascinated millions of viewers, introducing the world to the country’s culture.

Since then, the band have toured across the world, collaborated with metal’s biggest names, released their debut album, ‘The Gereg’, and were rewarded for promoting Mongolian culture with the country’s highest honour, The Order Of Genghis Khan.

Last year, the band released their second album, ‘Rumble Of Thunder’, and have now expanded upon it with a deluxe edition.

The HU – their name being the Mongolian root word for ‘human’ – began as the brainchild of producer Dashka.