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The HU Bring Ancient Thunder to Sofia

Nyamjantsan “Jaya” Galsanjamts welcomes the crowd in a sea of blue light. © Diana Nikolova

Vidas Art Arena • 25 June 2025

By Diana Nikolova (Bulgaria) • Photos & text © 2025

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A visceral opening that shook the arena
From the first throat sung drone, Vidas Art Arena felt less like a concert venue and more like a windswept steppe. Carved horse-head fiddles caught the indigo light, leather tassels flicked in the haze, and a wall of amplified strings, drums, and overtones drew the audience into a sound world where ancient rites met stadium power. The roar that answered those opening bars confirmed The HU’s knack for turning cultural heritage into galvanizing spectacle.
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Enkhasaikhan “Enkush” Batjargal bowing a morin khuur under violet beams. © Diana Nikolova

Heritage Carried on Horsehair Strings
Founded in Ulaanbaatar in 2016, The HU fuse deep register throat singing with the morin khuur (horse-head fiddle) and tovshuur (Mongolian lute). Their name, taken from the Mongolian word for “human,” signals a mission to share steppe stories in a universal language. The 2019 debut album The Gereg propelled the singles “Wolf Totem” and “Yuve Yuve Yu” onto playlists and festival main stages worldwide, casting Mongolia as an unexpected epicenter of heavy music.

Strategic collaborations have only widened that reach: a hard-hitting “Wolf Totem” remix with Jacoby Shaddix (Papa Roach) and the sweeping “Song of Women” with Lzzy Hale (Halestorm) introduced mainstream rock audiences to steppe sonics without softening the band’s essence.
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Jaya urging the crowd amid crimson haze and white beams, performs at Vidas Art Arena. © Diana Nikolova

Commanding the Sofia stage
What followed was more ceremonial theater than a conventional rock show. Hypnotic rhythmic patterns underpinned stacked vocal overtones, while beams of violet, crimson, and icy blue sliced through slow rolling haze, illuminating leather armor detailed with knotwork and etched brass. Each color shift marked a new rhythmic pivot, turning the arena into a vivid storyboard of Mongolian myth rendered in light.

The musicians relied on neither pyrotechnics nor gimmicks. Precision playing, layered harmonies, and unforced charisma held the crowd in a grip that felt both primeval and fiercely contemporary.
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Galbadrakh “Gala” Tsendbaatar singing and bowing beneath blue-pink back-light. © Diana Nikolova
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Temuulen “Temka” Naranbaatar locking in a tovshuur rhythm. © Diana Nikolova

Performer: Nyamjantsan “Jaya” Galsanjamts
Signature contribution: Center-stage voice whose throat-sung growls and soaring overtones cut the mix with organ-level depth and unshakable authority.

Performer: “Gala” Tsendbaatar
Signature contribution: Warm yet ferocious co-lead; his morin khuur lines and melodic timbre add harmonic grit and emotional lift to every refrain.

Performer: “Temka” Naranbaatar
Signature contribution: Metronomic tovshuur patterns and understated harmonies form the rhythmic spine that anchors sudden dynamic shifts.

Performer: “Enkush” Batjargal
Signature contribution: Stationed on the left side of the stage, Enkush sustained deep drones on the morin khuur, giving the music its rumbling foundation.

Each member showcased individual virtuosity while serving the collective story—music as a living archive rather than a solo showcase.
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Sight, Sound, and Symbolism
Traditional attire—braided leather, horsehair tassels, and brass plates—reinforced the image of warriors wielding timeless instruments in a modern arena. Carved headstocks stood like sentinels above the mix, reminding listeners that every note carried centuries of culture. The effect was a multisensory tableau: part shamanic rite, part widescreen cinema.
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Profile of Jaya singing into an ice-blue glow. © Diana Nikolova

Cultural Reach Beyond the Stage
The HU’s sonic palette now powers both video games and film projects. Their original track “Sugaan Essena” anchors a key scene in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (2019), proof that this folk-metal hybrid can stride confidently into science fiction without shedding its roots.
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Local Engine, Global Ambition
Behind the scenes Bulgarian promoter Fest Team marshaled the logistics that put The HU on Vidas Art Arena’s summer calendar—another data point in Sofia’s steady rise as a magnet for arena-scale international tours.
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Closing Resonance
By the time the final overtones faded, The HU had delivered more than a concert. They presented a living archive of Mongolian identity, amplified to stadium scale and voiced with such conviction that myth felt briefly tangible. For Sofia, the night was a sonic revelation; for The HU, it marked another milestone on a journey that continues to redraw the map of modern rock.