We caught The Hu on their first of two stops in Brussels on their EU/UK tour, supported by the French vikings of Skáld. Sold out enough in advance to add a second date, the venue was packed.

After some shakeups in the roster and a quiet period, Skáld have been killing it in the summer festivals earlier in the year. This night was no different. With well thought out stage positions & lights to amplify the atmosphere driven by the primal, drum-heavy songs they won the room straight out the door. The live shows are much more energetic than the album would make you think. Wouldn’t be surprising if they started doing headlining shows of their own soon.

With the changeover came a switch in gear and tone. The Hu came on with a much more typical rock setup, but the audience didn’t seem to mind much, going by the HU! HU! HU! chants. After a more subdued song dedicated to the (fore)fathers halfway through the set, they kicked things in high gear with a massive inflatable Khan statue that’s hard to distinguish from stone once up and all the viral hits saved up for last. The reward came as an unending pogo pit and more Hu! Hu! chants. Requests for encore were met with a fully mongolian cover of Iron Maiden’s The Trooper, which, I must say, was a fine choice and an adaptation of the famous song.