Review - The Hu + Skáld - LCR - 11th October 2026

Review - The Hu + Skáld  - LCR -

 

11th October 2026

Photography and words by BeckyKat Kaptures

Tonight I'm so thrilled to be covering The Hu who are playing the LCR, there's been a lot of understandable excitement for this show.

This powerhouse is a band all the way from Mongolia, and they bring great traditional sounds of Mongolian throat singing to their folk metal. They have deep connections to nature and their culture, tonight will be a wonderful experience. 

Supporting is Skald, originating from France inspired by Nordic culture, very dark folk, an ideal pairing for The Hu. Both are inspirational and bound to deliver an amazing performance. 

First on tonight is Skáld and what a beautiful entrance. Blessing the stage with sage as they walk on. That scent immediately got me into a much more spiritual headspace which is exactly where we needed to be. 

Beautiful blue light and smoke fill the air as drums pound and deep rumbling ominous bass envelops the hall, strings roll through and carry chanting vocals truly bringing this ritual to a start.

It feels like we could be at a pagan festival or Viking hall full of mead swilling revelers. 

Skáld really own the stage with their authentic look, feel and sounds using traditional instruments including a donkey jawbone. 

Norse gods are summoned with horns blown and deer horns as percussion hammered to the rhythm of this tribal folk.

They subscribe to salvaging found objects rather than hunting or commercially purchasing of these honoured pieces. 

Their movements are incredible and you can feel the power of the sound. 

This was an incredible and spiritual way to begin the evening. 

Taking to the stage, our headliners, The Hu, get the crowd chanting and clapping along from the start. 

The impressive 8 piece band fills the stage with the 2 drum kits, standard and hengereg on a raised platform, 2 guitarists, bass and 2 signature instruments played by a bow, the Morin Khuur and Tovshuur. 

Different gods are summoned now, "Shadow" really gets the room moving. Throughout there is visuals which work perfectly with the atmosphere of each track. 

The throat singing, along with pounding drums and at times a mouth harp, the Tumur Khuur (Jaw Harp), creates such an incredible atmosphere. 

"Warrior Chant" has the crowd chanting as if going into battle into snow capped hills. 

We are treated to "Echo of my Father" a beautiful slow emotive track. 

With "Black Thunder", this classic track coming on and the pit explodes jumping in unison. 

Followed by another classic "Yuve Yuve", another classic with people chanting and dancing along. 

"Wolf Totem" really builds with chanting, drum pounding, fist pumping shredding solos on Morin khuur (horsehead fiddle). 

For the encore we are treated to a cover of Iron Maiden's "The Trooper" in Mongolian with throat singing and dual shredding, it's truly an impressive cover. 

What a journey, such a mystical night I think we all felt the power and energy tonight. 

Follow here:

The Hu - Facebook - Instagram

Skáld - Facebook - Instagram