The Hu : "Hun"

This project feels a little contrived to me. I think the folk elements of what they do work, but the metal side sounds like a Temu version of Black Album-era Metallica. If they were jsut a Mongolian band playing metal, it would be one thing, but they are being marketed like it's It's a Small World of Metal. The fact that they are dressed like extras from Dr Strange only makes the point clearer. You mean to tell me they just broke out of their homeland, which has little contact with the music industry, or they were founded and developed? Almost liek the male version of Babymetal

 It opens with the most commercial song, Nothing. More guests on "Lost Soul," which is well written and produced, though nothing groundbreaking. But for big dumb metal for the summer festival beer-drinking crowd, it works."The Men" would sound like Nickelback if it were not dressed up as folk metal. There is a little more nuance to "Echoes of My Father", but vocals are not these guys' strength.  The song " Shadow " was such generic metal that it just faded into the back, and I had to give it a second listien to pay more attention to what is going on, which is not much. The first song that grabs me is "The Real You"; the riff is kind of thrashy and feels more like actual metal. Though the vocals continue to be weak.

There is more swubg in the groove to "the Gray Hun" but it makes it sound more like warmed-over Metallica. At their best vocally, you can tell it's taking a great deal of love from the producers. They go for a more melodic tone on "Universe," but the vocals hold them back; it feels like it is for a Disney movie. I think another thing I don't like about what they do is that none of this sounds dark; there are more introspective moments, but just anthemic rousing, which is also the thing I do not like about most power metal. I will give this album an 8  in trying to hear this from the perspective of a fan, thanks to the production and couple trong songs, but this whole thing feels highly contrived,