The Hu Put Mongolian Twist on Metallica’s “Sad But True”

Mongolian folk metallers The Hu have released a cover of Metallica’s 1991 anthem, “Sad But True.”

The Hu have kept the basic structure and composition of the original intact, but have made the cover entirely their own by adding traditional Mongolian instrumentation, their signature style of throat singing and swapping out the lyrics for their native language, Mongolian, all fantastic flourishes (particularly Kirk Hammett’s iconic guitar solo as played on the morin khuur, or horsehead fiddle).

It’s difficult to get excited about “Sad But True” after nearly three decades of overplay at sports stadiums, rock radio and, well, everywhere — not to mention Kid Rock’s appropriation of the track — but I’ve gotta hand it to The Hu for doing a nice job here. I actually enjoyed listening to this song for the first time in a while!

The cover comes as the inaugural entry in The Best Of Better Noise Music: 15 Years Of Rock series which runs throughout record label Better Noise’s (previously known as Eleven Seven) 15th year in business (2021) and “features exciting new versions of songs from their diverse rock catalogue.”