The HU And Apocalyptica Co-Headlining Tour Stops In New Haven

Review by: Kat Gullage Photos by: Holly Roy Photography

Mongolian metal band The HU and Apocalyptica, the cellists from Finland that cover Metallica, made a stop at College Street Music Hall in New Haven, Connecticut Thursday, May 14th during their eighteen-date 2026 North American Spring tour with The Rasmus as support.

I had never heard of this alt pop rock group from Finland, The Rasmus, before but this four piece band has eleven studio albums! Their seven song set hit on four of em. Lead singer Lauri Ylonen introduced the quartet “Hello guys! We are The Rasmus from Finland!” before launching into “Break These Chains” (Weirdo), where the singer held the last note for a long ass time. “Thank you! It’s so nice to be here tonight! Here’s an old song called “Immortal” (Hide From The Sun).” “Thank you so much, I think it’s our first time in New Haven. We love it here! So glad to be with our friends in Apocalyptica and The Hu!” They dipped back into Weirdo for “Rest In Pieces” which flexed the usage of multiple vocals. I found the backing vocals key to their full sound. “This is “Guilty” (Dead Letters).” The fans helped sing the chorus loudly. “Creatures Of Chaos” (Weirdo) and “Livin’ In A World Without You” (Black Roses) were next up. “Thank you very much! We wish we could play more but we only have thirty minutes so we’ll have to come back!” The Rasmus closed with “In The Shadows” (Dead Letters). Lauri was backed by Eero Heinonen on bass, Aki Hakala on drums, and a much needed dose of female bad assery with Emilia “Emppu” Suhonen on guitar. Apparently we’re late to the party here in the states so give em a listen!

The Rasmus

Apocalyptica is a symphonic metal band from Finland. They have ten studio albums that include both tributes and originals, but built their reputation turning Metallica songs into towering cello-driven covers, which this particular set was dedicated to. Just like Metallica, the group opened their performance with a prerecorded version of Ennio Morricone’s “The Ecstasy Of Gold”, made famous by the film The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. We were greeted by three cellists and one drummer and they launched into “Battery” complete with synchronized head banging. Bandleader and cellist Eicca Toppinen addressed the fans, “New Haven are you ready to have a good time with Apocalyptica?! Are you ready to sing with us?!” and triggered a “Hey! Hey! Hey!” chant with the fans for the intro to “Enter Sandman”. Then it was back to the classic heavy stuff with “Creeping Death”. Eicca shouted “New Haven! I wanna hear you so give me some fucking noise! Let’s Go!!” as they rolled into “For Whom The Bell Tolls”. They didn’t treat the cellos as a typical symphony would, they attacked them aggressively. Tell ya what, they made “St. Anger” sound decent compared to the original after which Eicca asked “How many actually knew this one?” He began to count off “1-2-3”, “How many like it?” The crowd hollered their approval and the frontman commented they would keep it in the set. “Any old school Metallica fans? This one’s for you!” It was “The Four Horsemen” and, even in that format, Dave Mustaine’s influence still shone through. A thunderous version of “Blackened” was on deck followed by the staple “Master Of Puppets”. Then it was on to the song that should only be played at weddings, although it was more interesting hearing it played with cellos, “Nothing Else Matters”. It was back to combining classical with thrash for the fan anthem “Seek And Destroy” and the crowd executed their chorus as if they were at an actual Metallica concert. Apocalyptica closed with “One” and Eicca bid us farewell with “What a pleasure to be in your beautiful city with you tonight! We are Apocalyptica and we always play what we fucking want! You need a new t-shirt cuz you smell like shit. Thank you!” He was backed by the very animated and fun to watch Perttu Kivilaakso and Paavo Lotjonen on cellos and Mikko Kaakkuriniemi on drums. There was no singer / vocals. Apocalyptica fed us a multi layered unique performance that I won’t soon forget.

Apocalyptica

The HU, which translates to human beings, are a metal band that utilizes Mongolian language and throat singing along with traditional instruments. They have two studio albums, two EPs and a shitload of singles. The HU was a formidable presence as they took the stage, two drum kits plus six other members. The drum beats were floor shaking and primal as they catapulted into their fifteen song set with the unreleased track, “Lost Soul” followed by “Horse Men”. “Hello Haven, good to see you guys!” set off a “HU” chant reverberating through the crowd as they crashed into into “Khukhuchu Zairan”. They dipped into Rumble Of Thunder for “Upright Destined Mongol” before delivering three new singles, “The Men”, “Real You”, and “Warrior Chant”. “Thank you so much!” Beautiful images of sweeping landscapes and wildlife filled the big screen behind them during “Mother Nature” and the fans swayed while waving their hands left to right. “This song, you sing it. This song is “Shadow”. The HU followed it up with “Grey Hun” and “Black Thunder”. “Make some noise!” The faithful responded with a roaring “HU! HU! HU! HU! HU!” chant as the band played two from The Gereg with “Yuve Yuve Yu” and “Wolf Totem”. A track from their EP, Echos Of Thunder, “This Is Mongol” ended their main set and the encore delivered a reimagining of Iron Maiden’s “The Trooper” unlike I’ve ever heard. The HU is: Galbadrakh “Gala” Tsendbaatar and Enkhsaikhan “Enkush” Batjargal on morin khuur and throat singing, Nyamjantsan “Jaya” Galsanjamts on tumur hhuur, Temuulen “Temka” Naranbaatar on tovshuur, Unumunkh “Ono” Maralkhuu (percussion), Odbayar “Odko” Gantumur (drums), Nyamdavaa “Davaa” Byambaa (bass) and Jambaldorj “Jamba” Ayush (guitars). I don’t speak or understand Mongolian language but it wasn’t necessary to enjoy the performance. At one point it felt like the rhythms and sounds were completely in tune with my body in a cathartic wave. I shit you not. I saw an interview with Metallica’s guitarist Kirk Hammett and he described their sound as “unwordly”. Accurate. Tour runs through June 7th, Yavya! (Let’s Go!)

The HU