SULD: The Sound of the Steppe Reimagined Through Metal

From the grasslands of Inner Mongolia comes SULD—also known in Chinese as 战旗 (Zhanqi, meaning “battle flag”)—a band whose music brings Mongolian cultural heritage into the force and scale of contemporary metal.

Founded in 2015 by vocalist, guitarist and composer Bai Sile, SULD combines heavy guitar riffs, bass and drums with Khoomei throat singing and traditional Mongolian instruments. Their music is powerful and cinematic, yet its identity reaches far beyond genre. At its heart is a continuing conversation between inherited culture and contemporary life: between the openness of the steppe and the intensity of the modern stage.

Where Mongolian Tradition Meets Heavy Metal

SULD’s sound is built around contrast. Distorted guitars and driving percussion create a dense, physical foundation, while the Morin Khuur—often called the horse-head fiddle—carries melodies shaped by the landscape and musical traditions of Inner Mongolia. Khoomei adds another extraordinary dimension, allowing a singer to produce a fundamental tone and resonant overtones simultaneously.

The band’s musical language also incorporates traditional percussion, jaw harp and Mongolian plucked and wind instruments. Rather than treating these instruments as decoration, SULD places them at the centre of its composition and performance.

This approach allows ancient timbres and techniques to remain recognisable while entering a new sonic environment. Metal does not replace the tradition; it becomes another vessel through which that tradition can speak.

SULD has also explored the development of the SULD Qin, a distinctive instrument connected to the band’s creative identity. Its construction, amplification and future possibilities form part of SULD’s wider interest in how traditional craftsmanship can evolve alongside contemporary composition and stage production.

Music Rooted in Culture, Landscape and Memory

SULD’s work draws inspiration from Mongolian history, spirituality, nature and nomadic philosophy. Images of horses, wind, mountains, migration and the vast grasslands are not simply visual motifs: they shape the atmosphere and emotional architecture of the music.

The band’s Chinese name, 战旗, evokes the image of a battle flag—a symbol of courage, identity and collective memory. The name SULD carries similarly deep cultural associations, suggesting a protective spiritual force and an enduring connection between people, ancestry and land.

These ideas are reflected in music that can feel ceremonial, defiant and meditative at once. A SULD performance can move from spacious traditional melodies to overwhelming walls of sound, with Khoomei, strings, percussion and metal instrumentation meeting in the same musical landscape.

A Powerful International Live Band

Since its formation, SULD has performed at more than 350 concerts and festivals, developing a live reputation built on musical precision, commanding stage presence and a strong sense of cultural identity.

The band has taken its music beyond China, including appearances in Germany and a United States tour titled Mongolian Faith in 2019. These international performances have introduced audiences to a form of Mongolian metal that is both culturally grounded and open to artistic exchange.

SULD’s concerts are more than demonstrations of unusual instruments or vocal techniques. The traditional and contemporary elements operate as one band, creating a performance that feels cohesive, immediate and emotionally charged. Audiences do not need prior knowledge of Mongolian music—or even of metal—to experience the scale and atmosphere of the work.

Cultural Exchange Through Contemporary Music

SULD’s artistic practice raises an important question: how can cultural heritage remain alive without becoming fixed in the past?

For SULD, preservation does not mean imitation. Tradition continues through performance, experimentation, craftsmanship and collaboration. By composing with traditional instruments, developing new performance techniques and placing Mongolian musical knowledge in dialogue with contemporary metal, the band creates space for heritage to evolve.

This makes SULD particularly suited to cross-cultural work. Their music provides a meeting point for musicians, composers, instrument makers, students and audiences interested in metal, world music, classical traditions, cultural heritage and experimental performance.

Akai Live is working with SULD to develop opportunities for cultural exchange, artistic collaboration and live presentation in the UK. This includes exploring connections with Manchester-based musicians and creative communities, alongside opportunities for bilingual discussion, instrument demonstrations, collaborative composition and performance.

The aim is not simply to bring a band from one country to another. It is to create meaningful encounters: between different musical traditions, between artists and audiences, and between cultural memory and new creative possibilities.

The Battle Flag Continues to Fly

SULD represents a generation of artists who are deeply connected to their cultural roots but unwilling to be confined by conventional ideas of tradition.

Their music carries the sound of the grasslands into a contemporary international setting—through the resonance of the Morin Khuur, the overtones of Khoomei, the pulse of traditional percussion and the unmistakable force of metal.

This is music shaped by heritage, but facing forward.

This is SULD.