The HU are hitting the high seas with the Straw Hat Pirates for the second season of Netflix series ONE PIECE. Specifically, the Mongolian folk-metal faves have teamed up with composers Sonya Belousova and Giona Ostinelli to deliver a buccaneering anthem for the show called “Pray to the Sun.”
The track begins with some gloriously HU-styled throat-singing, which is soon entwined with Irish musician Declan de Barra’s gold-gleaming tenor. While they sing a tune that alludes to Luffy and the Straw Hats’ overall journey, it’s explained in a press release that “Pray to the Sun” doubles as a “ferocious anthem for the Viking giants of Elbaf — warriors who worship the Sun God.”
You’ll find the honor-bound anthem (“We shall fight to the end and die a warrior’s death”) in the player above.
“We’ve greatly admired The HU for years and had been waiting for the right project to collaborate,” show composers Belousova and Ostinelli note in a statement. “Their fusion of ancient Mongolian tradition and modern metal felt like a perfect match for the two fan-favorite Viking giants of Elbaf, making ‘Pray to the Sun’ feel both visceral and utterly contemporary — defining the song and its characters through their signature vocal and instrumental palette.”
In addition to the HU collab, Belousova and Ostinelli score for the second season of ONE PIECE features a 90-piece orchestra, five different choirs, big band arrangements, “virtuosic soloists,” original songs and more. This will all be released together eventually as the ONE PIECE: INTO THE GRAND LINE soundtrack.
The first two episodes of ONE PIECE’s second season will be screened in theaters around North America on March 10th, which is the same day the shows hit the streaming platform.
As for the HU, the band recently premiered their original song “The Real You,” and have a spring North American tour lined up with Apocalyptica before they join up with Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson’s “Freaks of Parade” summer tour.