Nine Treasures: From The Steppes
Heavy music appears in all shapes and sizes from all corners of this hunk of space rock we call home. North America and Western Europe may be the international hubs of the heavy music scene, but everywhere there are people, metal can be found. From the frozen lands in Russia and Eastern Europe to the sun-scorched lands of Australia and the Middle East, from the jungles of South America to the Far East, like all cultures throughout human history every region of our planet has its own tradition of heavy music in some form. And Greater Mongolia is no different. From pioneers HURD to modern viral sensation THE HU, heavy music has had a solid, if deeply underground, representation in Mongolia’s capital – and just over the border in the Chinese province of Inner Mongolia TENGGER CAVALRY brought the heavy music of Greater Mongolia to an international stage, while cult compatriots NINE TREASURES toiled in the underground. That may be set to change, though, with NINE TREASURE’s scorched-earth policy towards their back-catalogue, and the start of a new era for the outfit.
As the release of their newest offering Awakening From Dukkha approached, all prior work from NINE TREASURES was purged from the internet. Streaming platforms, Bandcamp pages, YouTube streams, all disappeared seemingly overnight, leaving Awakening From Dukkha as the sole record accessible to NINE TREASURES’ fanbase – new or existing. A collection of some of frontman and creative mastermind Askhan Avagchuud’s favourite songs from the past decade of the band, recorded and modernised, this is the beginning of a new dawn for the Inner Mongolian folk metallers.
“The past three albums are performed and recorded very poorly. The guitar and bass was recorded through amp simulation which can never compare to the real amp, the drums were midi, not real playing and our playing skills were not high enough for recording a professional metal album. The quality of these albums is not acceptable for my ears.” Askhan explains on both the reasoning behind Awakening From Dukkha and the purging of all their previous work. “Every time I listen to those albums, I just feel very upset and very sorry for the fans who supported us – I think people deserve the best from us, so I decided to re-record those 12 songs that we are most proud of. We spent almost half of the income for the year to buy some very nice gear, and I spent a lot of time learning about how to record, mix and master a professional metal album. This time, I’m very happy with the result.”
And so he should be. The leap in quality between the earlier work of NINE TREASURES and Awakening From Dukkha is almost incomparable – strong ideas built on amateur playing versus the work of true artists. The masterful blending of traditional Mongolian folk music and hard-hitting, thrash-leaning power metal has always been one of the strongest elements in Ashkan’s armoury, but now the execution matches the ideas things sound bigger and better than ever for NINE TREASURES.
“It was really hard at the beginning, but I got better after all the time and effort I put into developing my songwriting skills. I’m a die hard metal fan, so I’m definitely not going to lower the volume of the high gain guitar sound, but I like the traditional instruments at the same time. My goal is to balance the two elements equally – that is the most challenging thing of all time.”
Armed, ready and motivated to take NINE TREASURES to a new level, there is a very palpable excitement coming from Ashkan. Not just about Awakening From Dukkha, but about the development of the band moving forward, and the opportunity to incorporate his relatively new-found faith into the band’s work.
“I want to put my everything into this next album to make it as great as possible. I don’t care how long it will take, or how much money it will need – I feel like I only have this one opportunity to make another album. The lyrics will definitely be inspired by the wisdom of Buddha. I’ve been practicing Buddhism for over two years now and I want to share the greatness of Buddha’s teachings to the world to help people pull themselves from anxiety. Musically, it will be more complex, full of details and much longer than previous albums.”
HURD might have a longer heritage. THE HU might have viral success. But make no mistake, NINE TREASURES are not to be overlooked or ignored. Awakening From Dukkha is the end of an era for the Inner Mongolian outfit, but also the start of a new one. Keep your sights on the Eastern plains over the coming months, because something very special indeed from NINE TREASURES is set to be rising from the steppes.
Awakening From Dukha is out now via self-release.
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