Orgil: Bass, Backing Vocals
Saina: Balalaika, Backing Vocals, Guitars
Namra: Drums
Nars: Morin Khuur, Backing Vocals
With In search of the Absolute, 9 Treasures‘ first album for Steel Blade, the alt-metal lineup is happy to ship their first globally launched album, In search of the Absolute. Fashioned by vocalist/guitarist Askhan Avagchuud in 2010 within the autonomous area of Interior Mongolia in China, 9 Treasures are a novel mixture of metallic and conventional Mongolian instrumentation, using each standard vocals and Mongolian throat singing. Guitars, bass, and drums collide with indigenous string devices, together with the balalaika and the morin khuur (horsehead fiddle). Briefly, pentatonic jap music combined with heavy metallic. The end result? A sonic kaleidoscope that follows no set template.
“On In search of the Absolute, we tried to seize the issues that really excite us deep inside, these unforgettable moments when your thoughts swings extensive open to infinite prospects,” says Askhan. “You open a brand-new realm for your self, unfamiliar, but extremely thrilling. On the identical time, it’s like an infinite puzzle, and to finish it, you additionally want calm reflection and meticulous evaluation. That’s why we glance upon it as ‘In search of the Absolute.’“
The singer/guitarist grew up listening to the Large 4, nu metallic and European bands like In Flames and Kids of Bodom. Askhan was cautious to make 9 Treasures‘ melding of genres an natural factor. “It’s not so simple as simply placing a guitar chord behind some Mongolian melodies,” he explains. “Our music is a lot deeper than that. We work to make sure the 2 distinct aspects of our sound complement each other. I’ve modified the best way I play the guitar to accommodate the Mongolian parts, and vice-versa. To do that takes loads of evaluation and experimentation.”
9 Treasures transfer simply from a straight-up headbanging model to the extra atmospheric progressive model on In search of the Absolute. Guitar-wise, Askhan makes use of loads of Mongolian taking part in strategies and songwriting logic into his taking part in and is happy for the “contemporary blood” it provides to the band’s sound. The quintet’s diversified approaches and common messaging will enable them to tour with any musically progressive band, be it Amon Amarth or TOOL.
The primary single from In search of the Absolute is “Actual Dream,” a track written whereas the band was in Los Angeles. “Actual Dream” marked a turning level for 9 Treasures. “It felt like moving into a brand new dimension. Via this track, we rediscovered our confidence and broke by an extended inventive bottleneck,” says Askhan. “It really felt like a rebirth. We explored each doable construction, piecing collectively the right association by limitless trial and error. In the long run, we obtained precisely what we had envisioned-it was all price it.“
“Till Now” was one other breakthrough second in writing for In search of the Absolute. “One morning, whereas taking part in the tovshuur [Mongolian plucked musical instrument] I stumbled upon a sliding riff that simply clicked,” Askhan recollects. “We saved refining it many times till it turned the ultimate model. Halfway by, the monitor breaks right into a stream-of-consciousness improvisation, wild and free. Each time we carry out it, it seems like driving a wave that simply retains rising and rolling. We get utterly misplaced in it-and we adore it.”
The title monitor absolutely embraces the spirit of Japanese taking part in techniques-”particularly glissando, again and again again-which is why the track’s working title was merely ‘Slide.’ By that point, our inventive course of had develop into utterly free,” Askhan says. “We now not cared about guidelines or boundaries-we simply adopted our instincts and poured the whole lot out. The twin solo within the center, between the morin khuur and the slide guitar, is one in every of my favourite moments-two devices, two textures, taking part in the very same notes. It’s an ideal fusion.”
The band takes its title from a gaggle of objects referenced in historical Mongolian poems, and in music, lyrics and visuals, 9 Treasures contact on the mythology and fairy tales of their homeland. However the band’s songs comprise extra common references, too, explains Askhan, a training Buddhist. “Lyrically, ‘In search of the Fact’ is a track about holding onto religion and in search of the last word fact of the universe. That’s one thing I’ve personally been striving for in current years-so in some ways, this track is a message to myself. A type of self-encouragement. However I additionally hope it will probably convey energy to others, too.”
Following 9 Treasures‘ 2024 signing to Steel Blade, the label re-released the 12-song compilation album Awakening from Dukkha in addition to 2017′s Knowledge Eyes. 9 Treasures play 100-plus competition reveals and headlining gigs per 12 months in Asia to audiences of as much as 80,000. With three acclaimed albums main as much as In search of the Absolute, thousands and thousands of streams, and festivals together with Wacken Open Air, Woodstock Poland and extra, 9 Treasures are completely poised to seize The Americas, Europe and onward.
Achievements up to now have been famous by the press worldwide, with publications together with The Quietus providing rave critiques: “There aren’t any compromises on sonic assault for the advantage of the historically acoustic devices. Tracks borrow gleefully from a variety of metallic strategies, taking the tuneful riffs of melodic metallic, the momentum of hardcore and the knack for complexity from progressive kinds, utilizing these in tangent with throat singing strategies to hammer dwelling the vocal hooks, that are sprinkled liberally.“
9 Treasures are wanting ahead to the October 24, 2025 launch of In search of the Absolute, wanting to unfold their distinctive sound and positivity worldwide. “Our new music matches with our historical past but in addition provides the viewers extra surprises due to tons of latest parts that we added. Our message is straightforward,” Askhan concludes. “We simply need everybody to be comfortable and luxuriate in themselves at our reveals. We wish 9 Treasures to convey some constructive power into the world – the best factor we will do with that is to assist folks.”
