{"id":515035,"date":"2025-10-20T18:27:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T18:27:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/515035\/"},"modified":"2025-10-20T18:27:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T18:27:11","slug":"nine-treasures-seeking-the-absolute-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/515035\/","title":{"rendered":"Nine Treasures – Seeking the Absolute Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Nine Treasures<\/strong> has been around since 2010, and yet has always seemed like the new kid on the block. Hailing from Inner Mongolia, China, founder Ashkan Avagchuud pursued the integration of traditional Mongolian instrumentation with heavy metal since day one. Nine Treasures <\/strong>saw success with their first three independent releases, but also saw The Hu <\/strong>steal a bit of their black thunder by becoming a global hit with their take on Mongolian folk metal. Eventually, Nine Treasures<\/strong> grew dissatisfied with their own sound and disowned their previous records almost entirely<\/a> in a bid for rebirth. Now, they place their future in Seeking the Absolute, their first partnership with Metal Blade Records and first global release, where Nine Treasures <\/strong>attempts both a greater cohesion of folk instrumentation and heavy metal and to \u201ccapture the things that truly excite [them] deep inside.\u201d Fresh starts can make all the difference, but does it make enough of one for Nine Treasures <\/strong>to finally fulfill their potential?<\/p>\n

Seeking the Absolute continues Nine Treasures<\/strong>\u2019 pursuit of Mongolian folk metal, but ditches their previous full-throttle metal approach in favor of a more progressive, alternative philosophy. Tracks forgo the verse-chorus structure in favor of songs that ebb and flow, preferring groove over speed (\u201cIndecision,\u201d \u201cThe Ultimate Evolution.\u201d). More so than ever before, drummer Namra and bassist Orgil are unleashed on Seeking the Absolute, laying out hypnotic beats (\u201cReal Dream\u201d) and pulsing grooves (\u201cUntil Now\u201d) with an expertise that feels effortless. Saina\u2019s balalaika and Nars\u2019 morin khurr, while always good, now feel essential to Nine Treasure<\/strong>s<\/strong>\u2019 sound, with balalaika providing a percussive role to \u201cIndecision\u201d and morin khurr used for both drone notes and leads on \u201cSteel Falcon.\u201d Seeking the Absolute thrives off repetition, with expert musicianship and clever songwriting keeping the slow progressions more meditative than monotonous. But nowhere does main-man Ashkan forget to bring the big guitars or big vocals when they matter most, dishing out riffs reminiscent of TOOL <\/strong>and alt-era Metallica <\/strong>from opener \u201cUntil Now\u201d to the closing title track. Their reinvention succeeded; Nine Treasures<\/strong> landed on a style that works for them.<\/p>\n

\ufeffSeeking the Absolute by Nine Treasures<\/a>
Nine Treasures<\/strong> are more distinct and interesting than ever on Seeking the Absolute, but not without their shortcomings. Though they reject conventional pop\/rock structure, songs on Seeking the Absolute still follow certain patterns of quiet starts, loud verses, quiet bridges and loud finishes. While electrifying on \u201cUntil Now\u201d or \u201cSteel Falcon,\u201d even reaching its best execution in the closing title track, there\u2019s nonetheless a sense that you\u2019ve heard it all before by then. A lack of solos also contributes to this issue; a guitar solo here or there would help differentiate things. Further, Seeking the Absolute\u2019s approach to alt-prog draws too much from TOOL <\/strong>for comfort, particularly in its delay-heavy bass lines played high on the fret board that makes me wonder if Justin Chancellor has some missing pages in his notebook (\u201cThe Ultimate Evolution\u201d). Seeking the Absolute has all the pieces of a great album, and I know the pieces fit, but in Nine Treasures <\/strong>discovering their sound, they may have played too closely into it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Regardless, for a band drastically changing sound, Nine Treasures <\/strong>has crafted a remarkably engaging and re-listenable album. Seeking the Absolute sounds much better than its brick-walled DR score would suggest, with every instrument and voice sounding clear and well-balanced in the mix. This lets the fantastic performances shine within Seeking the Absolute\u2019s tight, immediate songwriting, such as the folk-forward groove of \u201cJust Like You,\u201d the 10,000 Days-but-lean \u201cIndecision,\u201d and the thrashy morin-khurr-and-guitar assault on \u201cLonely Old Horse.\u201d Vocally, Ashkan has the range and control to make lighter moments like \u201cIndecision\u201d and \u201cJust Like You\u201d soar, and the grit and power to belt out the heavier tunes like \u201cUntil Now\u201d and \u201cSteel Falcon.\u201d Even though I don\u2019t understand a word of what he\u2019s saying, he still commands ateention like the best frontmen can. Both progressive and concise, easy-listening and inventive, Nine Treasures <\/strong>give Seeking the Absolute broad appeal and artistic depth.<\/p>\n

Nine Treasures <\/strong>was always good, but Seeking the Absolute sounds like what the band was always meant to be. Like Pantera <\/strong>with Cowboys from Hell, Nine Treasures <\/strong>exudes confidence in their transformation, crafting a fun, approachable chunk of metal without compromise to their new vision. There\u2019s still room to grow; TOOL <\/strong>will be expecting some compensation\/credits for a few of those bridges. But for fans of folk, progressive, and alternative metal, Seeking the Absolute is a joy to behold. Nine Treasures<\/strong> has arrived.<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: Very Good
DR<\/strong>: 4 | Format Reviewed<\/strong>: 256 kbps mp3
Label<\/strong>: Metal Blade Records<\/a>
Websites<\/strong>: ninetreasures.bandcamp.com<\/a> | ninetreasures.net<\/a> | facebook.com\/ninetreasuresofficial<\/a>
Releases Worldwide<\/strong>: October 24th, 2025<\/p>\n

\n\tGive in to Your Anger:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nine Treasures has been around since 2010, and yet has always seemed like the new kid on the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":515036,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3936],"tags":[743,10268,130236,168228,77,113586,62411,19158,269,168229,156239,25985,24761,6080,6082,168230,54363,29261,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-515035","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-743","9":"tag-3-5","10":"tag-alt-metal","11":"tag-chinese-metal","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-folk-metal","14":"tag-metal-blade-records","15":"tag-metallica","16":"tag-music","17":"tag-nine-treasures","18":"tag-oct25","19":"tag-pantera","20":"tag-progressive-metal","21":"tag-review","22":"tag-reviews","23":"tag-seeking-the-absolute","24":"tag-the-hu","25":"tag-tool","26":"tag-uk","27":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115407909899033704","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=515035"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515035\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/515036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=515035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=515035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=515035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}