DZÖ-NGA — Five Treasures Of Snow (review)

DZÖ-NGA — Five Treasures Of Snow album cover Album · 2016 · Atmospheric Black Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
siLLy puPPy
DZÖ-NGA (zone-gah) is a one-man black metal project from Boston, USA formed in 2016 and takes its name from a Himalayan deity. The entire project is the creation of Cryvas who plays all guitars, keyboards and contributes all vocals and on this debut FIVE TREASURES OF SNOW. There is also a Tibetan singing bowl in the mix. The only other person involved is Aubeli Dove who contributes guest vocals. While sold as an atmospheric black metal album, which is where Cryvas would steer the band’s sound on the followup “The Sachem’s Tales,” this one is totally devoid of any type of percussion and comes off more in a dark ambient / dungeon synth type of sound however despite being totally focused on sound textures and atmospheric structures, there is definitely black metal to be heard albeit buried down into the mix which gives FIVE TREASURES OF SNOW a somewhat unique overall sound.

The theme draws inspirations from the frigid heights of the highest reaches of the Himalayan mountain range and utilizes Tibetan folk elements mixed with classical piano to establish a counterpoint of melodies. The synthesized aspects are in the forefront while the guitar distortion and raspy shrieked vocals are buried down with just enough audibility to be heard through the sweeping epic synth runs that sound right out of the Summoning playbook with soundtrack type loops of melody covering the musical plains. While there is no overall percussion there are some points where some chimes and bells do ring in a percussive manner.

The strangest aspect of FIVE TREASURES OF SNOW is certainly in how it’s mixed and which elements of the music are emphasized and shows a unique take on atmospheric black metal where the actual metal elements are tamped down into a place where they are struggling to find their way to prominence. Personally i find this one a little unsatisfying. The melodies are certainly pleasant as they convey a moody darkened feel that fits in well with the theme of existing high in the oxygen starved wastelands of the highest peaks on the planet, however the fact that the metal parts are de-emphasized as are the vocals leaves this feeling like i’m trying to listen to music from two houses away during a winter storm. While an interesting start, the DZÖ-NGA project becomes much more interesting on “The Sachem’s Tales” where the vocals are in full range (male and female) as are the black metal segments despite that album retaining it’s windswept gentleness as heard on this more ambient debut.
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