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Negura Bunget - Vîrstele pamîntului
We Say:- Negura Bunget have undergone something of a radical change in the past couple of years, two thirds of the original line up left, leaving drummer Negru to carry the banner for atmospheric Black Metal. Undaunted, Negru has assembled a brilliant new group of Romanian musicians and Vîrstele pamîntului is the first 'new' release by the 2010 line up. Although the line up has changed, this record continues along similar lines to the bands masterful previous release, 2006's widely acclaimed Om. The Black Metal roots and influences are still very much there, but the new lineup have brought something new and fresh, namely folk elements from the ancient and deep rooted Transylvanian tradition. It's unusual to find an album where growling vocals and intense guitar work go along with pan pipes and folk percussion instruments. A lot of 'Folk Metal' is a mess, but in Vîrstele pamîntului it all fits together beautifully. This is an album that impresses immediately, and only gets better with subsequent listens. It's a cliche to describe the album as organic, but with the themes and sounds rooted in an ancient folk tradition there is something elemental at the root of Negura Bunget's sound, for example Chei Due Roua has folk vocals and black metal growls overlaying each other, and somehow it just works. This is, then, an album of contrasts. The first three minutes or so of the first track Paminit are almost ambient, no crushing Black Metal riffs here, just percussion, pan pipes, glockenspeil and hunting horns. It sounds questionable but trust me, it works. But like the weather this is a lull before the storm of crushing riffs and proper old school Black Metal. One of the most impressive features of this album is how it carries you along on waves of different emotions. Sometimes it's folk, sometimes it's ambient and sometimes it's pure snarling metal. Highpoints of the album ? Well genuinely there is not a bad track on here. Listen to any of them and it will leave you wanting to hear more. So if you like your music with soul and imagination, and want Black Metal without all the satanic overtones, Negura Bunget could be the band for you. The question is, is Vîrstele pamîntului as good as the brilliant Om ? Honestly... No. It's so much better. Definitely my album of the year so far, and It'll take something really special to displace it come the year end roundup. The new incarnation of Negura Bunget have also re-recorded 2000's release Maiastru Sfetnic, now renamed Maiestrit. This illustrates how Negru's imagining of those tracks has changed over the past 10 years, and interestingly gives the new line-up a sense of validity when playing the tracks live.
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