NEGURA BUNGET „“N Crugu Bradului””

Music: Black Metal
Country: Romania
Web site: www.negurabunget.com
Cool Songs: II, IV

Black metal groups have always found Transylvania, particularly the Carpathian Mountains, a topic of great interest. The country’s enchanting forests, the legends and superstitions of old, and—most of all, the Wallachian Prince Vlad Dracula are common topics found in black metal art. Most of these bands can only learn about Transylvania’s mystifying countryside through literature or some other form of media. Hailing from Romania, NEGURA BUNGET is one of the few who writes odes to the Carpathian Mountains through first-hand experience.

Released in 2002, “N Crugu Bradului” is a concept album centered on the group’s relationship with their immaculate surroundings. It is an expression of the group’s spiritual bond with nature. The aforementioned album is set up in four tracks. The number four is used for symbolic purposes. Four can mean the four seasons, the cardinal directions, the four elements, and a number of other possibilities. All these concepts pertaining to this sacred number accentuate the pagan vibe found throughout “N Crugu Bradului.”

NEGURA BUNGET utilizes various tempos, mood changes, and instrumentation to properly represent nature’s vast transformations. At moments, they play harsh, cold black metal, like the winter winds that beat incessantly. Other times the group opts for stripped down, peaceful instrumentation. In these sections they play a variety of instruments such as xylophone, keyboards, acoustic guitars, and pipes. This would be a time when the wind dies, the sun comes out, and you experience a feeling of tranquility. Each instrument comes together to form a meditative shroud. This quality is the strongest at the end of the album when the group embarks upon a mind-altering journey of droning, throbbing experimentation. Although these periods of calm occur throughout the album, they revisit the scathing black metal passages—signifying the return of extreme weather. The vocal work is another integral element for upholding the album’s theme. For instance, Disciple’s clean vocals on track II sound like a medieval camp fire poet.

Despite being from a country far-removed from Scandinavia, where it seems about 90% of the world’s best black metal bands call home, NEGURA BUNGET has acquired a fairly large and fanatical fan base. There is no doubt that part of their following came from the originality this group brings. The variation and atmosphere of “N Crudu Bradului” makes for a bizarre, magical experience like none other.

note: 8/10

Tracklist

I
II
III
IV
Total Playing Time: 53:40

Line-up

Hupogrammos Disciple's (Edmond Karban) – vocals, guitars, keyboards, folk Instruments
Negru (Gabriel Mafa) – drums, percussion and folk instruments
Sol Faur- bass, guitars