So I picked up writing again, not because I have the time to (it’s more of the opposite), but it’s just that I have no school or poetical inspiration to quench my thirst for composing literature. I stumbled across these two bands, Negură Bunget and Durdeduh, whose histories are intertwined through conflict.

In brief, Negură Bunget broke up in 2009, however drummer Negru decided wanted to continue with a new line-up, leaving co-founders Hupogrammos and Sol Faur to form Durdeduh. Now, I’m very grateful for Negru’s decision as this has given the world two excellent Romanian Black Metal bands in stead of one.

Negură Bunget’s latest full-length is called Vîrstele Pămîntului, which is roughly translated as Earth’s Ages and which came into the sun’s light through Code666 Records in 2010. The music is a balanced mixture of Progressive Black Metal and Folk Metal, and is quite reminiscent of Enslaved’s later work. Vîrstele Pămîntului is written in Romanian which, together with the flutes, dulcimers and other folk-instruments, makes for a nice vocal atmosphere throughout the album.

Interestingly, Negură Bunget seem to explicitly portray themselves as a “Transylvanian” band. Naturally, Transylvania is the home of the famed Count Dracula and songs like Întoarcerea Amurgului totally get me into this romantic proto-horror mood. Negură Bunget however goes beyond that, as an extensive explanation tells us about their concept of Slavic animism and mysticism. Putting the lyrics to Țara de Dincolo de Negură, through our beloved Google Translate got me in for a treat as the meanings of the songs are incredibly well conveyed (even though I only got the general stretch of it, of course), and a sense of Black Metal was lost here, as this song is not about mindless child sacrifice and temple prostitution, but about the dawning of twilight:

Next up, I have the first song of the album called Pămînt, which starts out as a wonderful atmospheric piece which later runs, through an a cappella moment with shrieks, into a full-on, mid-tempo piece. While listening you can visit the Negură Bunget Facebook page to pay for your pleasure.

Dordeduh naturally has a less extensive catalog to draw from since they only exist since 2009. Their EP Valea Omului, released by Lupus Lounge in 2010, is their only effort to date and it contains two whole songs comprising 13 minutes in total. Some impressive thirteen minutes I must say. Hupogrammos and Sol Faur seem to have taken Negură Bunget and stretched it across the range of music making it more dark and intense, but at the same time more calm and soft, especially during the more atmospheric parts.

Like Negură Bunget, Dordeduh emphasize on spirituality and philosophy, as their Facebook page explains, it means something like “yearning for the spirit”. However, as it goes with language, the actual meaning is much deeper, yet it’s lost in the translation.

As a treat for the ears I’ve gotten you both songs of the Valea Omului: Zuh – Cu Tunetul Munţilor and Cumpăt. The former is more of an atmospheric piece with choirs, violins and tribal drums, with in the middle a sudden outburst of Black Metal. The latter is more harsh, but at the same time contains more than enough beauty, nicely enhancing the previous track.

Dordeduh’s Facebook page contains a ton of messages from fans asking about the release date for their debut full-length so I’m sure on is in the making. Hopefully I will be able to get my hands on it as this will surely be a wonderful addition to the Romanian Black Metal-scene.

Tags: atmospheric, black, folk, progressive, Romanian

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 15th, 2012 at 8:42 pm and is filed under Music Posts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.