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Normally, I don’t go for the neo-pagan folk black metal thing, as it usually comes off as satanic hippies in corpse paint frolicking in the woods with traditional acoustic instruments they don’t really know how to play, but there’s something to the music of Negura Bunget that’s captivating, fascinating and unique in a way that most run-of-the-mill black metal bands can’t pull off. Maybe it’s because they’re Romanian.
As to be expected of Transylvanian black metal, the music is extremely atmospheric – relying heavily on wispy keyboards, dulcimer, some sort of flute and spoken vocals. (All the lyrics, by the way, are in Romanian, adding drama and mystery to the lyrics shared by the two vocalists.) This is also very heavily produced music – a far stretch from the post-hardcore punk raw production of typical, or some would say, “true” black metal.
It’s in the middle of Vîrstele Pămîntului, though, that the album really hits its stride with “Chei de Rouă,” a song that effortlessly shifts between prog-based black metal and something that sounds like traditional Romanian drinking music to these ignorant American ears. Then, the following “Țara de Dincolo de Negură” comes across as a Tommy-(yes, The Who‘s)-esque black metal opera. “Jar” is an atmospheric soundscape and “Arborele Lumii,” the second to last track, succeeds as a powerful progressive black metal track that echoes moments of the more recent, post-prison Burzum albums.
When done right, this progressive pagan folk black metal thing can work really well. Perhaps more bands need to hear Negura Bunget as an example of how to do it right.
