Negura Bunget - Vîrstele Pămîntului
Negura Bunget are one of those bands who continue to surprise their listeners, be it in musical style or line up changes. It seems that ever since the last album, Om, Negura has become an entirely new band with numerous member replacements, so it would be expected that with their current album they would deliver something new and improved. And Vîrstele Pămîntului is most certainly that. Digging way back into their Romanian roots, the band focuses more on creating an atmospheric, black metal masterpiece that is so varied and well constructed that it makes fans wonder if they're still listening to the same band that delivered the crushing, grim black metal album 'n Crugu Bradului. Yes, it's still them, and yes, evolution has certainly taken place.
The album starts out with "Pamint" which is a very atmospheric piece with a flute, acoustic guitar, and keyboard; hardly black metal at all. Throughout the album expect a lot of different atmospheric pieces mixed in with the heavier, black metal inspired pieces. "Dacia Hiperboreanã" is still very atmospheric to start out with, but eventually leads into the more cutting edge riffs followed by the darkly, evil snarls of Negura Bugent's new vocalist. He's very good at layering his vocals with others in the band and creating a haunting atmosphere with the clash of both the harsh and clean vocals. The guitars aren't always the usual crashing, distorted chords followed by heavier beats; sometimes they create an great melodic 'two note' picking that is simple but very effective. They keyboards, of course, always hover in the background.
"Umbra" is another ambient piece that offiers a different structure: percussive poundings ad a xylophone. It isn't as 'folky' as the first track, but still aesthetically pleasing. "Ochiul Inimii" offers more acoustic strings amongst the black metal roarings with a clean sound and good guitar work all around, both from the acoustic and electronic instruments. Both guitarists do a great job at playing off against each other halfway through the song. "Chei de Rouã" breaks the song structure formula by staying heavy, but offers more clean vocals in the Romanian native tongue along with appearances from the harsher vocals. "Ţara de Dincolo de Negurã" is a nicely balanced track of melody and harshness in how the black metal leads into the more folk inspired midsection of the song with some great quiet guitar sections along with percussive drumming before exploding into the harsher qualities. "Jar" slows things down by going back to the atmospheric side of Neguar Bunget, offering a very eerie keyboard driven track with some flute. "Arborele Lumii" is by far the most 'black metal' track on the album in the sense that it is harsh, hard, and lacks the acoustic atmospheric integrity of the other songs. The closer, "Întoarcerea Amurgului," however, does a good job at bringing the acoustic and folk influences back in for a great closer.
Overall, it is another milestone leap for atmospheric black metal. One could say that Vîrstele Pămîntului has made Negura Bunget a shining star in the way that The Mantle shot Agalloch to epic, proportional heights. This is probably the band's best work yet and a breath of fresh, unique air to the metal community. Definitely worth checking out for anyone who likes folk metal, atmospheric metal, or black metal with acoustic touches.
The album starts out with "Pamint" which is a very atmospheric piece with a flute, acoustic guitar, and keyboard; hardly black metal at all. Throughout the album expect a lot of different atmospheric pieces mixed in with the heavier, black metal inspired pieces. "Dacia Hiperboreanã" is still very atmospheric to start out with, but eventually leads into the more cutting edge riffs followed by the darkly, evil snarls of Negura Bugent's new vocalist. He's very good at layering his vocals with others in the band and creating a haunting atmosphere with the clash of both the harsh and clean vocals. The guitars aren't always the usual crashing, distorted chords followed by heavier beats; sometimes they create an great melodic 'two note' picking that is simple but very effective. They keyboards, of course, always hover in the background.
"Umbra" is another ambient piece that offiers a different structure: percussive poundings ad a xylophone. It isn't as 'folky' as the first track, but still aesthetically pleasing. "Ochiul Inimii" offers more acoustic strings amongst the black metal roarings with a clean sound and good guitar work all around, both from the acoustic and electronic instruments. Both guitarists do a great job at playing off against each other halfway through the song. "Chei de Rouã" breaks the song structure formula by staying heavy, but offers more clean vocals in the Romanian native tongue along with appearances from the harsher vocals. "Ţara de Dincolo de Negurã" is a nicely balanced track of melody and harshness in how the black metal leads into the more folk inspired midsection of the song with some great quiet guitar sections along with percussive drumming before exploding into the harsher qualities. "Jar" slows things down by going back to the atmospheric side of Neguar Bunget, offering a very eerie keyboard driven track with some flute. "Arborele Lumii" is by far the most 'black metal' track on the album in the sense that it is harsh, hard, and lacks the acoustic atmospheric integrity of the other songs. The closer, "Întoarcerea Amurgului," however, does a good job at bringing the acoustic and folk influences back in for a great closer.
Overall, it is another milestone leap for atmospheric black metal. One could say that Vîrstele Pămîntului has made Negura Bunget a shining star in the way that The Mantle shot Agalloch to epic, proportional heights. This is probably the band's best work yet and a breath of fresh, unique air to the metal community. Definitely worth checking out for anyone who likes folk metal, atmospheric metal, or black metal with acoustic touches.
- Pãmînt
- Dacia Hiperboreanã
- Umbra
- Ochiul Inimii
- Chei de Rouã
- Ţara de Dincolo de Negurã
- Jar
- Arborele Lumii
- Întoarcerea Amurgului
Aural Music
Reviewer: Colin McNamara
May 21, 2010
May 21, 2010
Next review:
Foretold - In Rotting Memory
Share this:
