Transilvanian Splendour ...

Here is my last post on Negura Bunget ending with the bands last outing "Om". I only own these 3 albums and other than new releases will probably never get a chance to explore their roots and earlier work. However, with just one brilliant EP, Negura Bunget have shown a real growth and exploration in music that most bands take years to hone.

The music on "OM" is raw, passionate, brutal and uplifting. It provides an escape from traditional black metal by adding elements of symphony and traditional, almost tribal sounds while keeping a base rooted in black metal. The music is eerie and almost hypnotic.

"Om" starts off with the ambient and spine chilling "Ceasuri Rele" whose narrative vocals are steeped in fear and pain. With every short breath and shallow swallow enhances the overall eeriness as it transitions into "Tesarul De Lumini" a rhythmic Falkenbach style. "Tesarul De Lumini" is an epic, haunting song with some moving melodic guitar work before getting brutal and bleak. It is picturesque in sound much like Moonsorrow.

"Primal Om" is a narrative brooding piece reminiscent of the Dracula (Bram Stoker's) soundtrack which sets the stage for my favourite track "Cunoasterea Tacuta". This song is melodic with death metal intensity. The mix of bleak screaches and clean male vocals is disturbingly uplifting and adds a gothic feel. "Inarborat" has a symphonic melodic opening not unlike Summoning before diving into t traditional sounding black metal with eerie keyboards and raw brooding sound.

"Dedesuptal" is a raw black metally tune with Twin Obscenity style keys and Summoning style tribal percussion. It's a brutally heavy and raw tune before ending with a Voivod-esque jazzy guitar and brooding keys. "Norilor" is a traditional symphonic percussion heavy instrumental leading into the raw and dark black metal beast "De Piatra". This song is heavy and deathy reminding us that this is a metal album but does not stand out from the overall mood. All the same a very brutal song.

"Cel Din Urma Vis" carries on with the epic and dark sound with symphonic passages and ambient interludes and mid-paced to fast black metal riffing. This is followed by the brutally intro'd folk influenced "Hora Soarelui". It is melodic and playful and melancholic and bookended by brutal black metal. The album ends with the ever brooding ambient song "Al Doilea Om" that leaves a sense of fear and horror.

"Om" is a black metal masterpiece chocked full of various styles and elements that create a conceptual sense of being and very non-traditional black metal listening. This is not for everybody, but I wish it would be. Coming up next Sunday is the talented and dark band Woods Of Ypres. After that, well I've been itching to tell everyone about the new Virgin Black, so I'll be looking at Virgin Black's discography.