[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]1[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]vremea locului sortit[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
2[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]în-zcîcnirea apusului [/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
3[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]a-vînt în abis[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
4[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]al locului[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]5[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]bruiestru[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
6[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]plecãciunea mortii
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The care taken by the band to handcraft this black digi-box and inlay packaging matches the intricate nature of the music itself. Starting where Sala molksa left off, Maiastru Sfetnic sees NEGURÃ BUNGET delve deeper into the forests of their Romanian ancestry to strip away the corpse paint and deal with the spirituality under the skin.
[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Maiastru Sfetnic has a constant feel of impending doom, a perfect soundtrack to their band moniker with the black fog creeping out from the Romanian forests at dawn, carrying with it the spririts of the dead ready to engulf all that they approach. The 'randomness' in the orchestration and percussion therefore matches the drifting direction of these 'mists'.
[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The vocals on Maiastru Sfetnic play out as if possessed by some demonic animal - on "vremea lolului sortit" for example, Hupogrammos Disciple's (vocals, guitars & keyboards) voice sounds like a snarling wolf, and together with his own subtle keyboard playing, he ends up literally howling.
[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]"a-vînt în abis" shows how much these guys must be enamored with EMPEROR's In the Nightside Eclipse. It's also not until I heard this song that I started to comprehend exactly how much classical music can influence black metal song structure - and quite evidently, there are neo-classical progressions being played here except with a slightly more anthemic feel.
[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]"al locului" is the epic track on the album, exploding out with kettle drums hammering, and Hupogrammos Disciple's voice again being put to good use to create this added spiritual dimension. A key success factor for NEGURÃ BUNGET is that they use vocals sparingly, so there are as many instrumental interludes as there are vocalized sections; a good example of this is displayed in the next track, "bruiestru" - indeed, it is an instrumentalist's delight, building imagery of something actually quite Viking-esque in that infamous BATHORY manner.
[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]"plecãciunea mortii" ends the album with anthemic keys aplenty sharing between heavy melody and whispering chimes, only to be interrupted with some stunning percussion work by Negru - defintiely his shining moment on the album.
[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]There are no gimmicks at play here, particularly where Negru (co-founder) has earned a PhD in Romanian Folklore and stands as editor for the “NEGURÔ journal supporting the Central European ideologies and underground metal scene. The entire band, in fact, surround themselves with reminders of the ancient Dacic Empire and choose to leverage their own heritage and beliefs into their music, making it unique to say the least. Which other black metal band bases their music on Romanian history, spirituality, and culture? Might I remind you, this is not the equivalent of an American band reading articles about, say, ancient Egypt and turning them into song lyrics. NEGURà BUNGET are the real deal.
9.5/10
[/FONT]
