Negură Bunget

Negură Bunget was a black metal band from Timișoara, Romania whose atmospheric sound incorporated elements of progressive metal and Romanian folk music.[1][2]

Negură Bunget
Background information
OriginTimișoara, Romania
GenresBlack metal, folk metal
Years active1994 (1994)–2017 (2017)
LabelsBestial Records, Code666, Negura Music, Lupus Lounge/Prophecy Productions
Associated actsMakrothumia, Wiccan Rede, Dordeduh, Din Brad
Websitenegurabunget.com/
Members(see members section)

Biography

Negură Bunget originally formed at the end of 1994 under the name Wiccan Rede, as a duo of Negru (Gabriel Mafa) on drums and Hupogrammos Disciple (Edmond Karban) on guitars, vocals, and keyboards. Both musicians had previously been members of Makrothumia. Wiccan Rede released one demo, 1995's From Transilvanian Forests, before changing their name to Negură Bunget. In a 2004 interview, Negru explained the symbolism of the name:

Negură Bunget is a black fog coming from a deep dark dense forest. The name tries to picture somehow the kind of atmosphere, both musical and spiritual we'd want to create through our music. It has also an esoteric nature, standing for the inexpressible parts of our ideology. The two words are also from the Tracic substrate of the Romanian language (the oldest one, containing about 90 words) as the interest for our local history and spirituality is something of crucial importance and meaning for us as a band.[3]

The band's debut album, Zîrnindu-să, was released in 1996. In 1997, guitarist Sol Faur (Cristian Popescu) joined the group. As a trio, they released a demo, several EPs and three more full-length albums - Măiastru Sfetnic, 'N Crugu Bradului and OM.

The success of Măiastru Sfetnic (2000) secured the band a three-album contact with the Code666 label. Reaching a wider audience, they undertook their first European tours.

N Crugu Bradului (2002) included four songs spanning a total of nearly an hour. The band described the album as:

The 4th Negură Bunget phase… the principles of 4 (four). The natural form of the Universe to manifest itself (the 4 seasons, the 4 phases of the moon, the 4 moments of the day, the 4 winds, the 4 cardinal points, the 4 elements…). The principle of 4 is a form that needs to be activated, through the consciousness (the awakening of the conscience) moving towards contemplation, standing for the initiation though mystery.[4]

In 2006, Negură Bunget released OM, garnering significant attention from the extreme music press; for example, it was ranked as the second best album of 2006 by the writers of the British Terrorizer Magazine.

Drummer Negru (also the chief editor of the Central European ideological magazine Negura Music[5]) began a side project, Din Brad (meaning "from the fir tree"), in 2008.[6] although their first (and to date, only) album Dor was not released until 2012.

In 2009, Negură Bunget splintered due to unreconcilable disagreements between the three members. Both Hupogrammos and Sol Faur left and formed Dordeduh, while drummer Negru continued under the name of Negură Bunget with an array of new lineups.

The band's first new album since the lineup change, 2010's Vîrstele Pămîntului, was also released in a limited special edition version. Each of the 555 copies, handmade to order, consisted of a handcrafted, roped wooden box with a burned finish containing an undisclosed amount of genuine soil from Transylvania, a poster, pin and deluxe digipack edition of the CD itself.[7]

Also in 2010, the band released Măiestrit, a newly rerecorded version of Măiastru Sfetnic. They released an EP, Poarta De Dincolo,[8] in 2011, as well as Focul Viu, a live DVD and album recorded and filmed in Bucharest in January 2008 with the classic trio lineup and backing musicians.

Negru reshuffled the band's lineup completely again in 2013.[9] He explained the band's structural arrangement thus:

At the very core there are some musicians who will be involved in all the projects of the band. To this we’ll add another layer of musicians who will join us just for special events and studio projects. This more flexible approach will allow us to increase the use of authentic traditional instruments adding new elements and to explore new musical territories, both live and in studio.[10]

The band issued a two-song 7" single, Gînd A-prins, in 2013.

Negură Bunget's sixth studio album, Tău, was announced in 2013 as the first part of a planned "Transylvanian Trilogy".[11][12] It was released on 27 February 2015 by Prophecy Productions sublabel Lupus Lounge.

The band's seventh album, Zi, was released on 30 September 2016 by Lupus Lounge.[13]

Negru died on 21 March 2017, aged 42,[14] leaving the band without any original members, and effectively ending the group.

On 7 December 2018 the band announced on their Facebook page that the third installment of the "Transylvanian Trilogy", left unfinished following Negru's death, was finally going to be completed and released at some point in 2019, as a tribute to Negru.[15]

Band members

Former members
  • Negru (Gabriel Mafa) - drums, percussion (1995–2017), dulcimer, horns, xylophone (2002–2017)
  • Hupogrammos Disciple (Edmond Karban) - vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards (1995-2009), flute, horns (2002-2009)
  • Sol Faur (Cristian Popescu) - guitar, bass, keyboards, backing vocals (1998-2005, 2006-2009)
  • Ageru Pământului - percussion, nai, flute, xylophone, archaic instruments, vocals (2009-2012)
  • Inia Dinia - keyboards (2006-2013)
  • Gadinet (Cătălin Motorga) - bass, nai, flute (2009-2013)
  • Spin - guitar (2009-2010)
  • Corb (Alex G. Mihai) - vocals, guitar, dulcimer (2009-2010)
  • Urzit - guitar (2010-2013)
  • Fulmineos - guitar, vocals (2010-2013)
  • Chakravartin (Stefan Zaharescu)- vocals (2012-2013)
  • Vartan Garabedian - percussion, vocals (2013–2016)
  • Mtz (Mihai Neagoe) - sound design (2013–2016)
  • Tibor Kati - vocals, guitar, keyboards, programming (2013–2017)
  • OQ (Adrian Neagoe) - guitar, vocals, keyboards (2013–2017)
  • Petrică Ionuţescu - nai, flute, horns (2013–2017)
  • Ovidiu Corodan - bass (2013–2017)
  • Daniel Dorobanţu - visual design (2013–2017)

Former live members
  • Trunks (Dumitrescu Ionuţ) - bass
  • Diana Karban - keyboards
  • Gabi Karban - keyboards, bass (1996-2007)
  • Daniel Dorobanțu - keyboards (1997–1998)
  • Ursu - bass (1999–2007)
  • Necuratul - percussion (2000-2003)
  • Andrei Popa - bass, guitar (2005)
  • Iedera - keyboards (2005–2006)
  • Alin Drimuș - nai, pipes, wooden flute (2006)
  • Arioch - bass (2007-2009)
  • Olivian Mihalcea - guitar, nai, wooden flute, pipes (2016)

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

Singles and EPs
  • Sala Molksa (1998)
  • Inarborat Kosmos (2005)
  • Poarta de Dincolo (2011)
  • Gînd A-prins (2013)

Demos
  • From Transilvanian Forest as Wiccan Rede (1995)

Live albums
  • Focul Viu (2011)

Box sets
  • Negură Bunget Box (2004)
gollark: Vinet led Arch Linux until 1 October 2007, when he stepped down due to lack of time, transferring control of the project to Aaron Griffin.
gollark: Originally only for 32-bit x86 CPUs, the first x86_64 installation ISO was released in April 2006.
gollark: Inspired by CRUX, another minimalist distribution, Judd Vinet started the Arch Linux project in March 2002. The name was chosen because Vinet liked the word's meaning of "the principal," as in "arch-enemy".
gollark: Arch Linux has comprehensive documentation, which consists of a community wiki known as the ArchWiki.
gollark: Pacman, a package manager written specifically for Arch Linux, is used to install, remove and update software packages. Arch Linux uses a rolling release model, meaning there are no "major releases" of completely new versions of the system; a regular system update is all that is needed to obtain the latest Arch software; the installation images released every month by the Arch team are simply up-to-date snapshots of the main system components.

References
  1. Unger, Matthew (22 August 2016). Sound, Symbol, Sociality: The Aesthetic Experience of Extreme Metal Music. Springer. ISBN 9781137478351 – via Google Books.
  2. http://theobelisk.net/obelisk/2010/07/20/negura-bunget-if-brilliant-blackened-folk-metal-falls-in-the-forest/
  3. "Negură Bunget". Maelstrom Zine. maelstrom.nu/ezine. 2004-08-09. Archived from the original on 2007-03-08. Retrieved 2007-04-15.
  4. "Negură Bunget". Negură Bunget Official Website. Archived from the original on 2007-04-14. Retrieved 2007-04-15.
  5. https://www.facebook.com/neguramagazine Negura Music
  6. http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/negura-bunget-drummer-launches-din-brad/ Din Brad
  7. "NEGURA BUNGET "Virstele Pamintului" EARTHBOX Ltd". Aural WebStore. 2010-02-25. Archived from the original on 2013-07-25. Retrieved 2013-08-01.
  8. "Blabbermouth.Net - Negura Bunget Working On New Mini-Cd". Roadrunnerrecords.com. Archived from the original on 2012-09-11. Retrieved 2013-08-01.
  9. "Negură Bunget - History". Negurabunget.com. Archived from the original on 2013-05-02. Retrieved 2013-10-06.
  10. "Lineup". Metalfan. metalfan.ro.
  11. "Negură Bunget - New Album Update". Metal Storm. Retrieved 2013-10-06.
  12. http://www.metalunderground.com/news/details.cfm?newsid=83914 Metal Underground
  13. "Negura Bunget Continuing Their "Transylvanian Trilogy" with 'ZI'". 2016-08-04.
  14. "Negura Bunget Founding Member Negru Dead at 42".
  15. "Negură Bunget".
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