My introduction to Negura Bunget’s music dates back to 2008, when while on holidays, in a clearing below Olympus and a majestic August full moon, I first heard of their music, which I soon came to love. For those of you unfamiliar with their style, it is a fusion of black metal elements with traditional folk music paths from their native Romania.
Being a rather an unlikely candidate to visit Greece for a gig, the innermost wish to see them perform live, somehow turned into reality. The show took place in the hospitable medium sized, KooKoo, Live Bar, which was a bit of an odd choice of a venue, as not that many metal concerts tend to happen there. But the fact that March is jam packed with almost 20 concerts might have something to do with it.
Romanian darksters Grimegod, kicked off their performance, quite on time. They sound like the spiritual children of Negura Bunget, but a little more doom oriented and they so led us on a downward spiral full of melancholy and despair. Their sound was astonishingly good and the vibes and feeling that they emitted made them an ideal opener, unfortunately in front of a small amount of people.
Next up came our compatriots, Diablery, after a while and the did seem to excite the ever growing by that time crowd with their dynamic onstage presence and well executed songs, in the vein of the great Emperor and Limbonic Art. Real, majestic and quite old school. The cover of “The Somberlain” by the cult favorites Dissection, was also a nice touch and a sort of highlight of their performance.
By then and as the crowd had almost filled up a little more than half of the venue and when the call of the wind and the tolling of wooden bells was heard, it felt really mystifying, transferring us out of the worldly plain, closer to the mystical divinity of nature’s virgin bosom. Unfortunately the spell they were casting on the listeners was somehow diminished as during the first couple of songs the vocals and guitars were hardly audible, but thankfully from the third song onwards, things did seem to get a lot better, with both the levels and the mix getting a lot better. The band was modest and rather laconic, but that didn’t work against them, but amplified their appeal furthermore, with almost everyone surrendering to their magical, enchanting music. Although I feel that the show could have lasted longer, by checking the clock, they were on for about an hour and a half, which is fair I suppose. Their songs are a little long winded, so thus, not too many can fit on a setlist, but still a couple of more wouldn’t have hurt at all.
I hope that in the future, they might return here, with more people turning up and I’d like to wish them very likable bunch of people a successful tour, as Greece apparently was the opening night on their current tour.
Setlist (Negura Bunget):
1) Iona Dincolo De Negura
2) Nametemie
3) Pamint
4) Cunoastera Tacuta
5) Inpodobeala Timpului
6) Cungerea Muntelui
7) Schimniceste
8) Dacia Hiperborea
9) La Hotaru Cu Cinci Culmi
10) Hora Soarelui
Romanian darksters Grimegod, kicked off their performance, quite on time. They sound like the spiritual children of Negura Bunget, but a little more doom oriented and they so led us on a downward spiral full of melancholy and despair. Their sound was astonishingly good and the vibes and feeling that they emitted made them an ideal opener, unfortunately in front of a small amount of people.
Next up came our compatriots, Diablery, after a while and the did seem to excite the ever growing by that time crowd with their dynamic onstage presence and well executed songs, in the vein of the great Emperor and Limbonic Art. Real, majestic and quite old school. The cover of “The Somberlain” by the cult favorites Dissection, was also a nice touch and a sort of highlight of their performance.
By then and as the crowd had almost filled up a little more than half of the venue and when the call of the wind and the tolling of wooden bells was heard, it felt really mystifying, transferring us out of the worldly plain, closer to the mystical divinity of nature’s virgin bosom. Unfortunately the spell they were casting on the listeners was somehow diminished as during the first couple of songs the vocals and guitars were hardly audible, but thankfully from the third song onwards, things did seem to get a lot better, with both the levels and the mix getting a lot better. The band was modest and rather laconic, but that didn’t work against them, but amplified their appeal furthermore, with almost everyone surrendering to their magical, enchanting music. Although I feel that the show could have lasted longer, by checking the clock, they were on for about an hour and a half, which is fair I suppose. Their songs are a little long winded, so thus, not too many can fit on a setlist, but still a couple of more wouldn’t have hurt at all.
I hope that in the future, they might return here, with more people turning up and I’d like to wish them very likable bunch of people a successful tour, as Greece apparently was the opening night on their current tour.
Setlist (Negura Bunget):
1) Iona Dincolo De Negura
2) Nametemie
3) Pamint
4) Cunoastera Tacuta
5) Inpodobeala Timpului
6) Cungerea Muntelui
7) Schimniceste
8) Dacia Hiperborea
9) La Hotaru Cu Cinci Culmi
10) Hora Soarelui
Guest Editor: Vicky “Thrud” Samartzi