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Negura Bunget - Zau
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When the creative mastermind and driving force behind NEGURÄ BUNGET, drummer Gabriel "Negru" Mafa suffered a terminal heart-attack on March 21, 2017 his tragic passing seemed to dictate that his grand vision of a metal-anchored musical interpretation of Romania's beautiful landscapes, traditions, and myths as well as his homeland's spiritually was doomed to remain as unfinished as Beethoven's 10th symphony. Yet the veteran musicians that had been with Negru in the final incarnation of NEGURÄ BUNGET's ever-changing line-up were not prepared to give up let his vision slip into unheard obscurity. By sheer luck, Negru's drum tracks for "ZÄu" had already been laid down and recorded before the band's final tour. All the sketches, demos, and rehearsal room recordings that they had been working on were painstakingly gathered, and each band member respectfully filled in the gaps in the same way as they would have done with the remaining co-founder of NEGURÄ BUNGET still alive; in utter dedication to the original idea. The result of this labour of love is "ZÄu", the stunning culmination and climax of NEGURÄ BUNGET's musical evolution and the "Transylvanian trilogy". On this album, the traditions of black and dark pagan metal have been completely fused with elements from Romania's rich musical heritage. Rich textures and epic cinematic passages make way for fragile and tranquil moments to be superseded by furious outbreaks. Just like the ever changing nature of Romania's Banat and Transylvania, "ZÄu" captures the colours and moods of the turn of the seasons in these lands and brings ancient legends to life. Formed in the city of Timișoara in the Banat region of Western Romania in 1995 by Negru and guitarist, vocalist and keyboard player Edmond‘ Hupagrammos’ Karban, NEGURÄ BUNGET's more traditional black metal roots already showed some hints of the rich, sensory experience that would follow. Initially released on cassette, the 1996 debut, "Zîrnindu-sÄ" was a whorl of Negru’s tumbling, cymbal-crash percussion, Hupagrammos' part feral, part awe-stricken vocals and his scrabbling, tremolo-picked riffs. 2000's sophomore album "MÄiastru sfetnic" was indicating a constant element in NEGURÄ BUNGET's nature, the dual and intertwined strands of keeping aspects from each previous album but at the same time undergoing a restless will to evolve and to broaden the musical horizon. Here they slowed the pace, burying Hupagrammos’ vocals deeper into the mix as they became more atmospherically unmoored, while the swells of keyboards were now riper with foreboding and tension. NEGURÄ BUNGET's band name is derived from ancient Romanian meaning a "dark, misty forest”, and it proved to be the defining legacy for 2002’s "'n crugu bradului" – an album that became the bridge between the band’s orthodoxy - shedding past and unchartered territory into which they would head next. The extended lengths of the tracks offered up tantalising new vistas to explore. The oscillating drones, faint tinkling of bells and metronomic peals of tremolo guitar that suggested transformation was afoot. The following album "OM" (2006) brought NEGURÄ BUNGET into the international spotlight and put Romania onto the global map of metal. "OM" amalgamated NEGURÄ BUNGET's brand of black metal and their Transylvanian roots into a state of symbiosis like never before. Essentially a single, flowing piece demarcated into 11 tracks, it was where native folklore became a prism through which something diffuse yet transcendent emerged. Hupogrammos had already introduced the tulnic, a long straight alphorn, on "'n crugu bradului", but "OM" added a new set of traditional instrumentation: the nai pan flute, and the toacÄ – a hammered wooden board hung from a frame that was traditionally used as a call to prayer – and now one of the most emblematic symbol in the Romanians' repertoire. Accessing the universal by digging deep into the local, "OM" set the band on a course that finds its culmination in "ZÄu". After the recording of "Maestrit" – a re-imagining of "MÄiastru sfetnic" that was finished in 2009, an irrevocable, acrimonious split ended the collaboration of Negru and Hupogrammos, who went on to form DORDEDUH with Sol Faur and then bassist Arioch. Negru continued with a much changed line-up, when NEGURÄ BUNGET re-emerged in 2010 with the full-length, Vîrstele PÄmîntului. Again, there was a striking level of continuity despite the many changes. Accentuating the more cinematic aspects of its predecessor, traditional instrumentation, luminous, quivering guitar lines, ferocious charges and keyboards welling up like an ancient mist all played off each other with a devout delicacy. Although NEGURÄ BUNGET released a follow-up EP, "PoartÄ de dincolo" in 2011, it would be a further four years before the band re-invented itself for the final time – still with Negru at the helm but again with a completely new line-up. Having explored the lacunae of his native Transylvanian landscape and lore for two decades, NEGURÄ BUNGET drummer, remaining co-founder, and creative force, Gabriel "Negru" Mafa embarked on a trilogy of albums, starting with the following February's "Tau" (2015), that would form, as he put it at the time: "… a personal vision of what Transylvania means." Focusing respectively on the region’s natural elements, local traditions, and spiritual nature, the project would extend beyond the albums into DVDs and annotated art books, set to become the band’s definitive statement, about both themselves and their lore-rich homeland. While the eight tracks of "TÄu" were each aligned to a specific landscape, the second part of the trilogy beckoned with lush, expansive dynamics. "Zi" (2016) ranged from lucid tranquil moments to harsh and gnarled parts. On this penultimate album, NEGURÄ BUNGET drew strongly from local musical traditions based on the theme of the spirituality of places. With the final chapter of the "Transylvanian trilogy", NEGURÄ BUNGET take several steps back into blacker and harsher dimensions. Yet "ZÄu" is not losing sight of what became to define the band over the course of their development. As the whirling hammered introduction of the final track 'ToacÄ Din Cer' calling to prayer makes abundantly clear, ZÄu" is in fact gathering all the elements that have ever served to define this band. With all the strands finally coming together, the resulting music is so much more than just a summary of its parts. ZÄu" is NEGURÄ BUNGET's lasting testament and legacy and a fitting tribute to Gabriel "Negru" Mafa, R.I.P., who will live on forever in this music. [The text above contains edited excerpts from an in-depth essay written by eminent UK journalist Jonathan Selzer that is fully printed in the artbook edition of "ZÄu".] Tracklist 1. Brad 2. Iarba Fiarelor 3. ObrÄzar 4. Tinerețe FÄrÄ BÄtrânețe 5. ToacÄ Din Cer Release date: November 26, 2021 Line-up Gabriel "Negru" Mafa – drums, percussion Tibor Kati – vocals Adrian "OQ" Neagoe – guitars, keyboards PetricÄ Ionuţescu – kaval (flute), nai (pan flute), tulnic (alphorn), duduk Guest musicians Manuela Marchiș– vocals on 'Brad' Visual design by Daniel Dorobanțu Mixing and mastering by Attila Lukinich All music and lyrics by NegurÄ Bunget Style: Romanian Pagan Metal Shop link http://lnk.spkr.media/negura-bunget-zau Available formats "ZÄu" is available as a hardcover 36-page CD/DVD artbook, gatefold white vinyl LP, gatefold black vinyl LP, and on Digipak CD. Links www.facebook.com/negurabunget www.instagram.com/negurabunget |