Negură Bunget - Promo 1998

Negură Bunget - Promo 1998
1) Intro
2) Dîn afundul adîncului întrupat
3) Sala Molksa - Chanelling Through Art Immortal
4) Șuier de șolomonar
5) Outro

Depositfiles / Rusfolder

This weekend is the time for the xtian holiday of Easter which I associate with Kinder chocolate eggs and Eastern Ortohodox church. Which makes me think of Russia, Romania and such places and that finally brings us to today's post, another item from Henu's pile of tapes (thanks for the rip and scan!) and the second release by Negură Bunget who I believe are quite well-known band these days. At least in certain circles, not US Billboard stuff obviously!

This promo tape was released by the (in-)famous Sombre Records back in '98 and I'm pretty sure he screwed up the tracklisting back then, you see the first track titled "intro" there is well over 8 minute song, titled "Vînt dă rău pîn Valea Iadului" on the Sala Molksa EP released later that year on cassette by Bestial Records and on CD about a year later. Actually, all the tracks here appear on the said EP but in slightly different order. So this is pretty redundant if you already have it! I've got the cassette version myself but since I'm too lazy to dig it up and compare I can't say if there's really any difference in the mix or something, I'm 99.98% sure it's the exactly same recording however. I think this sounds a little different than what I remember from listening to my tape but then again it's been quite a while from that. I also seem to remember there was supposed to be some difference (other than artwork) between the '99 CD version and the tape but can't verify that, my extensive research (had a quick look at Metal Archives) revealed naught.

I should probably talk about this release instead of ranting about the EP, some people might not actually have heard it. Ok, this is atmospheric black metal with a peculiar feel to it. On paper not really original yet sounds still somewhat distinct. Less rough and raw than the Zîrnindu-să album or Wiccan Rede demo but not as intricate as the later albums would get. Brings to mind some Polish 90's stuff mixed with some of the more synth-happy Norwegians plus some original touches. Yeah, it's a good tape but like said you don't really need it if you have Sala Molksa unless you're kind of obsessive and then you probably try to dig up a copy of the cassette anyways.

Waging the War (2001)

Various Artists - Waging the War compilation CD (2001)
1) Antaeus - Inner War
2) Negură Bunget - Immortality's Elegy: the Vampirism
3) Horna - Synkän muiston äärellä
4) Skjull - The Wanderer
5) Ragnarok - Certain Death
6) Frozen Shadows - Of Pain and Insufferable Torment
7) Lord Belial - Come to the Sabbath
8) Esker - Du Nord
9) Garwall - Par delà le bien et le mal
10) Thy Primordial - The Heresy of an Age of Reason
11) NostraDrama - L'hymne nocturne
12) Celestia - Darkness Enfolds the Sky
13) The Burning - Darkness Soon Will Be (rehearsal)
14) Veneficium - The Awakening
15) Azaghal - Ihmisviha
16) Demon Realm - Eternities Unbound Forevermore
17) Winter of the Black Skies - Rider of the Night

Rusfolder / Mediafire

Traditionally the pre-xmas season is aflush with compilations (though usually of the "best of" -variety) and I thought it'd be a good opportunity for the Coven to participate in this practice. Today we have a Canadian (from Québec to be more precise!) black metal compilation CD that I ripped and scanned some months ago. I don't really remember anymore if I had a real reason to do so, but since I have it I decided to share it. Sorry if I was supposed to post this earlier or if someone elsewhere requested it and I forgot. This compilation was the second release on Sepuchral Productions (which was founded by Frozen Shadows vocalist Myrkhaal). The label reactivated a couple of years ago, still concentrating on local black metal, but they do not sell this compilation anymore.

Seven out of seventeen participants hail from Québec so there is a good amount of local colour here which pleases me. Some of the bands are also a bit on the obscure side which is even better. Frozen Shadows is naturally included and I suppose many of the bands here were associates of Myrkhaal back then, the roster is international but with a slight emphasis on a few countries. Seven tracks were recorded exclusively for the compilation but I think (didn't check all of them) most if not all have since reappeared somewhere. Note that I've fixed some typos and inconsistencies on the tracklisting, most notably Azaghal's track "Ihmisviha" is spelled on the booklet and back cover completely wrong as "Immisvitta" - he probably misread Narqath's handwriting? Everyone plays black metal, ranging from the aggressive start of Antaeus to Thy Primordial's fast and melodic black to the more atmospheric approach of Negură Bunget but pretty much all have certain rawness and speed to them so the variation is slighter than usual. This is of course intentional, as the cover states "...this is not the place you will find cute and fashionable black metal". Might be a pro or a con, depending on your tastes, I don't mind the homogeneousness but admittedly a few more midpaced or slow tracks would've spiced things up.

Fogland - Enumaelish CassEP 2004

Fogland - Enumaelish Cassette EP 2004
1) Faust
2) Ismeju, King of the Plains
3) De Imortalitate Animae
4) In Fosnet De Frunze, In Vant De Seara, In Liniste Adanca...
5) Nebelluth/Nehil

Mediafire

Time for a little bit different post. And a release from 2004! Blasphemy, outrage! Gather torches and pitchforks! Well, I've never really said I'd upload only 90's stuff, did I? Anyways you might still want to gather that mob since this isn't metal either, no matter how "openly" you approach the matter. If you're familiar with the "Znaman" album by this Romanian band you'll know they used to play folk/metal based (quite remotely in most songs!) on black metal, with the emphasis strongly on atmospheric and folky bits. On this tape EP they've gone further into the experimental post-whatever direction and sound more like an electronic act much of the time. Pretty odd stuff, I guess I could compare it to the Moon Lore album "Spheres Beneath the Heavens" so if you like that one you might enjoy this. It is quite atmospheric. Some parts even bring MonumentuM and Canaan to my mind (that is considered good 'round here). The beginning of the last song reminded me of Von Thronstahl for a fleeting moment.

Ripped from an original tape I got used last year it has good quality and almost no wear nor tear. Sound quality of the recording is very good too. Cover scans included. I'm not really the best possible person to discuss this, I was quite dissappointed at first when I heard this but it has become more toleratable over time and I've started to kind of like parts of it. I expect to have a total change of heart and like this to an unreasonable extent with enough time. Try it if you became curious.