POARTă DE DINCOLO

Negură Bunget is often considered to be Romania's finest and most unique black metal export, and Poartă de Dincolo certainly lives up to these expectations. This 4-track, 28 minute EP is the type of release that will simply send chills down your spine and leave you constantly wanting more. Although this isn't the best entrance point into the world of Negură Bunget, it's a great EP that all fans should track down.

The music on Poartă de Dincolo should be no surprise to those familiar with Negură Bunget. Expect dark, experimental, and occasionally ambient black metal music. Unconventional instrumentation is also fairly common here - expect to hear instruments such as the Xylophone, Kaval, Frula, Pan Flute, and Tulnic (I'm not even sure what all of those are) on Poartă de Dincolo. "Hotar" and "La Marginea Lumii" both open up with eerie, ominous intros before building into heavier black metal sections. The synths certainly provide an atmospheric soundscape and are an integral part of Negură Bunget's sound. "Frig in Oase" is an ambient synth piece that is absolutely sinister. From the haunting chord progressions to the bone-chilling whispers and out-of-tune notes, this is an absolutely terrifying piece. The only way to fully experience this one is with a nice set of headphones in a dark room! Poartă de Dincolo closes out with the title track, which is probably the heaviest song on the EP.

Negură Bunget is a band that consistently churns out quality experimental black metal, and Poartă de Dincolo is an excellent EP release. This isn't the best entrance for newbies (that would be the masterful Om), but any fan of the band should be sure not to miss out on this excellent mini-album. 4 stars are deserved for this chilling, memorable, and breathtaking EP.

When one thinks of Romanian metal, most people usually think of Negură Bunget. Though I've never heard much of the band, besides some videos here and there, they have seemed to make huge waves in the black metal scene. After releasing the full length 'Măiestrit' only last year, they have come back with yet another release, and though this definitely isn't there best work, it is still a pretty awesome EP.

Going into listening to this album I expected to find myself not knowing what to give it after a few listens, as with most black metal. But, to my surprise this one jumped out to me right from the start. Though their lineup has changed dramatically over the years, they still sound almost the same, at least from what I have heard of their earlier stuff. 'Poartă de Dincolo' starts out with a nice slow paced track in 'Hotar'. This song features some nice clean vocals by Ageru Păm'ntului, and also some cool black metal growls. Black metal growls are a lot higher pitched then regular growls, and that tends to upset some people's ears, but I've grown to like them a lot. This song is full of high and low points, especially near the end when the growls slowly crescendo up to a great guitar melody. The keyboards on this song, and on the whole album, are played expertly by Gădineţ, and that really enhances the bands sound, especially during the atmospheric sections.

My favorite part of black metal is the atmospheric break down sections. Negură Bunget is great at implementing these sections, and they greatly add to the overall feel of the album. 'La Marginea Lumii' and 'Frig in Oase' both feature these great drawn out sections, but they add their own touch. With added instruments that include xylophones, kavals, rulas, pan flutes, and tulnics the atmospheric sections are definitely the best part of this EP. Even though I have no idea what a kaval or a tulnic is, they sound really cool, so I'm definitely glad Negură Bunget included them.

The production on this EP is absolutely perfect, and the deep, dark almost creepy sections of it really stand out. What's great about black metal is that bands usually go out of tune on purpose to create a darker, creepier sound, and the production is so good on this that when they do it, it doesn't sound horrid at all, but quite fine.

Four songs and 28 minutes after listening to this wonderful EP, the listener will definitely be deeply entranced in 'Poartă de Dincolo'. With great instrumental and atmospheric sections combined with nice heavy black metal, Negură Bunget has definitely released yet another quality album. This EP easily deserves 4 stars, and leaves me wanting another release quite soon.

"Poarta de Dincolo" is a 4 track, 28:35 minutes long EP release by Romanian black metal act Negura Bunget. The EP was released in April 2011 by code666. There's been a couple of lineup changes since "V'rstele Pam'ntului (2010)" as guitarists Spin and Corb have left Negura Bunget to focus on their own act Syn Ze Sase Tri (who released their debut full-length studio album "'ntre Doua Lumi" in early 2011). They are replaced here by Fulmineos (guitars, vocals) and Urzit (guitars).

The music on "Poarta de Dincolo" is atmospheric black metal with ethnic folky elements and instrumentation. The vocals are raw, raspy and almost shouting desperate. The tempo is mostly slow or mid-paced. There's a an earthy and organic atmosphere to the music but also an epic edge created by keyboards. The sound production is equally earthy and organic and make the whole concept work well.

Personally I think that "Poarta de Dincolo" is a step up from "V'rstele Pam'ntului" both in terms of production but also because "Poarta de Dincolo" features less of those almost new age like elements that mared parts of "V'rstele Pam'ntului". It's a quality release this one and therefore fully deserves a 3.5 - 4 star rating.