FROM TRANSILVANIAN FOREST

From Transilvanian Forest is the first and only demo release by Romanian experimental black metal act Negura Bunget. The demo was originally released in 1995 under the name Wiccan Rede. In 2000 the demo was re-mixed and re-mastered and two extra unreleased tracks were added and it was released as the From Transilvanian Forest EP. The first pressing was limited to 345 handnumbered copies but From Transilvanian Forest was re-released in November 2008 by Prophecy Productions.

For those who know the early releases by Negura Bunget it´s no surprise that the style of the music contained within From Transilvanian Forest is experiemental black metal. Raw/ raspy vocals, simple and mostly mid-paced riffing and melodic keyboard backing that creates a dark atmosphere. This type of music usually doesn´t blow me away unless it´s really well played and original ( which I don´t feel is the case here) and add to that a pretty weak and muddy lo-fi production and I´m out of here. This is yet another one of those cases where I don´t understand why black metal musicians insist on re-releasing demo material as commercial art. It´s not all bad though and I guess a 2 star rating is warranted.