review by: Roberto Martinelli

The new Negura Bunget comes as a bit of a surprise. If you have heard the group's last album, Miastru Sfetenic, you might have been expecting this Romanian black metal frontrunner to return with an album of even more bizarre, artsy and creepy material, but it's not so. Rather, N Crugu Bradului is a step forward in polish and tidiness for the band, as whatever retarded aspects of the previous album (as brilliant as they were) have been "improved" upon.

For one, the record sounds so much more clear and heavy in the production department. You can easily tell that the main member in the band is the drummer, as the drums come across more than anything else, mostly in terms of how much more technical and showy they are compared to the other instruments, (which in their own right sound great). Negru has improved upon his percussive craft a great deal. The parts when the music breaks out of its largely mid-paced crawl to sustained bursts of speed are breathtaking as rich fills and rolls jump out of the speakers, further accentuating that this man has got some of the fastest double bass in all of metal.

Musically, this 50-minute, four-song record somehow makes me think of Agalloch. Ok, that may not be the best comparison, but there's something about the way the songs' slow development and how they somehow succeed in just sitting there that draws this comparison. Folky interludes that never break away from the main body of music arise here and there for a nice flavor, as does an excellently placed and executed misty, ambient track to round out the record.

Not all of the tricks learned during Miastru Sfetenic have been thrown out, as a variation of the totally and uniquely bizarre whistling noise present on that album makes an appearance here. In the end, while N Crugu Bradului isn't as interesting or engaging as Miastru Sfetenic, it's still well worth lending your ear to.