Din Brad – Dor (2012)

As a side project of members of Negură Bunget, Din Brad delivers very interesting and exotic Neofolk music that creates an atmosphere unlike anything we have ever listened to. With “Dor”, the band crafts 11 tracks of dark and somber music that will send chills down your spine and will make you appreciate and dig-up more about Romanian folklore and history.

Opening with the bone chilling “Amar”, the music of Din Brad is stripped down from any Metal influences and presents traditional instruments (i.e. panpipe) surrounded a by heavy atmospheric elements and a the excellent and enchanting exotic vocals of Alma. The lush and organic sound to the band is pretty awesome since it transports you to outer worldly locations in one instant. The folkish edge of the male vocals in songs like “Poarce'n Suflet Greu Păcatu” might not be everybody’s cup of tea, but it gives that sense of authenticity to the music that many other Neofolk bands are lacking these days.

The eerie ritualistic feeling of “Doină” makes this track one of the best ones of this album and it also sets a very mystical mood around this release. After listening to the excellent percusions of “Durere”, the disturbing clean vocals of “Foaie Verde, Odolean” and “Bradule, Brăduţule”, and the atmospheric nature of “Cine Iubeşte şi Lasă”, we can’t help to feel very at ease with such an interesting and out of the ordinary album.

If you like Neofolk, but are tired of the same style presented by most ‘big’ bands of the genre, go on to the dark side and checkout Din Brad’s Romanian heritage and rituals through “Dor”. This release is a true artistic expression of the musicians involved in this project and we rather leave it to the listener to discover and generate more detailed impressions on these tracks, rather than us just giving the full explanation of each one of them.

Release: June 5th, 2012 (USA)

Country: Romania