Zdob Si Zdub

The band was formed in 1994. Various line-ups, initial sound rather hardcore and lyrics mostly in Russian, played at "10 Years After Chernobyl" Action in Chisinau, warmed up for Rage Against the Machine at the Learn to Swim II Festival in 1996; the recording of that festival includes their "uh uh" ("V dome moiom", "In My House") in Russian, and "Hardcore Moldovenesc" in Romanian. Around 1998, their sound began to change, embracing traditional Romanian/Moldovan music and with lyrics entirely in Romanian. On August 14, 1999, Zdob si Zdub played as part of the Russian MTV-Party, held on Red Square in Moscow, along with Russian bands "Gorky Park" and "IFK" and US band Red Hot Chili Peppers.

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The last album released by Zdob [shi] Zdub is the much-expected album entitled "450 sheep". This latter is a concept-album that is perfectly aware of how to sell its own secrets. Long gone is the phase of pure hardcore music, with American influences, as well as the agricultural rituals from "Agroromantica". In the fall of 2003 we talk more about sheep, shepherds, casa mare and we are telling lots and lots of tales.

We are entering a new evolution phase of the band, where their tribal identity is maturing and molding. The Zdubs have focused all their inspiration, have called to their side their dear friends and they sang what they saw. So far, there is nothing new to that. The novelty makes an entrance with us telling you that " 450 sheep " is the kind of album you will seldom come across. Elements of hardcore, ethno and mystical reverberations are at home in all of the songs, leading to a unique final outcome.

The tribe was inspired by their ramblings through the native places and by old folk themes that must be retold to every generation. Along their journey, the members of the Zdub band have gathered a lifetime experience and enough energy to make a whole new album. After they tired from wandering across the remote corners of their homeland, they started to sing.

The cosmic fiddlers gathered and made "casa mare". Some have come down from the sheepfold and others got back from fishing. They interviewed shepherds, persuaded choruses of maidens and befriended MC Vasile. Obviously, it turned out to be a great show and the entire neighborhood knows it. The world will find out and will rejoice.

We'll let the grass from "Agroromantica" wilt and we'll head on joyfully into a new epoch. The epoch of the 450 sheep has started and this time we'll be talking shepherds and shamans. Modern shamans collect meanings and pass them along, as their job is to recount what they've seen and what they have understood from a mystical perspective.

There are a good many songs on this album and each of them tells its own story. The tales were made from the same dough kneaded of white wheat and speak among themselves. The true and hard meanings of life can also be told in a joyful manner. And that's what the 450 sheep are doing. They raise their foreheads towards the sun and tell what they know.