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Darkwood Dub

About:

The band was formed in Belgrade in Autumn 1988 influenced by reggae and indieacts like Sonic Youth. The inspiration for the name the band members found in the Italian comic book Zagor, in a character who lived in the imaginary forest Darkwood. The core of the band thorugh the years consists of Vladimir Jerić (guitar), Bojan Drobac ‘Bambi’ (guitar), Dejan Vučetić ‘Vuča’ (vocals), Milorad Ristić ‘Miki’ (bass) and Lav Bratuša (drums).

In 1991 they first appeared on a compilation ‘Želim jahati do ekstaze’ with the songs ‘Veliki duh’ (‘The Great Spirit’) and ‘Srećna glava’ (‘Happy Head’) and performed at Belgrade SKC. The release immediately became a rarity since all the records were printed in Zagreb where, due to the beginning of the Yugoslav Wars, remained to be sold in Croatia only. The band recorded their debut studio album Paramparčad (Splinters) in 1993 but due to the was it only got released in 1995. Because of this extended release they quickly came up with a second album in 1996 called ‘U nedogled’ (Into the Indefinite) which featured vocal versions of the score the made for the film Paket aranžman (Package Deal). The tracks ‘Treći Vavilon’ (‘The Third Babylon’), ‘Imamo situaciju’ (‘We Have a Situation’), ‘Hej! Gringo’ (‘Hey! Gringo’) and the title track were distinguished as the most prominent. Again the war prevented their next album to be released. The 1999 NATO bombing delayed the release untill september of that year. In 2000 the band was one of the prominent acts on the Novi Sad EXIT festival.

In 2001, the band participated in the project organized by a former Bjesovi vocalist Goran Marić, ‘Pesme iznad istoka i zapada’ (Songs above the East and West), featuring various Serbian rock bands composing music to the poems and prayers written by Nikolaj Velimirović, with the track ‘Molitva Blagom Hristu’ (‘A Prayer to the Mild Christ’). In 2002 a their fifth album ‘Život počinje u 30-oj’ (Life Begins at 30) saw the light of day. In 2003 the band participated in the Ekatarina Velika frontman Milan Mladenović tribute album ‘Kao da je bilo nekad’. Their sixth album ‘O danima’ (About the Days) was initially called ‘Melos’ but renamed due to the common use of the phrase in commercially popular turbo folk genre. In 2008 guitarist Vladimir Jerić left the band to be replaced by Serbian jazz musician Vasil Hadžimanov. The following year, Darkwood Dub was nominated for the best MTV Adria regional act at the MTV European Awards. In 2011 the band released the song ‘Nešto sasvim izvesno’ (‘Something Quite for Certain’), featuring the Serbian jazz singer Bisera Veletanlić, as a free digital download. It preceded their eight studio album.

Over the years Darkwood Dub worked reguarly with director Đorđe Marjanović. In 1995 for the animated short film ‘Usamljeni hašišar’ (‘The Lonesome Hashish Eater’) and the play ‘Rat/Sećanja’ (War/Memories) in 2004.

On the web:

- Darkwood Dub had no website we could find

If you like this, you probably like... / european counterparts:

Subsonica (Italy)

What do we think:

DB: Interesting indie band from Serbia making a nuclear mix of reggae, electropunk and rock. Blending dubby bass grooves, live drumming, folklore and electronics. In a sense you could link them to cultacts like Basement 5, Mark Stewart or Gary Clail. A sort of On-U-sound in Belgrade. In Europopmusic terms, the Serbian answer to Italian band Subsonica. Bit rawer at times, bit more ethnic influences on the other. With studio technics getting better over the years their recordings also gained more sophistication.

Recommended albums:

♪♪ - Paramparčad - 1995

♪♪♪ - U nedogled - 1996

- Darkwood Dub - 1997

- Elektropionir - 1999

- Život počinje u 30-oj - 2002

- O danima - 2004

- Jedinstvo - 2008

♪♪♪ - Vidimo se - 2011

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♪♪♪♪♪ = outstanding album, an absolute must-have
♪♪♪♪ = great album, highly recomended
♪♪♪ = nice album
♪♪ = be careful, requires listening before buying
♪ = best to be avoided