Dirty Shirt

Dirty Shirt is a Romanian crossover folkcore metal group from Seini, Romania, active since 1995. The band forms in the mid-1990s from former members of a rock project called Eclipse, and develops a sound that combines folk, folk metal, metal and rock with alternative, industrial, progressive and experimental elements.

Early releases and first years

The group’s first demo, Alone, appears in 1996. Over the next few years, Dirty Shirt plays concerts and festivals in Romania and wins several awards. In 1999, the band receives a first award at the Top T Buzau Festival, which includes a studio recording prize.

Albums, demos and stylistic changes

Dirty Shirt releases its first album, Very Dirty, on Promusic Prod in 2000. A second demo, Contradictie, follows in 2001. After a three-year break, the band returns with the demos Revolution and Different, which move further towards industrial and experimental sounds, with less emphasis on progressive metal. Another demo, Povestea lu' Sandu Porcu, is recorded in 2007.

Performances and recordings

During this period, Dirty Shirt tours Romania, Hungary, France and Belgium, including shows with Tripod, Babylon Pression, Zeroscape and Superbutt. The band also appears at major Romanian festivals such as Maximum Rock, Samfest, Rock la Mures, Top T and East West Fest, sharing stages with acts including Overkill, UDO, Crematory and Lake of Tears.

In 2009, Dirty Shirt prepares the album Same Shirt Different Day, recorded at Kallaghan Studio in France and mastered at West West Side Music in the United States. The record brings together new songs and selected older material from earlier demos, and reflects a wide range of influences, including metal, industrial, Romanian folk music, funk and electro.

Vocal style and languages

The band uses two singers with contrasting vocal styles. Its songs appear in Romanian, English, French and Gipsy Serb, alongside aggressive guitar riffs, grooving bass lines, percussive drumming and atmospheric keyboards.

Recognition

In 2014, Dirty Shirt takes second place in the Wacken Metal Battle at Wacken Open Air in Wacken, Germany.