Vraja (Spell) from From Transylvania by Lil Obeah & Dub Colossus

Transylvania has a reputation. Not a musical one. Lil Obeah from Transylvania is fixing that with some duppy dub rooted in Jamaican songs inspired by horror films.

The Sound of Art to Come platform, which includes a Transylvanian-based record label, proudly presents the debut of Lil Obeah, where the artist meets producers Transglobal Underground, Dub Colossus, and Marius Costache.

Jamaican music, especially dub, reggae, and dancehall created innovative songs and albums inspired by Horror films, concepts, art, and a certain dark spooky haunting aesthetic. It may sound strange coming from Eastern Europe, but the Sound of Art to Come and Lil Obeah is focused on the special sound that bridges the gap between pop art culture, comic books, and Caribbean culture.

Just like a pirate radio station from another dimension, sounds are broadcast-ed ranging from authentic local dub jazz experiments with santur to traditional reggae-dub riddims mixed with cumbia, orchestral, rock influences, and horror film samples. The music featured on the album is an echo from across the decades since the 1940’s to the present days Halloween feelings.

„Carnage. The need for blood. To see it dripping. From ancient times populations in the Transylvanian region and in Romania have had a thirst for blood. It is no wonder that this region was the one where one of the most frightening supernatural creatures was placed. the vampire. The medicinal practices of ancient populations in the region were cleansing through sanguine dripping.

Things did not change in the Dark Ages and medieval period, law and order were being installed in the area through executions and severe punishment. Romantic era Transylvania was a place of corruption and deep superstition, just read it from Bram Stoker and Jules Verne. The bloodthirst transformed into censorship and abuse in the modern times of the communist period.

Punishment was not only canceling individuals' freedom: people disappeared or were executed by the party hangmen and the Securitate handymen. Ceausescu's death and the treatment of his family are obvious echoes of the same Romanian bloody past.

What do future generations need? Maybe a document of their past so that they can foresee the future? Lil Obeah from Transylvania tries to do just that with dub music, global sounds aka world music, and plunderphonic, all under one banner: duppy dub.

It would not have been possible without the blueprint laid down by Dub master Dub Colossus aka Nick Page (Rest in Powa), Dub wizards Transglobal Underground aka Tim Whelan & Hamid Mantu, and local magician, Marius Costache.

Bela Lugosi is dead, undead, but his legacy, his Hollywood charm, and mystery live on in Transylvania, the place of his and my birth and resurrection.” Obeah

After ten years of making eclectic music, the dub ghost musician from Romania has tuned in to another frequency creating Lil Obeah from Transylvania. When it comes to his sound, he defines it as duppy dub from a parallel universe, The Shape of Dub to Come dimension.

He works with professionals in the music business, from Bucharest-based producer Marius Costache of Studio148 to international dub masters and wizards like Nick Dubulah of Dub Colossus, Tim Whelan, and Hamid Mantu of Transglobal Underground.

His remix work includes local artists, international sound clashers like Dubmatix, Dub Pistols, Prince Fatty, Ghetto Priest, Denise Sherwood, and Yann Tiersen, Oigăn & Ana Ularu, Soare staniol, Toulouse Lautrec & Victor Rebengiuc, but also fictional acts like Reefah Madniss from Berlin.

Lil Obeah’s roots are a very eclectic batch of bands and artists, including his own Crowd Control, The Shape of Moombhaton and Tunesinnaourheads projects. He is inspired by the strangest Romanian sounds, ranging from weird experimental authentic local dub to traditional reggae-dub with ska and folk-rock influences, music, and records released near the Black Sea from the 1960s to the present.

Obeah considers Dub music sound art and aims to create a forever authentic Romanian horror film soundtrack with his songs and remixes.



“For me, dub music is an artform and King Tubby is Pablo Picasso, Lee Scratch Perry is Salvador Dalí and Nick Page aka Dub Colossus was Phidias reborn as Alexander Calder. Nick would carve dub out of Ethiojazz and world/ global music sounds like no other. His instigators were Jamaican legends Joe Gibbs and Niney the Observer. I owe him this LP and the vision for the future.” Obeah

Dub Colossus was a musical project, the vision of Count Dubulah aka Nick Page. The composer, guitarist, bass player, producer, and programmer has worked with a long list of notable artists and eccentrics. In 1990 he formed Transglobal Underground with Tim Whelan and Hamilton Lee aka Hammid Man-Tu, with whom he produced-wrote-played six albums before leaving in 1997 to form Temple of Sound with Neil Sparkes. Once Temple of Sound had run its course, Nick then decided to concentrate on his favorite alter ego, Dub Colossus. Dubulah first traveled to the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa in 2006 to collaborate with musicians and explore traditional Azmari styles, 60s Ethiopian pop, Ethiojazz, and 70s Jamaican dub reggae. Once there, he came across some amazingly talented artists.

Dub Colossus may have started out as a studio-based project, but they proved to be a rousing live band, known to transport audiences to the pounding dancehalls of Addis Ababa with their intriguing and exuberant mix of traditional Ethiopian sounds, sturdy reggae rhythms, and a modern dub twist. Between 2008 and 2011 Dubulah released the albums "A Town Called Addis", "Addis Through The Looking Glass" and "Dub Me Tender" on Real World Records. "Addis To Omega" followed and his latest long play “Dr. Strangedub (Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying & Dub The Bomb)” was a successful crowdfunded album again well received by critics and fans.

Dubulah has also remixed many artists including Toots & The Maytals, Tom Tom Club, Natacha Atlas, Transglobal Underground + Fanfara Tirana, Malawi Mouse Boys, Justin Adams, Eccodek, Brina, Meklit, Solus 3, and Lunar Drive.

“Without Transglobal Underground this duppy dub LP would have not gained a socio-political depth. Tim and Hami have given my songs and versions a DNA strain that offers context and meaning in the Eastern EU landscape. Without their knowledge of the area and inventiveness, this record would have lacked a special Balkan dark poetry spiced with amazing undead bass and explosions of cumbia, Italian and French folk plus superb plunderphonics.” Obeah

Tim Whelan and Hamid Mantu are composers, producers, and multi-instrumentists in the notorious global fusion electronica anarchy London-based collective, Transglobal Underground. The music collective is specialized in a fusion of western, Asian and African music styles and since 1991 they have been releasing a glorious selection of beats, dub, dancehall, acid house, drum ‘n’ bass, oriental fusion, bhangra, funk, and hip-hop.

The group featured Natacha Atlas as lead singer and their debut single ‘Temple Head,’ championed by John Peel, is still a heavy 90s anthem. In 2008 they won the BBC Radio 3 Award for World Music, after the release of their seventh album, Moonshout. Formed by Hamid Mantu, Count Dubulah and Tim Whelan in 1990, the band expanded into a collective of musical collaborators creating eclectic journeys with each album released: Dream of 100 Nations, International Times, Psychic Karaoke, Impossible Broadcasting, and even collaborations with the Albanian folklore group Fanfara Tirana Meets Transglobal Underground - Kabatronics.

Tim Whelan and Hamid Mantu are hailing from West London and were also previously members of British 80’s band Furniture and had played with the experimental psychedelic art-punk group the Transmitters. While with Furniture, both musicians began bringing in more culturally-diverse instrumentation to the conventional rock band format. Their connection with Romania and Transylvania was forged in the Ceaucescu era, as they toured the communist country in 1988 and performed in major cities such as Cluj, Brașov, Sibiu, and Bucharest.

Their last albums the Walls Have Ears and A Gathering of Strangers are pan-European projects recorded in London, Prague, Budapest, and Sofia.


“Marius is the reason the Sound of Art to Come persists. Without him as a musical partner, our one release per month challenge would have been an impossible dream. This collaboration with Marius is a match made in Heaven as I highly respect him as a music artist, I love to spin his records and enjoy his humor. We are clearly on the same wavelength in this cursed Romanian music industry and if it wasn’t for his sonic ethics our output, songs and versions would have not reached the level they exist at.” Obeah


Marius Costache is a music artist, studio engineer, and Bucharest-based music producer. His passion regarding sound transcends the modern thin line of musical genre and steps into the world where sonic laws are meant to be just an example, not a path.

He is Discordless, performs with Environments and Febra, and from his Studio148 has produced, mixed, and mastered ambient music, electronic, hip-hop, post-rock, noise, folk, classical, jazz, post-hardcore and Balinese sounds for bands like Goran Bregovic with Florin Salam, Mytrip aka Angel Simitchiev, Valerinne, Cyberian, White Walls, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, EMIL, COMA and labels like his own 148, dunk!records and our Bulgarian neighbors AMEK.

All the best from Transylvania.

OBEAH is a Transylvanian producer blending experimental dub & fusion via Sound of Art to Come.

He’s worked with Transglobal Underground, Dub Colossus, Dubokaj & Lee Scratch Perry, Mark Stewart, Jungle, Algiers & Zach de la Rocha, The Membranes, Marius Costache & Petru Birladeanu & more.

His work is defined by the intersection of Balkan & Caribbean music.

Contact andrei@creionetica.ro