Voltaj

Voltaj was formed in 1982, in Bucharest, by: Horațiu Rad on bass, Nikki Dinescu (Krypton) on drums, Gabi Nacu (Krypton) on guitar, Cristi Minculescu (Iris) on vocals and Adrian Ilie (Iris) on guitar.^[1] Their sound at the time was on the heavier side of hard rock, being one of the earliest examples of traditional heavy metal in the Romanian scene.^[2]

During this period there were numerous changes in the line-up, all the disputes even spawning a second Voltaj, known as Voltaj 88', which also managed to release a couple of albums during the '90s.^[3]

By the time of their 1996 debut, "Pericol de Moarte", only drummer Nikki Dinescu was left from the original line-up. The album, which also features Tavi Colen Talisman on vocals, is their only record in the heavy metal style.^[4]

Starting with 1998 the two remaining members, bass player Vali Ionescu, and guitar player Gabi Constantin recruit a new line-up, with Bobby Stoica on keyboards which brought Călin Goia on vocals on board. With Goia's vocals and creative mind, the group rapidly grew in success and fame. With the release of the album, "Risc Maxim 2", the group switches its style to electronic-influenced pop-rock music. In 2002 they were joined by Oliver Sterian (son of Valeriu Sterian) on drums. Releasing numerous hit singles like "20 ani", "Albinuța", "De mâine", "De la capăt" and "Doar pentru ea", they have become one of the most widely-known groups in Romania.

They won the Best Romanian Act award at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2005. After winning Selecția Națională 2015, they represented Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with the song "De la capăt", where they progressed out of their semi-final group to place 15th in the Final with 35 points.^[5]

Voltaj's music has been described as electropop, pop rock, pop, trip hop, house, downtempo, ambient, alternative rock, techno, dance-pop, synth-pop, electronic rock, hard rock and heavy metal. The band's primary musical inspiration was Linkin Park. The band's musical style changed substantially over the years. Its debut album was strongly influenced by based hard rock and heavy metal: an amalgam of sounds and styles from such rock bands including Queen, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, 80s alternative rock bands such as R.E.M., U2, Pixies, The Smiths and Sonic Youth, electropop bands such as Depeche Mode, Robyn, Daft Punk and Kraftwerk, electronic, trip hop and ambient bands such as Duran Duran, Moby, Nick Drake, Suicide, Silver Apples, Eric B. & Rakim and Public Enemy.