I still remember the first time I heard Irdorath. I was coming home from work and my partner Anna had been listening to the quarantine edition of Castlefest the whole day. “You have to watch this band I just saw.” she said. “You will love them.” So I sat down, turned to the section she told me about and there was this band in the middle of the woods, dressed like Corvus Corax , already mesmerizing me with their spoken intro… and then they started playing. Anna was right. I loved them. More than that, I sat there with my mouth open for the whole 40-something minutes the video lasted. The music, the best mittelalter rock/ fantasy powerfolk I heard in a long while. The setting, deep in the woods, perfectly lit with fire bowls all around them. The decoration of the set, The narration, the camera work – it all worked. And I was not the only one: the whole live chat exploded. It was there and then that my love for this amazing Belarusian band started. Within weeks I had all their albums and wrote a full album review covering their whole discography up to that point.

Fast forward five years, and a new song from Irdorath popped up in my Spotify Release Radar. It was part of a new live cd. Listening to it on my crappy Bluetooth speaker I already noticed it sounded different then I was used to from Irdorath albums; More open. Looking at the tracklist I hoped it would be that famous Castlefest performance . It really looked like it. So full of anticipation I put on my headphones the next morning and pressed play on Spotify…and was as blown away as I was the very first time that I saw them! This, dear readers, is a must-have album!

It all starts with the opening track, Storm. The low drone gives you a mythical vibe straightaway. The cello lines are pure beauty. The sprinkles of percussion brightening up the intro finish it all. So beautiful. And then, after 50 seconds, the band kicks in! Now make sure you that you listen on headphones the first time you hear this album. And don’t be shy with the sound. You want to experience this to the fullest. You want to drown in the sound. You want to be overwelmed by it all. And trust me, you will be. So headphones on and here we go!
The cello riff, the acoustic guitar, the drums and percussion are picking up speed. The shawm bagpipes join in make the sound even bigger, even more majestic. Then the main melody sets in, and I’m amazed of all the things I hear. The amount of space all the instruments have to breathe. The openess of the sound. The little details you can hear. Listen to that cello laying down the song’s foundation while the shawm’s main melody entices you. You can hear every single stroke, every single riff played. This is só powerful. Did you already turn up the volume on your headphones? I did!

We continue with Serca Raskolata. Again, the sound is so open and so dynamic. The whispered intro by Nadezhda, accompanied by a loud battle horn, are sincerely scary. The whole first verse of the song has a eerie tension running through it. Nadezhda is building the song up so well. From the whispered start to the full rounded sound she has, she can tell a whole story with her voice. I can’t understand a word she is saying but I feel it. That is the power of her voice, of her singing style. Again I’m struck by the cello solo that follows. Live In The Woods is actually an Unplugged album. Gone is the full rock sound I know from their previous albums Ad Astra, Dreamcatcher and Wild. No, Live In The Woods has an acoustic approach that is mesmerisingly beautiful, but just as powerful. The power lies in all the things they left out. All the effects, all the sound tricks. You hear the pure beauty of the instruments, of the music itself. And that is more then enough to blow you away.

When you decide to record music like this, there is nowhere to hide. You are fully exposed as a musician. Not something Irdorath have to worry about. Just listen to it all: the beautiful range of vocal technique Nadezhda has, from whispered and restrained to full belt. And Vladimir’s vocals dancing with her. His technical abilities are even bigger. From a deep supporting voice to a full lead just like Nadezhda, but he can add throat singing to that: deep and rasping, scary as hell in this song. Almost rapping with it. Everything is great about this power ballad. The solos the composition, the structure of the song. The clever choice of instruments, of tone range, all of them in a different height so you can hear all of it. I’m long gone, drawn into the magical world of Belarusian folkore.

Yet the highlight of this album -in my opinion- is still to come, and it goes by the name of Dimna Juda. It also comes in the shape of Aliaxandra Grahouskaja. She has been a close friend of the band since their very beginning, and her part in Dimna Juda is just stunning. I loved this song when I heard it for the first time played by Waldkauz, but Irdorath brought it to the next level for me. And this live recording is the ultimate version. Can’t wait to hear it live myself now that Aliaxandra has joined the band.
The harmonies between the voices work so well in this song. The deep throat singing of Vladimir, Nadezhda’s mid range vocals taking the supporting role in this song, and then Aliaxandra’s improvised lead vocals. Rapping, long powerful swipes, full belts, and added to that all those vocal twirls and fringes that make Eastern European folk music so beautiful.
All three of them have such powerful voices; such big lungs, and they use them to the fullest. What a band; what a sound; what a song! I was honestly crying the first time I heard it again preparing for this review, such is the impact this band, these people, have on me. It happened again after Rusalka, and it happens even ow writting these words with Live In The Woods playing on my headphones.

It’s because I’m so happy for them that they could release this album. That this is their answer to all that happened to them in the past five years. I want to quote a bit of the band itself at this point, taken it from the booklet that goes with the CD.

-”In the rush of 2020, when the world came to a halt during quarantine, we retreated to the solitude of the Belarusian forest, isolated from the world yet connected to nature’s spirit. Among ancient trees and under an open sky we recorded our forest concert]..[It was a moment of unity; of fire; song and nature, crafted with immens love for the land that shaped us.
Soon after, the streets of Belarus filled with voices yearning for freedom and we joined this peaceful protest]…[However our voices were silenced by imprisonment for daring to stand against injustice For two years we were held, but the love for our home and art indured. This forest concert became more then a performance. It transformed into a powerful symbol. It was the last piece of art we created in Belarus. A love letter to a home we were forced to leave.”

There is nothing I can add to these words. IThey says so much about Nadezhda and Vladimir, and they says so much about the band Irdorath. Because although Nadezhda and Vladimir are the main forces behind it all, it does feel like a band – it always has. That is the true power of this beautiful couple. Their willingness to share, to give and to love even in the hardest moments.
That is what shines through in their music, in their art. That is what makes this album so very special. And that is why we should support them with everything we have…starting with buying this album.

Cliff

Editor: Iris
Photograph 1 & 2: Irdorath
Photograph 3: Merlin J. Noack
Photograph 4: Anastasiya & Pavel Kodis

Website:https://www.irdorath.com/
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/Irdorath.by
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/irdorath.by/
Bandcamp:https://irdorath-by.bandcamp.com/music