Irdorath is a fantasy folk group from Belarus that we have been following for a few years now. Of course, we do this because they make nice folk music in the style of Omnia, Corvus Corax and Faun, and are therefore a big hit at medieval and other alternative festivals. But there is also a political reason why we follow the band. After several group members were sentenced to long prison terms in Belarus, the group also became a symbol for the struggle for democracy and human rights in what is commonly called ‘the last dictatorship in Europe’.

Let me recap for those who haven’t followed. In 2020, presidential elections were held in Belarus. Even before the elections, dictator Lukashenko – in power since 1994 – had several opposition leaders imprisoned. Then something surprising happened. The wife of an imprisoned opposition leader took over her husband’s candidacy to become president of Belarus. She kept her program simple: she would release the political prisoners and hold new, fair elections. Lukashenko was not afraid. Belarus was not ready for a female president, he openly announced, and he let Svetlana Tikhanovskaya compete for the presidency. But Tikhanovskaya became incredibly popular.

When the election results were announced – 80 percent for Lukashenko and only 10 percent for Tikhanovskaya – everyone felt that the outcome had been manipulated, which was in keeping with a long tradition in Belarusian elections. The population took to the streets en masse, were treated to violent police repression, which had the unexpected effect of increasing the demonstrations against Lukashenko. Irdorath also took to the streets. They played the perestroika song ‘Peremen (Change)’ by the Russian new wave group Kino on their bagpipes. The song had become a symbol of the protests, because two DJs had already been arrested for playing ‘Peremen’ at a protest meeting.

A year later, the protests had died down. Police repression and the many dismissals of those who dared to protest won over the demonstrators. Since then – since 2020 – everyone who dared to raise their voice against the dictatorship has been prosecuted. In August 2021, heavily armed police raided the birthday party of Nadia, the singer of Irdorath. All those present were briefly arrested, but five group members were eventually given long prison sentences, with even two years in a labor camp for the couple at the head of Irdorath: Nadia and Vova.

After serving their sentences, Nadia and Vova fled to Warsaw, and later to Berlin, from where they now operate. I saw them perform for the first time at the Wave-Gotik-Treffen in 2024, which was during the band’s first festival tour after their imprisonment. Now they are on their first indoor tour of Europe, and if they visit Aarschot, close to my hometown Leuven, I will of course be there. But before Irdorath will take to the stage, a local group, Cathubodua, will be performing. They are also the organisers of this great evening at the Klinker.

The members of Cathubodua come straight from their work as chimney sweeps and each of them has seriously injured themselves on the last chimney. Unfortunately, they didn’t have time to wipe off the soot and blood, but that doesn’t stop them from giving it their all from the first note to make their ‘epic symphonic metal’ sound as bombastic as possible. And they succeed wonderfully, with two guitars, bass and drums, but also with a violinist who emphasizes the orchestral arrangements. Above all, there is singer Sara Vanderheyden who lets her great voice resound wonderfully on extended and varied songs with numerous rhythm changes and climaxes. After one song, the singer announces that the band will play a bit longer than expected, because the announced support act Brisinga unfortunately failed to make it. There are some viruses going around again, as you have probably noticed. This is well absorbed by a band that cannot be boring since their style is so varied.

A few songs were added to the set, including the humble ‘The Mirror’, which is performed here with only violin, vocals and of course the pre-recorded orchestrations. They haven’t played the song for a long time, but if the singer hadn’t said afterwards that she missed a few words, we would have guessed that this was a perfect performance. Cathubodua ends with ‘Goddess Fallacy’, an extended song that starts as a ballad full of strings, and then turns into power metal, with the vocals varying between heavenly angelic singing and hellish gutural grunts, followed by a quiet symphonic passage and an inevitable guitar solo that pushes the tempo back up. At the end comes a polyphonic passage with all the band members raising their fists in the air. Impressive. Very impressive.

Then comes the main part of the evening. Irdorath’s performance is announced with an instrumental intro with throat singing, which runs while the musicians come on stage. Vova then takes a mouth harp to his lips, guitar strumming follows, and when the two ladies on stage start singing, it goes wild and you get a very full sound. Compared to the first performance I saw last year at the Wave-Gotik-Treffen in Leipzig, an extra singer has been added: Alexandra, a frail beauty who sings extremely well and uses traditional singing techniques from Belarus. The group also still consists of a cellist, a guitarist and a drummer, and especially of the front couple Vova and Nadia, who, in addition to their voices, use a lot of flutes, didgeridoos, hurdy-gurdies and bagpipes.

After one song, Vova thanks the audience. We are not as numerous as expected, but apparently the group knows quite a few of the audience personally, which of course makes it very special. It may also explain why Irdorath excites the audience from the very first song. Almost the entire room is dancing or clapping along, and we have only just begun. In the connecting texts, Nadia emphasizes that this tour is a new beginning for Irdorath. The band has to start over since they left Belarus for Western Europe, where they are still unknown. The concert features both work from the three albums that Irdorath made in Belarus, as well as new songs. Nadia also promises that Irdorath will work on a new album with the new songs after the tour, but they do not want to rush things, because they want to make art and not quickly digestible music.

Yet, there is a new release on CD for this tour: ‘Live In The Woods’, with Idorath’s forest performance from 2020. That performance means a lot to the band, because it was their last performance on Belarusian soil. Since Irdorath could not perform during the corona pandemic, they went to play in the forest, for the trees, the moss, the birds and all the other fauna and flora. Several songs from that performance are also performed tonight, and are even crowd favorites. When Irdorath starts another new song, ‘Vuzhalka’, Nadia announces that she will not tell what the song is about, but asks the audience to share their feelings about the song on their social media, as a kind of social experiment on how this music is experienced across language barriers.

Only towards the end of the performance does Nadia speak in a very serious tone. As long as they will play on a stage, she says, Irdorath will also use that stage to denounce the situation in Belarus: the dictatorship, the police violence, the more than thousand political prisoners. She calls on everyone to make people aware of the situation, and to help the Belarusians where possible. A beautiful version of ‘Zorami’, a song Nadia wrote in the labor camp, follows, ending with raised fists on stage and in the audience, after which the Belarusians present start chanting ‘Zhive Belarus’ – or ‘long live Belarus’.

But actually it wasn’t such a political performance, although I assume that everyone present was aware of the tragic history of Irdorath. Especially the Belarusian attendees apparently considered their presence as support for the fight against the dictatorship in their home country. Irdorath knows, however, that they have to entertain the audience, that they have to give the audience an unforgettable evening after which they go home with a happy feeling. That succeeded very well tonight, especially after the band also took the time to talk to the audience and have their picture taken after the performance.

Setlist Cathubodua : Dawn / Hydra / Effigy of Aftermath / My Way To Glory / Foretelling / Nightfall / The Mirror / Deified / Hero of Ages / Goddess of Fallacy

Setlist Irdorath : Lesavik / Dimna Juda / As Bas / Serca Rascolata / Lojma / Zhahi-Zhahi / Drachen / Varazheya / Adde Duas / Rusalka / Vuzhalka / Zorami / Hto Ja? / Vaukalak / Maci Syra Ziamlia // Sunrise