Words: Andrea Naess

Photo: @molchatdomaband (Instagram)

Belarusian trio Molchat Doma (Translated to Silent House) have seen an enormous rise in success over the last few years, after their 2020 breakthrough hit ‘Судно’ (Sudno) went viral on TikTok, accompanied by videos of brutalist soviet style architecture and somewhat romanticizing the gloomy, run down aestetics of the former eastern bloc. Belarus is one of the few former Soviet countries to have seen little development since the collapse of the USSR. 

The dark wave/post-punk outfit relocated to sunny L.A. to finish working on their fourth studio album Belaya Polosa –  a testament to change in difficult times. Now touring the world, London is more than ready to meet them at the iconic Roundhouse: a venue that has hosted the likes of Pink Floyd and The Rolling Stones.

As we make our way into the crowd The Roundhouse is packed; people seem eager and a bit pushy, almost aggressive in their anticipation of Molchat Doma. 

As we finally get closer to the stage the band enters to roaring applause, appearing like dark silhouettes against the stage lights. Openers Kolesom’ and ‘Thy Zhe Ne Znaesh Kto Ya’ from their newest album is energetic club bangers that still contain the detached, cold feeling the band are renowned for. Yet in their new music, a layer of American-inspired optimism can be detected. Belaya Polosa carries a more enthusiastic, less depressing trip-hop sound than their previous work.

It must be stated that the light show at this gig is an artwork of its own, haloes of intricate patterns surround the mysterious band in their quieter songs, leaving us in awe as if stearing up to the heavens. 

Vocalist Egor Shutko is steadfast and solid, and we see him sometimes just standing there and observing the crowd. Is this an intentional stand off with the crowd?, is it an artistic expression? Regardless, it looks very edgy. He carries himself in mysterious way. His dynamic dance moves entice the crowd. 

Even though all their songs are in Belarusian, the English crowd are still singing the melodies with them. It reminds us that regardless of nationality and language barriers, we can all come together and speak the language of music. In between political instability and harsh economic times it feels therapeutic to gather at the Roundhouse and pour our hearts out to the cold soviet bloc synths. As we get closer to the end of their set, they pull up all the hits. We hear Клетка (Kletka), Тоска (Toska), Танцевать (Tantsevat) and of course as the encore it’s Судно (Борис Рижий) Sudno (Boris Ryzhy), the song that earned them their big breakthrough.

This song is inspired by the poems of the Russian poet Boris Ryzhy, who committed suicide in 2001. His poems had themes of despair and delinquency in a post-Soviet Russia, which were fuelled by depression and alcoholism.

These dark themes don’t stop the crowd from moshing energic to the undeniably catchy guitar riff. The crowd goes nuts, and the mysterious band leaves the stage silently to the crowd chanting “Spatziba” and “Davai” meaning “thank you” and “come on” in russian. The crowd seems to be real fans and not there for the TikTok hype, as the trend has now died down, the band is still floating on a wave of success, proving they are more than a passing fashion. We leave the venue missing our eastern comrades already and wonder when they will next appear out of their smoke machines and busy schedules. One thing is certain, something about Molchat Doma speaks for us all.