Some years ago we name call our own IRFAN “DEAD CAN DANCE’s best students”. We still stick by that description - and lo and behold! 2018 magically brought these two bands closer than ever before. Just a month ago BRENDAN PERRY and LISA GERRARD presented us with their new album – very instrumental and surprisingly Balkan, based on Greek myth and all ancient heritage of this peninsula. Coincidentally, or universally driven, IRFAN just released a new album that seems to be their most traditional, Balkan and Bulgarian to this moment.

What’s great is that apart from some obvious similarities, these new DEAD CAN DANCE and IRFAN releases are wildly different, complimenting each other in a way. And even though its musical and lyrical themes are all out Bulgarian, 'Roots' is evidently the brainchild of the album's foremost composers - IVAYLO PETROV, KALIN YORDANOV, YASEN LAZAROV and DARINA ZLATKOVA. And it has not to be mistaken for an album by local ethno/ethereal legends ISIHIA or ANASTASIJA.

The return to the roots that the title suggests mainly has to do with vocal texture, vocalist DARINA ZLATKOVA’s very notable presence as well as the purely Bulgarian lyrics. For even though IRFAN never shied away from Bulgarian national music or Orthodox chants, we have never heard them immerse so fully into local soil, tradition and magic. 

Of course, this is no traditional folk music – the rich instrumentarium, exotic percussion and the band’s brave compositional approach guarantee this. 'Roots' is a great and in a lot of ways – defining IRFAN release which stands out but homogenously fits into the band’s discography. Layered, highly atmospheric and undeniably beautiful, it serves as yet another evidence of the petency and potential of Bulgarian folk tradition. You would no doubt note the musical influence of both Asia Minor, India, Persia and DEAD CAN DANCE themselves as well as all other musically exotic elements – for even when they approach traditional music, IRFAN are most of all a universal, and a universally magical band, searching for both their own roots and for the cosmic spring of universal knowledge.

What’s best about 'Roots' is the way it sticks to while at the same time moves away from IRFAN’s own formula. They could, of course, present us with another sacracl, Templar, esoteric reading of 'Seraphim' or 'The Eternal Return', and we would have been happy enough with that. But we applaud their will and ability to go for something fresh and new.