Rock music in Belarus explained

Belarusian rock has been developing since the early 1980s. The rock bands include Mroja (later renamed to N.R.M.), Ulis, Daj Darogu!, Kriwi, Lyapis Trubetskoy, Verasy, Open Space, Neuro Dubel, Accent, and Otrazhenie.

Metal bands are Asguard and TT-34. Basovišča was a Belarusian rock music festival organized in Gródek, Poland. Other festivals in the field were "Be Free" and "Rock-kola".

Censorship

There is another side to Belarusian music life which is censorship.^[1] Researchers Maya Medich and Lemez Lovas reported in 2006 that "independent music-making in Belarus today is an increasingly difficult and risky enterprise", and that the Belarusian government "puts pressure on ‘unofficial’ musicians - including ‘banning’ from official media and imposing severe restrictions on live performance." In a video interview on the website, the two authors explain the mechanisms of censorship in Belarus.^[2]

Another black list became known in 2011, when Krama, Krambambula, Lyapis Trubetskoy, N.R.M., Naka, Palats, Neuro Dubel among others were banned from performing concerts in Belarus.^{[3] [4]}

Notable festivals

• Basovišča (held in Poland)
• Be Free (held in Ukraine)
• Rock-kola
• Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk

Notable bands

Alternative rock

• N.R.M.
• Termin X
• Weesp
• Zolki Band

Black metal

• Infestum

Christian rock

• Spasenie

Death metal

• Asguard

Doom metal

• Reido

Folk rock

• Krambambula
• Kriwi

Folk rock VIA:

• Pesniary
• Syabry

Folk metal

^[5]

• • Evoking Winds

Hard rock

Hard rock/Heavy metal:

• Otrazhenie

Indie rock

• Bi-2
• Bristeil
• Jitters
• Hair Peace Salon
• Martin S.

Pop rock

• beZ bileta
• Open Space

Post-metal

• Nebulae Come Sweet

Punk rock

• Daj Darogu!
• Brutto
• Lyapis Trubetskoy
• Messed Up
• Mister X
• Neuro Dubel

Post-punk

• Molchat Doma

Rapcore

• TT-34

External links

• Lemez Lovas and Maya Medich: 'Hidden Truths – Music, Politics and Censorship in Lukashenko's Belarus' (Freemuse Report no. 7)
• Articles on music censorship in Belarus
• Vector Ego Official Website

Notes and References

1. Web site: Концертный рынок Беларуси не ждет экономического подъема. Тарналицкий. Тарас. 2015-05-11. Belorusy i rynok. ru. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20200408183853/http://belmarket.by/koncertnyy-rynok-belarusi-ne-zhdet-ekonomicheskogo-podema. 2020-04-08. 2020-04-08.
2. https://web.archive.org/web/20120726061630/http://www.freemuse.org/sw19372.asp Freemuse.org
3. News: Забароненыя музыкі. Радыё Свабода . 2011-05-30. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. be. live . https://web.archive.org/web/20200406050156/https://www.svaboda.org/a/24209844.html. 2020-04-06. 2020-04-06. Свабода . Радыё .
4. News: Сяргей Будкін – пра белы сьпіс "Свабоды". Соўсь. Ганна. Радыё Свабода . 2011-04-02. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. be. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20200406062420/https://www.svaboda.org/a/3544426.html. 2020-04-06. 2020-04-06.
5. https://www.folk-metal.nl/bands/bands-per-land/belarus/ Fierce 'n' Furious Folk Webzine: Bands per land - Belarus