Deloraine is a pagan fantasy folk band from the Czech Republic whose live performances are full of pagan dances, mysterious rituals, and endless energy. You will enjoy the powerful voices, and sound of many ethnic and exotic instruments and show in outstanding costumes.
How did the idea of Deloraine come about, and what inspired you to focus on mythology and folklore in your music?
It all began when, during our travels through wild landscapes and mountain regions — like the Caucasus, Altai, Iceland, Norway, Wallachia, and Transylvania — we would listen to the sounds of all kinds of folklore in small cottages with local people, enchanted by the voices of ancient instruments.
We were deeply inspired by the world of The Witcher, the music from the game, it’s medieval vibe, the sound of ethnic instruments. The stories from books like Robert Holdstock’s Mythago Wood and Lavondyss, as well as The Rings of Power, Nordic and Slavic gods and legends, the mythology, the magic of nature itself – all of these things came together and gave us a huge wave of inspiration. This time It felt natural to create music that captures this rich and enchanting world, blending historical and fantasy elements into something uniquely ours.
Could you share some insights about the journey of Deloraine? How did it evolve over time to reach its current lineup?
Deloraine started as a duo of two musicians and began by creating a few covers, such as Priscilla’s Song from The Witcher game and Samhain by Loreena McKennitt. After our first live performance as a group of four, we started composing our own songs. At that time, we worked on our first album, Vlaštovka, inspired by The Witcher universe.The biggest transformation happened in the end of 2019. The singing part of the band has completely changed. So, from that moment we had two main singers: female and male.That change inspired us to dove into working on our second album. By then, there were six of us. We also welcomed a new drummer and a year later a new violinist. And last year, during the beautiful ceremony of CeltCast Fantasy Awards, we met the newest member of Deloraine, Daphyd Crow from Omnia.
“Deloraine ” what does that mean? And what does it mean to you personally and artistically?.… It means our secret world of fantasies, a magical place beyond this world where we feel at peace.
Are there particular artists or bands that have inspired your sound and thematic focus?
Yes, of course. Percival, Wardruna, Omnia, Heilung, Eivør, Hedningarna, Skald, and many others. The Pagan Folk scene is very diverse nowadays. Each of these bands, each of these musicians, is absolutely unique. Deloraine drew inspiration from their music, as well as from soundtracks for films and games, and from the sound of specific ethnic instruments—but that’s not all. There is also inspiration from rock music, classical music, and nature itself, with its endless majesty.
Your album “Heart of Stone” received a 9/10 rating from Musicserver.cz. What does this recognition mean to you, and how did the album’s creation process differ from your previous work?
We were very happy with this review because it reflects a very complex work, much more thematically and musically diverse than our previous album. It’s also more emotional and, you could say, darker. The album features very powerful stories, such as Ragnarok, Les kostí (The Forest of Bones), Baba Jaga (Baba Yaga), Srdce z kamene (Heart of Stone), and dark legends like Divoký hon (The Wild Hunt) and Jestřabí (The Hawk), as well as the sad, mysterious Avalon. But it also carries a breath of spring and hope in the song Ostara and light nostalgie of Zlatěnka ( The Goldberry).You’ll also find a cheerful song, Král (The King), oriental one about Nilfgaard from The Witcher universe, and a wild and passionate Falka.The album consists of 14 original songs, combining many fantasy worlds into one overwhelming wave of Pagan Folk. It is recorded with an array of magical instruments from Turkey, China, Russia, Peru, and many other countries. It was truly a great journey for us.
The single “Sabat” won two awards from Celtcast for Best Music Video and Best Song of 2023. Could you discuss the inspiration behind “Sabat” and the creative process involved in its production?
Sabat is a very special song. It’s inspired by many stories of witches’ nocturnal feasts deep in the woods, as well as the movie Coven of Sisters. However, instead of the devil, we placed Cernunnos, the god of nature and wildness, at the heart of the song.The song is about freedom—about bare souls and raw emotions without borders.We sing in two languages: Czech and Galician. Our violinist, Turmawen, helped us with the pre-chorus lyrics. She’s a professional translator and highly skilled in Spanish, Galician, and English.
What instruments do you play in the band, and what elements define the distinctive Deloraine sound?Oh, we’re playing many instruments. Most of us are multi – instrumentalists. Among others there Turkish oud, Irish buzouki, celtic harp, tagelharpas, Slovakia flute koncovka, Chinese ruans, Peruan, Chinese flutes, gusli, morinkhur.
How do you prepare for live shows to create such an immersive experience?
Oh, this show needs a lot of rehearsals, because everything is completely new now!
We have many performers and dancers, we’re working with amazing props, and we’re creating the choreography together.
Another important thing is that we’re really playing live—there’s no backing track.
Everything is being created on stage in the moment.
We wanted to create something you’ve never seen before, AND ve able to play it for you live.
Have you as a band done any collabs with others?
Now we are collaborating with bands by inviting them to our own festivals. We’ve shared the stage with Percival, Zywiolak, Eihwar, Irdorath, Harp Twins, Asonance, Žniwa, Wejlar and many others.
What message do you hope listeners take away from your music?
We hope our music invites listeners to reconnect with ancient myths, nature, and their own imagination. We want people to feel the magic of forgotten worlds, the wild beauty of the earth, and the freedom that lives in every soul. Our songs are a journey — to old forests, misty mountains, and timeless stories that still speak to the heart.
Where do you typically get your inspiration to compose/ produce music?
Most of our inspiration starts with listening to nature. Nature has so much stories to tell us, make us feel alive, teach us love and respect one another, and show us real life magic, like growing big from a little seed into the biggest tree, together forming a forest of inspiration. Nothing is Sacred, only Nature.
Any new releases of tracks or albums soon?
We are currently working on our new upcoming album: Dryada. We hope to release the album during the 2025. We’ve already released few songs from upcoming album: Lughnasad, Sabat.
In October last year, we released Lord of Ravens together with an amazing visual attractive music video, filmed in Iceland. (Talking about nature, this was an epic place, a magical piece of mother earth!) The forth single from the upcoming album, called Arkona is going to be released soon with an epic music video, filmed in Iceland as well.
Are there any particular moments in the band’s journey so far that stand out as especially meaningful or transformative?
We treasure those beautiful moments on stage, when we all feel like brothers and sisters. The magic of filming — like standing under the midnight sun on an Icelandic volcano or witnessing Ostara rise from the morning mist — stays with us forever. And there are the evenings by the fireplace, when we share old legends, strange ancient instruments in our hands, and create new songs from the spirit of long-forgotten times.
Anything new from Deloraine you would like to share with us?
Well, as we talked before, there will be a new album this year. This will be our first album recorded with Daphyd on didgeridoo, throath singing, moutharp and many more instruments.
We’ll release the single and music video Arkona and now we’re filming a new music video for our slavic song Lada!
Now we are on a spring Ostara tour, we’re going to visit many european countries this summer, like France, Germany, Romania and more (check our tour schedule) and besides this we will be playing for the first time in Italy. And not only one, but two times! We cant wait to see what 2025 will bring us, who we will meet and what will be ahead of us.
