I'm wondering, is anyone familliar with the music of Isihia (bul. Исихия ; means "to stare, to think"; it is an Orthodox realigious teching when one vows to be silent a communicate only God)? To be honest, I've just recently became ware of the group (much thanks to
NikeBG! for telling me about them), but I'm simply fascinated by their music.
The style of Isihia is unique and quite hard to describe, an ethnic-ambient style with great Orthodox inspired vocals, chorus and epic medieval and symphonic feeling. The first two albums of the group - "Isihia" ("Исихия") and "Orisia" ("Орисия"/"Doom") dwelve back hundreds of years into Bulgarian history, at the time when the Balkans fell to the Ottomans. Thir music is inspired by the epic events of the period, each one inspired by a popular folk song or poem, or by a manuscript from the XIVth-XVth centuries (some are actually narrated in medieval Old Bulgarian!), combining different ethnic themes to capture the feeling of the region at those cataclysmic times.
I strongly advise you to give their incredible music a try. It is truly epic and emotional.