Molchat Doma’s ghostly sound is haunted by the remains of Soviet architecture at its Great American shows

Last weekend, Belarusian dark wave band Molchat Doma graced San Francisco’s Great American Music Hall for two consecutive sold out shows on May 27 and 28. 

The band’s name translates to “Houses Are Silent,” a grave nod to the specter of Soviet-era architecture that remains in the members’ hometown of Minsk, Belarus — their country was a republic of the USSR until 1991.