Orlek draw inspiration for a new track from Zlatorog, Slovenia’s mythical beast

Inspiration for the new track came from Zlatorog, a creature of Slovenian myth.

Zlatorog’s Song, recorded with Tit Potecin.

”According to the old legend, a flower blooms where he left his tracks …”. With those words, Orlek open their new track ‘Zlatorogova pesem’, inspired by Zlatorog, a creature of Slovenian myth. Tit Potecin joins them as a guest.

”We Orleks love our country, our heritage, traditions, language and culture. We’ve been proving it with our music and gigs for 37 years. When we got to thinking about writing a song that would give us strength, courage, perseverance and pride, we found all of that in Zlatorog,” Orlek say about the track. It was written by their guitarist Ivo Vidergar (music) and Kristijan Adamlje (lyrics), the band’s former sax player. Zlatorog is a Slovenian mythical creature and embodies everything Orlek were looking for. Legend has it that the Triglav rose grows from drops of his blood. When a poacher wounded him, Zlatorog ate the rose that had sprung from his blood and rose again, even stronger, which was the key inspiration for the band: ”Zlatorog’s story shows the strength and perseverance we need to pick ourselves up when we fall and to face and overcome whatever trials lie ahead. Our Zlatorogova pesem can be a help, a support and an encouragement to keep fighting and keep going,” they add: ”The treasure Zlatorog guards (and the poachers were after) is really our land, its nature and its people.”

‘Zlatorogova pesem’ appears in its original version on Orlek’s current album ‘3.5 POLNOMASTNO’. As they’ve done many times before (with the tracks ‘Adijo knapi’, ‘Na Kum’, ‘Moja Boginja’, ‘Punca s Šohta’, ‘La vida gre naprej’), this time too Orlek invited a fellow musician to join in – on the new version of ‘Zlatorogova pesem’ they teamed up with Tit Potecin, the singer of Delta Riff.

In the video, which Orlek shot in the local hills on Sveta Planina above Zagorje and Trbovlje and at Hiša Planina, with a few shots at a friend’s place in Maribor, we get to see them in an expanded lineup with a double horn section, as former trumpeter and horn arranger Jan Adamek joined them on trombone and trumpet, along with stand-in trombonist Edi Ceferin, who’s actually part of the band’s tech crew. “Less is more” doesn’t fly with Orlek, as they’re one of the bigger bands around here – there are no fewer than nine of them on stage.

Orlek are always active on the live scene. You can catch them soon at:
17.10.2026, Zagorje – Kulturni dom Kisovec
7.11.2026, Loški Potok – Dvorana OŠ – Potoški fantje
12.12.2026, Rudnik Mežica – Podzemlje Pece