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Roz Vitalis - Dedication To BigNick CD (album) cover

DEDICATION TO BIGNICK

Roz Vitalis

 

RIO/Avant-Prog

3.96 | 31 ratings

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Great1703 like
5 stars Dear friends, good day to all of you! The year 2025 has come, and it's brought us new creations, new music. In addition, among the new wonderful musical creations, I want to write you now about the album of very famous band, they are Roz Vitalis and they are from St. Petersburg, and this album was created in the progressive rock style. The album "Dedication to BigNick" is the 12th in a row. This album is dedicated to the musical producer and big friend of the band - Nikolay Bogaychuk who died some time ago, it's so sad! Music of thе new album is rather similar to sound to the music of another creation of the main author of the idea of Roz Vitalis Ivan Rozmainsky - the Compassionizer project. But another similarity is that musicians from both projects who took part in the recording of the album live and work in different cities and some of them are even in different countries. Therefore, the album was recorded separately in different parts basically, and all the recordings were mixed together then. Also basically all the material was recorded in 2017-2024 years. This disc has both similarities that emphasize the signature style of the band, and differences. Similarities: different styles: yes, not all compositions are only prog rock. There is also salon piano music, piano sketches. The compositions are divided into several parts. Each track has topic. In addition, of course, using of special effects, which made studio music as it plays live. The differences are that there are almost no guitar parts on this records, fewer brass instruments, and much more various of keyboards. The length of the tracks is also not very long, and also we have two short pieces perhaps this is similar to the previous albums, but the absence of long tracks is a difference. The average length of the tracks is 4 - 6 minutes. Dear friends! This is a great album! You will really like it! Next I would like as I did before to tell you, dear friends and listeners, about each composition separately. The title composition "The Tragedy of The Ancient Spring (Extended Version)" lasts almost 6 minutes, many Roz Vitalis tracks have such length. It begins very lyrically. After the first sounds started to play we hear something as birds have fluttered in front of us, something is really connected with antiquity. We hear an orchestra, the romantic sound of brass instruments, we feel spring. But the music develops, keyboards are added, they sound separately and together with the brass instruments, then the drums are started, they have a rather "metallic" sound and their sound by the way even becomes a "rock-style", it is very interesting when the rhythm changes and a new melody cycle develops, the violoncello comes to the foreground. The melody approaches a certain overflow, the tragedy occurs and the first composition smoothly transfers into the second one. The second composition "Captivated (Atmospheric Version)" has a bit of a space music introduction, also it looks like something comes to us from ancient times. The rhythm of the drums at the beginning is a little bit, I would say, even like African. The guitar startes gently: first are single chords, then we listen to a solo. The drums begin to beat out a classic rock rhythm, the harpsichord is added very beautifully from time to time. Then various keyboards and brass instruments come to the fore, I counted about 3 different keyboards, and how many can you count? Yes, of course, a very pleasant track, I am really "enchanted" by these beautiful melodies and the arrangement! The third composition with the intriguing title "Target (LP Version)" begins smoothly and calmly: we hear keyboards and brass instruments. But after 1.5 minutes the melody "hardens": a restless rhythm of the drums is added, the melody begins to "load", the bass guitar begins to come to the foreground. Several times the rhythm calms down and the melody even becomes a little quieter, but then the melody starts to become fast and "loaded" to a certain limit again. At the end of the composition we hear a short culmination and that's it's final. We hear a gong strike and music stops! What? Perhaps the goal has been achieved? The fourth and sixth compositions "Teach me thy statutes (Part I)" and "Teach me thy statutes (Part II)" are essentially musical sketches on the piano. The first is short - about half of minute, the second is longer, about 1.5 minutes. In the first, the musical theme is outlined, in the second - it develops. In the second part, it is necessary to note rather complex and fast chords. Probably only a virtuoso can play them. On the previous album "Quia Nesciunt Quid Faciunt" (2023) there are also two musical compositions - sketches. Probably the musicians decided to continue using them on the new album, I will repeat my idea from the review of the previous album, so that you, dear listeners, could feel that the work of the Roz Vitalis band is very diverse! The name of the fifth track is "Loneliness-Bringing Power". The composition begins with electric keyboards, such a slightly ominous beginning, slide guitar and brass instruments are connected. At some point the melody stops, the sound of instrument is similar to an electric organ sound, it echoes with violins (or violoncellos), the melody develops again, goes in a spiral, acquires new special effects. Then it speeds up a little, changes a little and intensifies. It is worth noting the special role of the bass part in this composition, starting from the middle. The ending sounds unusual: the final chords, they are held back and then released, a strong sound is obtained like a beep, the rhythm stops. And that's all. The power that brings loneliness has come or has dried up, depending on what is felt more by each person. The seventh track "The Threesunny Light Power (Very Abridged Version)" also starts a bit harshly, we hear the electric organ again. It plays as if it were rocking on the waves! Gentle and beautiful! Then a bell sounds, the melody is picked up by the piano, a bit like a Chinese tea ceremony, like in the previous album in the composition "Beautiful", the notes sound very quickly, these notes of the melody echo are the chords that border it. It is very similar, you know, to a polka that sounds in a palace somewhere in the 18th-19th century. And in the third part of this nice composition we hear a bell that sounds with a different rhythm. The sound however is quite "metallic", it is divided by channels and the effect of transition from one channel to another is used. Ivan Rozmainsky recorded this bell 16 years ago. The composition by the way was recorded a long time ago in 2004 in an extended version, and its short version was produced in 2009, which sounds on the album in a specially adjusted version. The eighth track "Resilience (Expanded Version)" begins at a fairly fast tempo with classic drum rhythm, a repeating melody core that develops and acquires new sounds. At the end, the melody falls silent, special effects come to the foreground. The final iridescent chord hanging for 10 seconds and a break. You know, it seemed to me that this piece is like a person's life: it develops in many ways in a circle with an increase trend. These special effects are the moment of a person's transition to another dimension, maybe clinical death, when there is a choice to stay here or leave. And this final part of this track is unfortunately death, it is the transition of the soul to another state, to another dimension. And the final ninth composition, which is on this album, called "Silence is Waiting (Thy Statutes Version)", continues this mystical theme, which I spoke about, describing the previous track. The melody is gentle, calm, contemplative. You can hear long background keyboards, a strumming of short keyboard sounds in the foreground. There are no drums, this once again emphasizes the duration of the sounds. As in the track "Premonition" from the previous album, we hear the breath of the galaxy and the sounds of the space ether! You know, I have a feeling that this is an extraterrestrial melody. The soul is already there, it hovers, flies above the earth or is already in heaven, in space, in paradise! These 2 compositions: 8 and 9, it feels like they are about the earth and extraterrestrial life of Nikolay Bogaychuk, to whom this excellent album is dedicated. Dear friends! Thank you for your time and take care of yourself! Listen to wonderful well-done music!
Great1703 | 5/5 |

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