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VELISLAV IVANOV

Neo-Prog • Bulgaria


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Velislav Ivanov picture
Velislav Ivanov biography
Velislav Ivanov, born in 1988, is an independent musician from Sofia, Bulgaria. He releases his music for free, which allows him the freedom to do whatever he likes both musically and lyrically. He is primarily a keyboardist and singer, and utilize samples for other instruments. Both of his albums are strictly solo affairs, with only Ivanov appearing.

His debut record, "Под тъмни небеса" (Under dark skies) was released in 2006 and was heavily influenced by Marillion. It is a conceptual album based on the life and poems of the renowned Bulgarian poet Dimcho Debelyanov. It can be freely downloaded from http://nebesa.awardspace.com.

In late 2008 he released his sophomore album, "Тъй близко до самия небосвод" (So close to the sky itself). Ivanov consciously decided to produce a much different album from his first effort. It is a darker and more progressive effort, with a more complex and multi-layered concept and sound. It can also be downloaded free of charge at http://nebosvod.awardspace.com.

Ivanov cites as influences MARILLION, PINK FLOYD, KING CRIMSON and THE ALAN PARSONS PROJECT along with more contemporary artists like TINDERSTICKS and RADIOHEAD.

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VELISLAV IVANOV discography


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VELISLAV IVANOV top albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

2.50 | 2 ratings
Pod tamni nebesa (Под тъмни небеса)
2006
3.31 | 4 ratings
Tai blizko do samia nebosvod (Тъй близко до самия небосвод)
2008
3.11 | 7 ratings
Pogledot Na Szercatleya (Погледът на съзерцателя)
2010

VELISLAV IVANOV Live Albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

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VELISLAV IVANOV Boxset & Compilations (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

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VELISLAV IVANOV Reviews


Showing last 10 reviews only
 Pogledot  Na Szercatleya (Погледът на съзерцателя) by IVANOV, VELISLAV album cover Studio Album, 2010
3.11 | 7 ratings

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Pogledot Na Szercatleya (Погледът на съзерцателя)
Velislav Ivanov Neo-Prog

Review by octopus-4
Special Collaborator RIO/Avant/Zeuhl,Neo & Post/Math Teams

3 stars About two years ago, maybe more, the artist offered me the album for a review. Initially I didn't like it and instead of writing a bad review I decided to send a message to Velislav Ivanov only.

For a strange reason after two years the album went back to my memory and I have given it another spin, trying to remember what I have found good and bad.

Let's start from the bad: the bigger issue with the album is, I think, the production. There's too much reverb on the vocals. The other thing that I remember to have found negative was that I have found it too melodic. It's neo prog but it actually bothered me like only a full Coldplay album can.

So what is changed now?

Listening better it's melodic but not too mellow. There's enough balance between the instruments. In general a one man band has a preference so an instrument sounds better than another, especially in foreground, and in this album this is not the case even though I guess that Ivanov's main instruments are the keyboards.

The song which definitely made me change my mind is the title track. It has a thin dark background and this darkness pervades all the songs. It's an element that I have previously missed and gives a different meaning to my listening experience.

As usually happens in the prog world the best tracks are the longer but the track #5 is a good one even if short.

It's a pity for the vocals as the reverb doesn't permit to see if they are good or not, and a bit of guitar could have helped, but the album is not so bad as the first impression made me think.

Three stars are a little rounded up, but I think that the songs matter more than the production, otherwise people wouldn't buy bootlegs.

If you are in the right mood for quite and sad melodic music give it a try.

 Pod tamni nebesa (Под тъмни небеса) by IVANOV, VELISLAV album cover Studio Album, 2006
2.50 | 2 ratings

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Pod tamni nebesa (Под тъмни небеса)
Velislav Ivanov Neo-Prog

Review by apps79
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator

2 stars Velislav Ivanov is a young Bulgarian musician, based in Sofia and born in 1988.Much of a self-taught pianist/keyboardist he found great interest in producing his own music already from his teenage years, influenced by the likes of Alan Parsons Project, Marillion and King Crimson.Before even becoming an adult, Ivanov was ready with his first album ''Pod tamni nebesa'' (Under dark skies), a concept release arond the life and work of poet Dimcho Debelyanov and a free download on last.fm.

Of course Ivanov is the absolutely responsible person around all arrangements, instrumentation and vocals on this album, which sounds more or less like a combination of Art Rock and Contemporary Singer/Songwriter stylings.Actually this album is very close to a less demanding MR. GIL solo releases, music based very much in atmospheric soundscapes and sensitive vocal lines than any kind of challenging instrumental passages.Ivanov unfolds the concept over long repetitive synth-led passages, low-tempo piano themes, sampled choirs and drums and a few guitar chops, while his vocal melodies are sometimes interesting and emotional.Noone can deny this young man has talent, his arrangements burst out some rare emotions, but the musicianship is generally very simple, quite one-dimensional and as a result rather monotonous.Additionally the lyrics in his native language prevent a great mass of listeners from any kind of inspection regarding the concept of ''Pod tamni nebesa''.

I see this album more of an experimentation than an attempt by Ivanov to make any kind of significant impact.Definitely a richer sound or even a collaboration with experienced musicians would have helped him.Recommended or not, this album remains a free download for anyone willing to explore Ivanov's early steps in the composing field.

 Pogledot  Na Szercatleya (Погледът на съзерцателя) by IVANOV, VELISLAV album cover Studio Album, 2010
3.11 | 7 ratings

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Pogledot Na Szercatleya (Погледът на съзерцателя)
Velislav Ivanov Neo-Prog

Review by kenethlevine
Special Collaborator Prog-Folk Team

3 stars In many important ways this is more of an electronic ambient album than anything, even if Ivanov's influences lean decidedly on the neo/crossover axes, and vocals have greater prominence than in typical electronica. But it's also barely rock music, with most tracks lacking muscularity that would enhance their character and connect emotionally with the listener. This unfortunate tendency is sadly more pronounced in the longest cuts that scream loudest for diversification beyond a few curious piano rolls.

Luckily, at its worst "Eye of the Beholder" is at least soothing a la DAVID SYLVIAN (but not as captivating), and at its best Ivanov cooks up some intriguiing song structures and eerie hypnotic melodies mostly carried on what sounds like guitar samples, particularly in the first 2 tracks; track 6 with its deliciously ominous leads seemingly patterned after Robert Fripp or, more recenty nigh locally, Mirek Gil; and the closing cut.

Musical beauty is also in the eye of the beholder, and while this quality is amply demonstrated on the latest Ivanov effort, a little more grit might have gone a long way towards driving that beauty beyond the first few epithelial layers.

 Pogledot  Na Szercatleya (Погледът на съзерцателя) by IVANOV, VELISLAV album cover Studio Album, 2010
3.11 | 7 ratings

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Pogledot Na Szercatleya (Погледът на съзерцателя)
Velislav Ivanov Neo-Prog

Review by Passionist

4 stars So this guy keeps bugging me: "When will you write that review" or: "Did you get to listen to it yet?" So after 6 months or so I thought, the least I can do is write something, give him the credit he deserves.

I am a bit biased on this, though. First of all, I kind of know Velislav already, and even played something pretty awful on his first record, which I'd love to do again and better if I had the chance. But at the same time, I'm probably one of his biggest fans, so a nice review seems appropriate.

It's interesting to hear how greatly this guy improves his sound year after year, though still keeping true to his own style. And it's amazing how much one person with the right equipment and great samples can do. This album, I guess is my favourite so far even though I find it a bit more and on-going and playful than the 2nd, a more melancholic album, which is usually what I like about his stuff. There's more guitar and drums, much less ambient sounds, at least on the first listen. This is the kind of stuff you pick up after a couple of rounds of listening. Which is great.

In my opinion, this is the first album from Vel, that I'd call even progressive rock at times. At least neo-prog at it's best. There's a lot of organs playing and quick, clever time signature changes, some nice groove too with saxophone and jazz-piano (great development), but it seems he's in need of a lead guitarist and a lot of chorus on the box to play it through, a couple of the songs are screaming for a guitar solo а la Steve Rothery. The lack of a real instruments on this album really brings down the atmosphere a lot, which really is a shame considering the skill put into composing the music.

The album, though being Finnish myself and not knowing what the lyrics are about (although he did explain the whole idea to me once), sounds well arranged, like a story that seems to go on with out unnecessary stops or jumps to and fro. It's like a bedtime story that you don't want to wait another day to hear the next chapter of. Every time I listen to this album, I take my time and go through it from the first to the last track because every song makes the one before even better. And that's saying a lot. I'd recommend everyone to give this one several listens to get what I mean.

Vel's singing sounds great as ever, I liked his voice since the first time I heard it. The piano is really beautiful, especially on the fourth song together with what to me sounds like a clarinet. The composition is whole and mature, need I say more? If it weren't for the resources lacking from recording/playing, I'd gladly award this one full score, but it's going to be just 4 out of 5 from me because of some missing instruments (kinda my fault too, I guess).

 Pogledot  Na Szercatleya (Погледът на съзерцателя) by IVANOV, VELISLAV album cover Studio Album, 2010
3.11 | 7 ratings

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Pogledot Na Szercatleya (Погледът на съзерцателя)
Velislav Ivanov Neo-Prog

Review by Andy Webb
Special Collaborator Retired Admin

2 stars The language of music

Velislav Ivanov is a young Bulgarian neo-progressive rock artist. The man, who's been making albums since he was 18, has an interesting style, full of mellow, atmospheric lines of lush orchestral progressive music. Of course the man is not proficient in every instrument, and relies heavily on programming to implement his various instrumental lines. Sadly, these often are MIDI programmed, and not the more "realistic" type, but straight from Microsoft Wavesynth kind of MIDI voices, which give much of the music a very cheesy and unprofessional feel. Although the music itself is a nice show of mastery over melody and a nice display of compositional prowess, but overall the album has a cheesier, more "hobby" like album, without the intent to make a true work of art.

One I thing I like about all international albums in different languages is that music is truly the universal language. Despite the fact that I have no idea what the album title of song titles mean (without the help of Google Translate), I can still feel the emotion, understand what is being played, and know what notes, melodies, rhythms and other musical nonsense. I don't understand the lyrics, but can still interpret the gentle melodies and atmospheres surrounding them. Although the whole atmosphere surrounding the music to me is too ambient and slow for my tastes, one can see the nice compositional treats thrown into the music, making a more credible piece of music.

Although I am not keen of the horribly cheesy programming, the overall album is adequate. This type of atmospheric neo prog is not exactly my cup of tea, but the music is overall decent. The young man has shown his comprehension of melody, music, and the overall art of composing music. Although it's not the greatest thing ever recorded, it's also not "bad," per se, although some sections are almost inaudible because the melodies are so damn mellow and gentle. I the end, I think the album is recommended for only those who like atmospheric, gentle neo prog, and not many other groups. 2+ stars.

 Pogledot  Na Szercatleya (Погледът на съзерцателя) by IVANOV, VELISLAV album cover Studio Album, 2010
3.11 | 7 ratings

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Pogledot Na Szercatleya (Погледът на съзерцателя)
Velislav Ivanov Neo-Prog

Review by memowakeman
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator

4 stars Now with some years of experience, young Bulgarian talent has confirmed he is a musician to follow due to his more mature and interesting sound, and of course, because he has managed to play all the instruments and produce quality albums. "The Eye of the Beholder" is the title of his third studio album released last year (2010) which can also be found and downloaded via his website. He is kindly sharing his music, and we should take advantage of that.

Different from its predecessor which has only five tracks, this album features nine compositions and a total time of 52 minutes, all of them were composed, arranged and performed by the self Ivanov. It starts with "Dust of Chaos" , a short introduction to the album, gentle piano and soft atmosphere, vocals ( I still think this is Ivanov's weakest point, I don't know if it is because I don't understand Bulgarian, but I don't enjoy it so much). Later the song's sound increases, and the rhythm becomes faster due to a drumming sample.

"A City Winged" has a nice acoustic guitar sound, which is combined by electronic drums. After a minute this track becomes more interesting, the keyboard sound is pretty good all over the song (all over the album, I would say). I will not talk about the vocals again, because I believe my opinion is clear, I would prefer instrumental album, or another singer, sorry if I am being harsh, Velislav, I mean no harm. "The Eye of the Beholder" flows perfectly with the previous track. This is a longer composition with various changes in time and tempo, and mood. He likes playing keyboards, he really knows how to manage them and do what he wants, I believe it is evident, or at least his strongest point.

The longest track is "Midnight Suite" in which once again he delights us with the delicate piano sound. A soft and even relaxed rhythm is shared until minute four when it turns a bit louder with a distorted guitar as background. A minute later it slows down and begins to build up a structure, and before reaching minute seven, there is a wonderful part with a saxophone-like sound that produces a sensual mood. The last passage of the album has a peculiar electronic sound which is progressing and becoming faster and faster, finishing this great and complex composition.

"Wilderness" on the other hand, happens to be the shortest song of this album, which is not a disadvantage, actually I believe that in three minutes he can offer a lot of things, he can gather different elements and share them with good music. "A Slide" is a nice track which starts weak, but after a couple of minutes it turns really interesting, due to the orchestra-like sound he added with keyboards. There is also a cool disarming guitar interacting with those keyboards and producing together a fantastic sound.

"Compromise" is another short, but wonderful track, taking once again that orchestra-like sound and exploding it at its highest, one can close the eyes and let the music flows and take you to another world. This time, I actually enjoyed his vocal performance, I have to highlight it, because before I have shown my little interest for them.

"Blood of the Alphast" is an intelligent and complex composition which should make Ivanov proud of, I should tell you that you will enjoy more this album if you listen to it with good headphones, because you can truly appreciate the different textures and its multi-layered sound. This track may be my favorite, especially for the second part where drums and orchestral keyboards work together, creating a strong melody, and of course, a complex and strong song.

It finishes with "The Whole in Myself" which starts with a melancholic sound (actually the whole songs sounds melancholic) but the thing is how he adds the elements, colors and textures while the seconds pass, after a couple of minutes there is a beautiful passage where the piano produces a disarming sound, being accompanied by drums and vocals. Then a hypnotizing keyboard sound appears, and later the song brilliantly concludes.

It is great to see these young musicians creating great albums, showing that we have music for so many more years. This is a very good album, not what I would call a masterpiece, but it is original, different and interesting, to be honest at first I was thinking of rating with three stars, but now I believe four would be more accurate, and would encourage Ivanov to continue with this good compositional process.

Enjoy it!

 Tai blizko do samia nebosvod (Тъй близко до самия небосвод) by IVANOV, VELISLAV album cover Studio Album, 2008
3.31 | 4 ratings

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Tai blizko do samia nebosvod (Тъй близко до самия небосвод)
Velislav Ivanov Neo-Prog

Review by memowakeman
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator

3 stars A young talent sharing his music!

This is Velislav Ivanov, a man from Bulgaria whose passion for music has led him to compose and release three albums so far. His debut saw the light back in 2006 when he was an 18-year old guy; two years later he released the album I am reviewing, which by the way anyone can listen for free, through his website. The title of this album (in English) is "So Close to the Sky Itself), though the original title is in Bulgarian. It features five compositions which make a total time of 32 minutes.

The opener track is "I srceto nai-setne umira" (don't ask the meaning of the songs) which is a mellow track with a calm atmosphere. The guitar work may be repetitive, but it is accompanied by keyboards and together make a good sound. His voice is not really outstanding, I honestly prefer the instrumental passages, there are a couple of hypnotic minutes here, which I adored.

"Vals za dnite na vino I rozi" starts again with a calm atmosphere, the voice can be heard but as background, it does not really takes your attention. Then a pure, even relaxing sound appears due to his sensibility on keyboards, he knows how to put different colors and textures with his keyboards. "Mulchaine" follows up the previous song, I mean, you may believe it is the same song, but no, listen carefully and you will notice a change. Here the keyboards play again the lead role, but also nice guitars can be heard here. Before the second minute vocals appear along with some heavier noises, though the track is still soft and calm. Minutes later the guitars take now the leadership with some nice notes, while keyboards remain as background.

"Sarabande" starts with a darker mood, but it shines seconds later and becomes gentler, but wait, this is only for some seconds because later it shares again some dark and tense atmosphere which sounds interesting. However, after two minutes it suddenly stops, vocals appear and the rhythm changes. That short passage is not really my favorite, but what I like is that he returns to that dark mood later, with nice keyboards and drums. After four minutes, an excellent instrumental passage begins, with acoustic guitar and wonderful keyboards (as usual). It is important to mention that Ivanov is a multi-instrumentalist, or a one-man-band, whatever you want to call him.

Finally, the album closes with "Diavolsko" which is also the longest composition. Its first seconds sound weak, though the music is gradually progressing and little by little turn more interesting, though I have to admit, that this is not my favorite track, and actually left me with some frustrated expectations, I mean, when I saw it was the last and longest song, I truly though on a killer composition, and it may be, but so far I have not enjoyed as much as I would like to, in spite of its complexity and Ivanov's evident talent.

It is always great to know new music from new and talented artists, he is a man-to-follow, I am sure he will have a lot to offer in the future. People, take advantage of the internet facility and download his music. My final grade will be three stars.

Enjoy it!

 Pogledot  Na Szercatleya (Погледът на съзерцателя) by IVANOV, VELISLAV album cover Studio Album, 2010
3.11 | 7 ratings

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Pogledot Na Szercatleya (Погледът на съзерцателя)
Velislav Ivanov Neo-Prog

Review by Matej Roman

3 stars I found this album by chance on SoundClouds and it immediately took my attention. The main thing I like on it is the singinging and voice and of course the language, because the Bulgarian (at least I think it is so) sounds really beautiful and melodical, plus itВґs not so common to sing in that language. The songs are very well composed, played professionally, often long and gradually building atmosphere. It has some sad and mellow feeling in it. However, I miss a little bit for example a solo or a quick paasage more often, this is not exactly what I usually prefer, however there is one guitar solo I liked quite a lot!

Very good work as you played it all alone, by yourself, Velislav :)

 Tai blizko do samia nebosvod (Тъй близко до самия небосвод) by IVANOV, VELISLAV album cover Studio Album, 2008
3.31 | 4 ratings

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Tai blizko do samia nebosvod (Тъй близко до самия небосвод)
Velislav Ivanov Neo-Prog

Review by poslednijat_colobar
Prog Reviewer

3 stars As Bulgarian I'm proud to review the first bulgarian artist here in ProgArchives. That is Velislav Ivanov with his second effort - Тъй близко до самия небосвод. I was waiting too long to see bulgarian musicians in the site. And now my dreams come true...

Velislav Ivanov is young self-taught musician from Sofia, Bulgaria, who use some poems from famous Bulgarian poets like Dimcho Debelyanov and Atanas Dalchev for lyrics of his songs. Тъй близко до самия небосвод is really interesting album with strong use of mellotron. Velislav Ivanov plays all the instruments on the album, except guitars on the fifth song - Дяволско, which is played by our forum member - Finnish Tuomas Renvall (nickname at PA: Passionist)! I think this young compatriot shows big promise and I shall follow his career from here onward.

Тъй близко до самия небосвод is very melancholic album, mostly because of good old mellotron. I would like to notice the pleasant bass works, too. The songs are pretty well constructed for self-taught 20 years old amateur musician. My favourite song from the album is Сарабанд (the fourth song). All other songs are pretty good without any weak song. The album is very calm and recommended for relax! I'm nicely surprised with the vocal. I like very much singers with similar voices like Velislav Ivanov. The recording of the voice is little amateur and it's not constructed well enough over the musical parts. The vocals are made in the traditions of bulgarian popular music (estrada)! I believe this talented young musician has a bright future ahead.

I think Bulgaria is already on the progressive map with this pioneer work for our country. But yet I can't give it more than 3 stars, because it lacks of something varied as well as something special in terms of musicianship or songwriting! Recommended for neo-fans and relax!

 Tai blizko do samia nebosvod (Тъй близко до самия небосвод) by IVANOV, VELISLAV album cover Studio Album, 2008
3.31 | 4 ratings

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Tai blizko do samia nebosvod (Тъй близко до самия небосвод)
Velislav Ivanov Neo-Prog

Review by The Quiet One
Prog Reviewer

4 stars So Close to a Masterpiece

Velislav's sophomore effort maintains the dark and melancholic sound of his debut, as well as keeping a concept, notable because of the flawless flow from one song to the other, all connect wonderfully. This time however, Velislav does not repeat themes like in his first album. Anyway, once again Velislav plays all the instruments, with the exception of the guitar in track 5, which is played by Tuomas Renvall(aka The Passionist here in the forum), who had really planned to play guitar on all the tracks, but due to a problem in Tuomas' hard-drive, he couldn't send all the guitar parts unfortunately, this would have made a great duo work! As for the album:

The album features the already mentioned solid dark mood which is noticed through all the songs, in which they're experienced perfectly and smooth through a well-done production. Most of the songs develop a Van Der Graaf Generator(Godbluff era)/King Crimson(Islands era) style, mainly because of the somber ambience which is created by abundant mellotron, as well as some tenebrous synth notes and poetic vocal expressions. But Velislav unifies these roots with the classic Neo-Prog style, making all this melancholy be playful and enjoyable, as well as accessible, with nice guitar tones and synths, but never quite sounding like any of the Neo-Prog bands.

Overall, So Close to the Sky Itself is an excellent album and definitely an improvement over the more simple-headed, Under Dark Skies. By the way, if you listen to this album, make sure to listen to it with the lights turned off, it makes the album's atmosphere suit much better, and I think you can really perceive such tenebrous and melodic music with the lights turned off, or with no light of the day for that matter. In a rainy day might fit too.

4 stars.

Thanks to The Quiet One and The Doctor for the artist addition. and to The Quiet One for the last updates

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