OVERCOMING-UP

This is a keyboards dominated avant-prog album with complex programmed drums. I heard Ivan even saying it's hard to find a drummer in Saint-Petersburg to rerecord most of Roz Vitalis output live :) And I can assure you the drums don't sound weak at all! Next goes my collection of impressions by track.

3* Overcoming-Up 4:21 This is a slow-mid tempo composition with bass, percussions and IMO the most complex programmed drums on this album. Keyboards mood interchanges all the time from light and mellow to slightly robotic. But nothing special.

4* Madrigal 4:35 This starts with mellow keyboards, very inspiring, it somehow really finds the key to my heart. Some flute added to the mood 2 minutes in, then switch to guitar, all with merry spring lofty feel, especially when all instruments are playing. Close to being a masterpiece! 4* only for some lack of instrumentation and mood variation.

3* Journey of possible forgiver 6:47 Keyboards are supported by some percussion, bass and guitar. Everything is in slow-mid tempo. Becomes guitar-centric in the middle, rougher psychedelic edge. Then the tempo drops to slow, music starts to resemble environmental sounds, quite boring for the last 2,5 minutes. But the start is interesting enough.

3* Serene light 4:11 This starts with a slow soundscape with flute, bright-colored and mellow. Then there's a very pleasant piano part, augmented with other keyboards and bells. Coda is just a tad bit darker, gives a moody contrast. This composition might grow on me in the future...

4* Thorns of forgiving 7:23 It starts with synths + complex programmed drums, mid-tempo. Tense mood, "thorns" feel real! Then it develops into less demonic, intricate, robotic sound, likely to illustrate a forever working Rube Goldberg machine. There are some mood changes later on, until guitar effects take the lead at 5,5 minutes, leading to a slow keyboards coda. Also falls short of 5*.

5* Claws of winter (Blizzard paths) 20:54 Well, this is the main reason to buy this album :) Heavy synths + complex programmed drums, mid-up tempo, right as I like it! Then a turn to slow-mid keyboards+percussion, adding bass and then developing up to mid-up tempo the main theme, increasingly darker with guitar roaring support! I was clawing my way onto the ceiling! Another theme takes place with the same support, with a musically justified change to a low tempo space soundscapes, like "time to rest". In my case - time to fall off the ceiling!

Then the trick is performed with another keyboards theme: starts as slow-mid tempo bright piano+synths, then darker and with percussion. Not as dark (candy this time) as the previously, but still very cool! And again a change to a slow tempo, this time to guitar and synths effects + rythm section. And again slowly developing into heavy mid-up-tempo darkish keyboards, like two times before. But not for that long this time. Again a change to a synths effects which develop into a several minutes of tense piano soloing arriving at the main theme repetition and a noisy finish later on. By far this is the best epic Roz Vitalis have produced! Overall I have the feeling those sections might have been devoted to three winter months and piano soloing - for the start of the spring. Also I didn't hear the flute here, though a flautist is listed...

2* Overcome by uplift 4:41 Starts with synths effects and a flute, then guitar effects pick up the mood, then a solemn keyboards part, then just like what was in the start. All slow tempo and mellow. Might work for some mood, but after such an epic I found myself bored.

Time-weighted score 3.93

What a wonderful world the world of prog is. So many records have no real similarities to others that you could find such rare things as Roz Vitalis. It's a Russian band that started as Ivan Rozmainsky's solo pproject but the band hos grown bigger through the years even if this record features a little band again. Since 2002 Roz Vitalis has made eight studio albums of which their last one, 2012's "Patience of Hope" has got most ratings(17). "Overcoming-Up" from 2014 was actually recorded some years ago 2007-2008 so the music isn't totally new even if we have to call it modern. The minimalistic black and white cover covers an album of seven quite even songs and the musicians are Ivan Rozmainsky(keyboards, percussion, samples, tenor recorder), Vladimir Enorgoslon Semenov Tyam Shansky(bass), Sydius(Igor Pokatilov)(guitar,samples) and Vladiskav Korotkikh(flute).

I don't think I have ever heard anything like this. Earlier this autumn I reviewed the symphonic band "Glass"s latest record which was felt sacral and the echoing empty sacral feeling is heard hear too. Roz Vitalis music is well composed and totally instrumental. The music is crazy sometimes but all the time melodic and special. It feels they want to make us feel we are in an empty church and improvising their soulfull songs. The music is varied and experimental and it is very different from what we use to call rock music. There are classical influences and influences of pure electronic music here. Perhaps are they showing their best abilities on the long "Claws of winter"(6/10) or at the starting title track "Overcoming-up"(7/10). But the record is what I wrote even and almost everything has something of interest in it.

The problem for me to fully appreciate this music is the lack of coherence within the compositions. That is also what's making this cool, but it's not my taste really. I will give the record three stars. Best song: "Overcoming-Up"

OVERCOMING-UP is not only a strange but positive title from the St Petersburg, Russia based ROZ VITALIS led by keyboardist Ivan Rozmainsky but is a also an anomaly in how it was released. Although this album officially came out in 2014 it was actually recorded from 2007-08 and musically fits somewhere between "Compassionizer" (2007) and "Revelator" (2011). This was a decision by Mellow Records which remains a mystery but nevertheless is placed in the history books, so who knows what strange strategies lurk in the minds of those who make these decisions. The title and mood of the album is very much about OVERCOMING, unifying and forgiving. Thus a sort of cleansing of the soul, purification and the like to create a more balanced psyche. It was designed to run the gamut of emotional responses to the trials and tribulations of life and once again features a plethora of keyboards but with this one many more experiments with them. It also features Vladislav Korotkikh debuting on the flute as well as Vladimir Semenov-Tyan- Shansky debuting on the bass but later picking up the guitar.

Right off the bat on the first title track, this release sounds more accessible and less avant-garde than previous albums but that's not to say not progressive. The bass starts off almost sort of funky and a straight forward melody gently nudges the listener to join the party. As the track continues though it does indeed start becoming jittery and firing off proggy time signatures galore with instruments starting to whiz around each other and recalcitrantly doing their own thing before finally coming together again towards the end. The same is true of the next couple of tracks that offer a more accessible and less progified approach than many ROZ VITALIS albums.

Despite ticking off the prog check list i don't think this album comes alive until track four "Serene Light" which finally turns the heat up in all departments. The melodic developments become stronger as does the song structure as a whole. The variation of keyboard sounds is unusual for the band as there are many different parades of keyboard tones and timbres bouncing off each other but it's all somehow laid out in a logical way that allows everybody to have a chance to shine for a while! However, even this track seems like a warm up for my absolute favorite track on the album "Thorns Of Forgiving" which obviously delves into the Christ complex of suffering through forgiveness and the like.

"Thorns Of Forgiving" really unleashes the full prog potential of Rozmainsky's virtuosic prowess. This track reminds of a much more caffeinated Happy The Man with a frenetic key riff opening up and then all hell breaking loose with a slow melodic bass register keyboard line keeping the melody while other keyboard riffs with different tones, timbres and timings offering a bizarre tapestry of realities. The track meanders into different moods while keeping a melodic underpinning to the whole thing. This one is progressive as hell with Bach inspired Baroque classical sounds as well as classic 70s prog outbursts. One of my favorite ROZ VITALIS tracks ever actually.

The other great track on this album is the 20 minute and 54 second prog workout "Claws Of Winter (Blizzard Paths)" which also somehow maintains a rather catchy and uncomplicated melodic flow despite all the detours into prog territory throughout its run. It starts out logically creating a melodic keyboard run but adds all kinds of percussive accompaniments, a trait that i love most about this band and how they somehow incorporate the percussion itself into the melodies. Once again i'm getting a Happy The Man type of vibe from this one but only in the main keyboard riff. Otherwise this is truly the ROZ VITALIS show with all kinds of overlapping instrumental parts that create a vast array of musical textures that flow like separate streams over each other and occasional make a rendezvous to create a cohesive whole but even when at odds are somehow connected despite the tension. This one has the most guitar parts on the album and really the only track that could rightfully be called rock music.

The final track is another decent but not outstanding track with a return to a sort of funk bass and proggy parade of keyboard parts. Unfortunately this album doesn't blow me away frankly. Unlike the majority of ROZ VITALIS albums that flow well from beginning to end, this one only heats up on track four and then has two excellent tracks which do constitute roughly one half of the album and then the remainder just seems a little underwhelming. Granted there is nothing bad on here and everything is perfectly listenable but at the end of the day i've heard too many other great albums by this band that i would much prefer to this one however the two tracks that i really like on here are excellent. This one just seems less cohesive and more like a collection of random tracks thrown together however this is the ROZ VITALIS album that features more variation in keyboard sounds than any other, so others may very well be more impressed with this than i. The title focuses on more positive emotions than other darker albums and it simply reminds me to always look at the bright side of life (Followed by Monty Python whistling! LOL)

This release is something of a strange one, as it was recorded and mixed between April 2007 and September 2008 and had been completed long before the 'Revelator' and 'Patience of Hope' albums from 2011 and 2012 respectively, yet was only released in 2014. To add to my confusion Ivan Rozmainsky (keyboards, percussion, samples, tenor recorder) sent it to me at the beginning of this year to review, although to be fair he did try to send it to me back in 2014 and I said I was too busy back then. The line-up of this instrumental outfit is completed by Vladimir 'Energoslon' Semenov-Tyan-Shansky (bass), Sydius (aka Igor Pokatilov) (guitar, samples) and Vladislav Korotkikh (flute), Yes, here is a band that has no use for drums.

Listed on PA as RIO/Avant, that is definitely the right sub-genre for them to be included in, yet this music is surprisingly melodic and incredibly easy to follow. It all makes musical sense, with the different instruments and sounds melding together in a fashion that has far more in common with modern classical, yet with an emptiness and bleakness that is incredibly powerful. Not everyone needs to be playing at the same time, and there is no need for anyone to show off their skills, this is all about playing the right notes, in the right manner, at the right time. Ivan has a wonderful touch on piano, and this combined with the flute along are the driving force of the band. They have even the temerity to include a song that is more than twenty minutes long, which works incredibly well. Their music is peaceful and restrained for the most part, but the introduction of "Thorns of Forgiving" could almost be from a different band altogether, as it is strident and more mainstream progressive, and the repeated melody on an organ provides a far warmer feel. I don't know why it took so long to release this album, but I'm happy it has finally seen the light of day as it is yet another strong album from these guys.

"Overcoming - up" is actually quite a successful attempt to modernize the earlier legacy of Roz Vitalis, only in the spirit of newly acquired experience. In my opinion, it worked more than well! The album is the most futuristic opus of the group's entire discography. In addition, the recording seems to be devoid of guitars, both acoustic and electro. For all my love for music, it is rather difficult to describe purely instrumental rock, but I will try anyway. The album opens with a rather multi-layered and powerful composition after which the album is named. The rhythm section is very typical for early Weather Reports, along which Rick Wakeman strolls at a leisurely pace. An amazing and quite energetic combination. It seems that here the group managed to combine the incompatible, or simply successfully interpret the borderline state. The next piece ? "Madrigal". I don't know if this track is a reference to the legacy of Yes, but it definitely has the atmosphere of the progressive rock of the late 70s. A lot of beauty, flight, high sadness. As in the entire album, the keys are pronounced here, which I think is not surprising. It was followed by "Journey of Possible Forgiver", although it sounds more like "The tour may not take place". This is where special effects come into play. And now the listener can hear the sound of water and birdsong, which is intertwined with percussion improvisations and keyboard inflections. In "Serene Light," the band pays homage to second half 70s prog rock with its overall blissful atmosphere in the spirit of Genesis and Barclay James Harvest. What follows, in my opinion, is the main track of the album "Thorns of Forgiving" - an ideal component for prog music, both in duration (7 minutes) and in its "filling". The powerful rhythm section and "vortex" component of the keyboards and percussion come into play again. I know what the musicians meant when they came up with the name, but it is definitely not like anything, this is an attempt to give birth to a certain avant-garde style of its own, at the junction of musical trends. The album also has in its arsenal the "mini-opera" "Claws of Winter (Blizzard Paths)" - which is better to hear at least once in order to get the most complete picture of the boundless possibilities of this group. And the disc closes with "Overcome by Uplift" - a quiet, almost cosmic lullaby, directed somewhere boundlessly upward. Particular attention should be paid to the cover of the disc. Strange, but true: this is just an upside-down photograph of the "Big House on Liteiny" in Saint Petersburg, taken with a film camera. In the early 30s in the USSR, the building of the OGPU-NKVD ? the secret police organization ? was located here; this was an agency of special extrajudicial executions. And it is not clear why the leader of the group, Ivan Rozmainsky, being a religious person, combined this photo with religious symbols. And, nevertheless, we have one of the successful and coolest covers in the history of modern Russian prog-rock (created by Vladimir Kabanov)! In the best traditions of the 70s, it is "served" to the listener without any additional identification marks.