LOST HUMANITY

In search of the truth yet again. When Daniel Eliseev is promising something new (music-wise), you implicitly should pay attention. There's always a surprise bag awaiting, assured. To start with, he's an acclaimed session guitarist, at least when it comes to his homeland Bulgaria. I was very impressed by the collaborations with Kalin Tonev for example, and so much the more the previous project album 'Night Shadow'. This one now comes after a three-year gap. Well, there was no need to laze around. He has taken enough time to collect impressions, bringing inspirations into shape and developing new drafts of songs. No vocals on this occasion. Musically this is turning towards an eclectic direction a bit. Just to highlight the excellent Curved Path for example, distinctly provided in the vein of Gentle Giant respectively King Crimson.

According to the band name and being responsible for compositions and production, of course it's his project, also confirmed by the fact that the guitars are totally prominent. Thus 'Lost Humanity' is very much focussed on his skills again. The mix provides Daniel's preferred instrument multi-layered, multi-tracked. Aside from that he also offers some keyboard duties, but this clearly has a minor role on this occasion, just for having some ambient layers in charge for example. Regarding the approach to deliver compelling rock music the other basics are successfully embedded by three additional bassists and two drummers. Overall the result is a mixture of styles he himself qualifies as Progressive Rock Ambient.

As it is in most cases, in opposite to the pop culture, prog music needs time to take affect, yep. Just take the comfortable option to reserve full presence on his bandcamp page and listen to the new songs in the first instance. After all the album's flow comes across completely homogeneous. Now here you go, let it rrrrrock! - leading into the album Beyond The Night immediately makes pace. As for the counterpart, like on Autumn Mood - nice percussion added by Pepe Rodriguez by the way - and Hidden Land, some fine melancholy is interspersed from time to time. Furthermore a slight Fusion touch is available on Shambhala and Mirror World. This time deliberately focussed on a diversified electric guitar appearance the overall delivery is entertaining once more during those round about 50 minutes playing time. My summary: undoubtedly a beautiful experience.

[Originally published at The Progressive Aspect]

Lost Humanity is the first album I've heard from Bulgarian outfit the Daniel Eliseev Project (DEP), but based on the enjoyment I've gained from it, it surely won't be the last. Daniel Eliseev is a guitarist, so unsurprisingly it is his guitar playing that is the highlight of the album. I absolutely love his style, which to me is reminiscent of a mix of the quite different styles of Steve Hackett, Allan Holdsworth, John McLaughlin and Alex Lifeson. Apart from that last name, how heavy the setting for the guitar playing is at times might come as a surprise, but while the music at times approaches metal (and would probably be described as such by some listeners), the guitar playing itself pretty much never has a metal feel. The closest it comes is an almost post- or math rock vibe, but most often it's a more jazz fusion touch.

The slowly building introduction of opening number Beyond the Night explodes into a bouncy and heavy groove that is immediately welcoming. The guitar playing is alternately nimble and playful, or sweeping and majestic. At times these two styles almost battle each other in a most polite fashion. It's fun and it's funky, and it packs a punch. The rhythm section of (on this track) Antonio D'Amato (bass) and Jordan McQueen (drums) get a nice workout and a turn in the spotlight. Quite simply, it's a very effective opening number.

Curved Path then shows that Lost Humanity is likely to be a fairly eclectic album, sounding like a glorious meeting of Gentle Giant and King Crimson, via Mahavishnu Orchestra. Juan Ignacio Varella adds saxophone to the mix, and it's glorious (but I admit I am a sucker for sax, so I would say that). All the heaviness falls away around halfway through (around the curve?), and what's left is sublime, subtle and beautiful. The skittering drums of Anatoli Peev are a delight. But, the path curves again, and we're back to that Crimson-esque groove through a jazz fusion filter.

It probably comes as no surprise that Autumn Mood is a more subdued affair. The percussion from Pepe Rodriguez is an outstanding addition, while Anatoli Peev is still a star on the drums, but no longer all over the place. Daniel's guitar playing is pleasant and pastoral, delicate and dreamy. There is a surprising crescendo, before the track subsides, rather than climaxes. I love the contrast between the blistering guitar playing on the previous track, and the more breathy playing on this one, but as per the introductory paragraph, even at his heaviest and most powerful, Daniel's guitar playing is silky smooth and fluid, like the sweetest drizzle of liquid honey. Hyperbole? Sure, but deliciously so!

Hidden Lands has intricate, jangly guitar playfully riding over an equally ebullient backing. The mood changes to one that might be more menacing in the fingers of others, but that would be too easy and obvious. I love the way Daniel hints at menace and metal, but never crosses the line. The only thing to fear is fear itself, and there is nothing to fear here. As if to reinforce that, Shambhala, is suitably spacey and spiritual ? the last hidden land. Thus the Curved Path was perhaps a reference to the wheel of samsara, and the eternal wandering of the souls through birth, death, and rebirth. To be honest, it's only in writing this review that I've even considered what the tracks might mean. While some instrumental albums have clear concepts that are almost unavoidable, Lost Humanity is one of those albums you can just lose yourself in, without thinking about it too much, or at all. It's simply a joy to listen to.

Mirror World and Prayer for Life are both mid-tempo numbers full of atmosphere, moody, dreamy, and jazzy. The latter is probably my favourite of the two, though, thanks to some more sax (this time, courtesy of Manuel Trabucco), and some meaty riffs from Daniel. But just as it seems that this is an album of two halves, with the second half a less heavy affair, it ends with an almost bombastic In Search of the Truth, the only track to put Daniel's keyboard playing to the forefront. Even though I know it's coming, it gets me every time, and certainly Daniel's playing on this track is the closest he comes to metal ? but because of the interplay with the keyboard, it never feels too much. Midway, the mood and volume shifts, and there is a soft and delicate passage before a martial beat, followed by waves of spacey keyboard, and then some more riff-tastic guitar before it all ends in a grand climax.

Everything about this album is so tastefully and well done, from the arrangements, to the instrumentation, to the playing, to the production, which is clean and crisp. The guitars and keyboards are of course prominent in the mix, but every instrument has space to be heard and appreciated. The album is intricate, dynamic and eclectic but not so varied that it loses consistency. There is a fluidity that suggests as much thought was put into the sequencing as every other aspect. I'm left wondering if the only reason that Daniel Eliseev is not more well-known is simply because he's from Bulgaria. Daniel certainly deserves more recognition than he has, and if he keeps making albums of this quality, he surely will receive it.

Bulgarian prog rock collective Daniel Eliseev Project (or D.E.P.) return after some three years of time with their second studio album, named 'Lost Humanity', a painfully applicable title in this day and age. This musical project is the venture of Bulgarian multi-instrumentalist and produced Daniel Eliseev, and what he does is he collects some very talented musicians (and in the case of the previous album, vocalists) to help out and to enrich the sound and deepen the tonal palette.

This time it seems the start have aligned for the band, as they take an unexpected, I may call it, turn for the better, as this new album is entirely instrumental. The tone that was set with the previous one was of a crossover approach, maybe a bit heavier but very contemporary and enjoyable, to some classic prog influences; 'Lost Humanity', on the other side, expands the musical pallet of the band, with some jazz and fusion influences, ambient and electronic sounds, and with its overall tranquil mood.

This new album by D.E.P. is sincerely elegant in its presentation, and some might disregard this record, being entirely instrumental, as another outlet for a guitar player to showcase his mind-blowing skills and inhumane speed. Well, there is no such thing here (and thank god!). As I said, 'Lost Humanity' is a well-composed, unapologetically enjoyable instrumental ride, that corresponds well to the icy landscapes of the album art, which is really good, too. Daniel Eliseev is well in control of his intelligent approach to playing guitar, as he makes you feel like all the notes that come out of his instrument are exactly the notes that he feels are necessary for the moment; no noodling, no swagger, just some laid-back and mature music (and we must say that this applies for each musician appearing on the album).

Some highlights would include 'Curved Path', with its very pleasant saxophone surprise, probably the maddest track on the album and the most 'technical', if you would prefer; 'Autumn Mood' is this tranquil instrumental poem; 'Shambhala' is a very nicely-written piece with fantastic production; 'Mirror World' is a modern prog mini-epic for my ears, and 'Prayer for Life' is another soothing song on the album.

I would summarize this album simply like this: it is an improvement over D.E.P.'s debut, it is a shift in style with some surprisingly satisfying results; it is a daring move to make the album entirely instrumental, but it feels like it still needs that pinch of crispiness that, for example, a Joe Satriani album displays, or even the condensed lunacy that you will hear on an Änglagård record.

Bulgarian guitarist Daniel Eliseev is back with the second album from his project, following on from 2018's excellent 'Night Shadow'. That was an album of songs with a singer, but here we have moved into instrumental territory with complex guitar at the forefront of it all. We have three bassists, two drummers, two saxophonists and a percussionist while Daniel himself provides guitars, keyboards and programming. Long before the album was released Daniel contacted me to ask for some advice as he was worried that if he released this under the DEP name that people might well be expecting a direct continuation from the debut, but this was not only very different to that album but also, he felt it was more aligned to what he was trying to achieve so what to do? I counselled that he should keep the name as I personally expect artists to change and "progress", and hopefully listeners will go back and investigate the earlier release, even though it is quite different both in approach and style.

When he was describing the album to me, Daniel said the album was not "Heavy Prog - rather there are elements of Classic Prog (there were such elements in my previous album), Fusion, Jazz Rock and something I call Ambient Prog." While these elements are indeed there, to my mind there is no doubt that Daniel has been listening to the classic albums by Steve Vai and Joe Satriani, while there are times when he has been influenced by Pat Metheny and John McLaughlin, as well as some Allan Holdsworth. This is very much a guitarist's album, one which spins off in multiple directions, often within the same piece, so no-one knows what is going to happen next. He may repeat himself around a certain melody for a period of time, or he may just spin and provide some blistering shreds, or we may have music which is slow and refined that has a strong sense of melody. He has a wide variety of sounds and styles at his disposal, and with rhythm sections which set powerful foundations he can just go off and direct the multiple layers of keyboards and guitars to create different emotions and feelings.

I have found that while I can become engrossed in some guitar-led instrumental albums, there are also many others where it appears to be all about the performer and not the music. Thankfully that is not the case here, as here we have an album to be played for sheer enjoyment. Yet another powerful release from Daniel.