POGLEDOT NA SZERCATLEYA (Погледът на съзерцателя)

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!