WIND AND MEMORIES

One of the exciting contemporary voyagers in the world of progressive rock is back with a new band and a new studio album - Bulgarian musician Daniel Eliseev (originally known from the Daniel Eliseev Project, having released two excellent solo albums) has assembled a new musical collective under the name Untold Stories and the band's debut album 'Wind and Memories' happens to be one of the earliest releases of 2025. While this might not necessarily be a continuation of the previous project, Daniel Eliseev and his bandmates have once again crafted a very ingenious, melodic and enticing sound that combines elements of art rock with hard rock, space rock and melodic rock, all tangled in a very balanced combination of great playing and really excellent writing. We have a very solid, warm guitar sound that is quite upfront, mixed up with a very prominent and atmospheric presence of keyboards, which are perhaps the main drivers behind the sound of this band.

Untold Stories deliver a crossover of styles that should be quite appealing to art rock and prog rock fans, there is even a little bit of a neo-prog influence, but what matters is the fact that this is arguably the best release of Mr Eliseev, an album on which we will hear the most far-reaching and emotive pieces of his catalogue as well as the most eclectic. Opener 'Broken Light' is an energetic and uplifting track with a bit of a rocky attitude, it sets a fine tone for this record which also exhibits somewhat of a conceptual edge, with several songs dealing with the theme of time and its various manifestations. 'Fly Away' offers a memorable chorus, while the 10-minute-long title track is a great excursion into the more technical and intricate side of the band as this mini-epic goes through a more somber first half and a spacey second half. Another highlight is the instrumental 'Faces', this track is darker and more dynamic than the rest of the album, with tasteful soloing and gorgeous passages. It almost feels like this track sets the tone for the second half of the album, and we can definitely say that the rest of the songs successfully carry on with this moody, introspective feel. Overall, this is a great album with lots of memorable lines and heaps of masterful playing, especially in the guitars department, and it might turn out to be one of the really pleasant surprises of the year.