{"id":47402,"date":"2014-12-14T09:45:18","date_gmt":"2014-12-14T14:45:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=47402"},"modified":"2014-12-14T09:45:18","modified_gmt":"2014-12-14T14:45:18","slug":"alogia-elegia-balcanica-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2014\/alogia-elegia-balcanica-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"AlogiA | <em>Elegia Balcanica<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote><p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">by Joe Mis<\/span><br \/>\n&#8211; Senior Columnist &#8212;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/AlogiA_Elegia-Balcanica_Front-Cover-350x350.jpg\" alt=\"AlogiA_Elegia Balcanica_Front Cover\" width=\"350\" height=\"350\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-47403\" srcset=\"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/AlogiA_Elegia-Balcanica_Front-Cover-350x350.jpg 350w, https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/AlogiA_Elegia-Balcanica_Front-Cover-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/AlogiA_Elegia-Balcanica_Front-Cover.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/>AlogiA is a progressive metal band from Serbia, and their popularity proves that music is a universal language (despite producing most of their material in their native Serbian tongue). In fact, AlogiA has developed such an international following that they&#8217;ve released an English language recording of their debut, and are working on the translation of their latest, <em>Elegia Balcanica<\/em>. They&#8217;ve opened for some well known names too:  Whitesnake, Apocalyptica, Savatage, and Paul Di Anno \u2013 to name a few.<\/p>\n<p>AlogiA was founded back in 2000 by guitarists and brothers Miroslav and Sr\u0111an Brankovi\u0107. This powerhouse pair is joined by dynamic vocalist Nikola Miji\u0107, bassist Vladimir Ranisavljevi\u0107, drummer Sr\u0111an Golubica, and keyboard player Vladimir \u0110edovi\u0107. Elegia Balcanica is the band&#8217;s fifth studio release, following up on <em>Pri\u010de o vremenu (Tales of Time)<\/em> \u2013 2002, <em>Pri\u010de o \u017eivotu (Tales of Life)<\/em> \u2013 2004, <em>Secret Spheres of Art<\/em> (the English version of the first album) \u2013 2005, and <em>Pri\u010de o snovima (Tales of Dreams)<\/em> \u2013 2012. AlogiA has also released a live concert CD and DVD, entitled <em>Pri\u010de o vremenu i \u017eivotu (Live at SKC)<\/em> in 2006.<\/p>\n<p>While billing themselves as a progressive metal band, they are not a Dream Theater sound-alike by any means. There are heavy and obvious influences of power metal, old school hard rock, and hints of Balkan folk \/ ethnic music. For those looking for a taste, the official video of the title track is available at <a href=\"http:\/\/youtu.be\/p3uZ9vLKjWk\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/youtu.be\/p3uZ9vLKjWk<\/a> for your viewing pleasure.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Alogia - Elegia Balcanica (Official Video 2013)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/p3uZ9vLKjWk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlmagest\u201d is an instrumental prog metal feast for the ears filled with razor sharp guitars, lush keys, strong rhythms and many timing and tempo changes. It flows into \u201cCallis Ad Astra,\u201d a very prog tune that gives Nikola Miji\u0107 a change to truly shine as a singer, while the awesome rhythm combo of Ranisavljevi\u0107 and Golubica proves itself to be among the best in the business. This track also allows hint of folk rock to be heard, making it a unique piece. \u201cGalija\u201d is an aggressive yet melodic tune, built around drums, keys, and aggressive rhythm guitar. \u201cVreme Je\u201d has an almost 80s hair-metal feel to it, and it features some great manic drum work and machine gun bass. The title track features some incredibly tight guitars (both rhythm and lead), well done keyboards, Balkan folk influences, and a stellar vocal delivery \u2013 one that allows Miji\u0107 to hit all areas of his impressive range.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOna Zna (Lilith)\u201d is an upbeat, modern metal rocker with a nice flowing vocal line, while \u201cInferno\u201d is just that \u2013 a massive wall of sound sure to warm the hearts of the most die-hard power metal fans. \u201cU Ti\u0161ini\u201d is a guitar driven mixture of hard rock, progressive metal, power metal \u2013 almost every heavy genre you could name \u2013 a diverse showcase of the band&#8217;s musical talent and songwriting skills. The bonus track \u201cIntentionally Blind\u201d is a collaboration with the Bosnian black-metal band Silent Kingdom \u2013 and is radically different due to the black metal growling vocals, but it still presents the super-tight performance of AlogiA&#8217;s musicians in fine form.<\/p>\n<p>Whether or not you speak Serbian, AlogiA&#8217;s <em>Elegia Balcanica<\/em> is a solid album musically. The band is equally at home with hard and heavy or ballad, and the Balkan-tinged ethnic elements add a touch of uniqueness. There is no doubt that the guys in the band are extremely comfortable working together, playing as the true veterans they are. The overall quality of the music is only emphasized by the strong engineering and a great sounding mix. There are really no obvious negatives save for the fact that it is a non-English language performance \u2013 but in any language AlogiA rocks!<\/p>\n<p>AlogiA is a solid band now, and their future looks bright! <em>Elegia Balcanica<\/em> is recommended for fans of progressive metal or power metal \u2013 whether or not you speak Serbian.<\/p>\n<p>Genre:  Progressive Metal<\/p>\n<p>Band:<br \/>\nNikola Miji\u0107 (vocals)<br \/>\nMiroslav Brankovi\u0107 (guitars)<br \/>\nSr\u0111an Brankovi\u0107 (guitars)<br \/>\nVladimir Ranisavljevi\u0107 (bass)<br \/>\nSr\u0111an Golubica (drums)<br \/>\nVladimir \u0110edovi\u0107 (keyboards)<\/p>\n<p>Track Listing:<br \/>\n1.\tAlmagest<br \/>\n2.\tCallis Ad Astra<br \/>\n3.\tGalija<br \/>\n4.\tVreme Je<br \/>\n5.\tElegia Balcanica<br \/>\n6.\tOna Zna (Lilith)<br \/>\n7.\tInferno<br \/>\n8.\tU Ti\u0161ini<br \/>\n9.\tIntentionally Blind<\/p>\n<p>Label: Miner Records<\/p>\n<p>Website:  <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/alogia.official\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/alogia.official<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Hardrock Haven rating: 8.5\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\">by Joe Mis &#8211; Senior Columnist &#8212; AlogiA is a progressive metal band from Serbia, and their popularity proves that music is a universal language (despite producing most of their material in their native Serbian <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2014\/alogia-elegia-balcanica-cd-review\/\" title=\"AlogiA | Elegia Balcanica\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":47403,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10848],"tags":[8430,2317,8436,10408,1098,10409],"class_list":{"0":"post-47402","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2014","8":"tag-alogia","9":"tag-cd-review","10":"tag-elegia-balcanica","11":"tag-miner-records","12":"tag-progressive-metal","13":"tag-serbia"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47402"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47402\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}