B.T.R. is a

Bulgarian Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...

metal band, founded in 1984.

History

Formation & Early Years (1984 - 1993)

B.T.R. was established in 1984 and broke up in 1986. During its early years nearly thirty musicians played with the band. B.T.R. played live for the first time at a rock festival in Troyan, Bulgaria in 1990. In their first album, the band consisted of Hristo Angov (vocals), Valentine Guevski (guitar), Kiril Bozhkov (guitar), Ivan Kalfov (bass), and Georgi Milev (drums). Their first album was released by Riva Sound as a live album, with a performance which took place at the Valentin Andreev Hall on January 29,1992. In 1993 B.T.R. released their first studio album,
Bending the Rules
. The album consisted of powerful heavy metal tracks and melodic ballads. It was distributed by Unison - RTM and became one of Bulgaria's best-selling albums in 1993.

New members & International Success (1993 - 2004)

Since 1993 B.T.R. consisted of Kiril Bojkov (

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

), Ivan Kalfov (vocals,

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

), Ilian Dikov (

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

), Slavcho Nikolov (

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

) and Atanas "Nasko" Penev (

). Their first album with this lineup was " Feel the Life" and it consisted of traditional heavy metal tracks. Following extensive promotion in small clubs and concert halls, the band made an impression in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and had positive reception amongst the French fans. B.T.R.'s arrival in

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

coincided with the

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

victory of Bulgaria over France, and the band was later invited to play soccer with the semi-professional

University of Nice A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

soccer team. In 1994 the band was invited to play in F.R.A.C.A, a large musical forum in Southern France in which over 20 bands perform. A year later, the band opened for

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

Mainstream success

In 1997, " B.T.R. '97" was released, which was a significant step forward for the band. The album was actually recorded in 1996, but not released until a year after. Amongst the songs was perhaps one of B.T.R.'s most recognized songs, "Elmaz i Staklo" (Diamond and Glass). Following the critical success of "'97", the band was again invited to perform in the French festival "Cosmopoliten", featuring various international acts. 1998 marked the release of the hit single ''Salvation'', their most acclaimed song to date. The song became an anthem of the anti-drug movement in Bulgaria and received considerable airtime on radio stations all over the country. December of the same year the album ''7 Ballads'' was released, which includes Salvation and various songs from Feel The Life, but all in Bulgarian. The album was also the first Bulgarian Enhanced Audio CD and features music videos for ''Salvation'' and ''Elmaz i Staklo'', as well as interviews from all the band members. In 1999 the band recorded ''Dreams''. It differs from previous albums in style, and features more complex compositions, as well as a more melodic style, with more developed lyrics. Their first single ''Flower from the Moon'' was an instant success. Both the album and the single reached the number one spot in many different billboards across the country. The album followed with extensive touring, different sponsors (over 30 gigs), and many of the venues being sold out. In the year 2000 the band continued their touring and opened in the

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

n festival ''Golden Stag'' with bands

INXS INXS (a word play, phonetic play on "in excess") were an Australian Rock music, rock band, formed as The Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney, New South Wales. The band's founding members were bassist Garry Gary Beers, main composer and keyboar ...

and

UB40 UB40 are an English reggae and pop band, formed in December 1978 in Birmingham, England. The band has had more than 50 singles in the UK Singles Chart, and has also achieved considerable international success. They have been nominated for the ...

. At the end of the year, the band also made another appearance in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. In 2002 they released ''The Game'', followed by their most well-known performance, in the

National Palace of Culture The National Palace of Culture (, ; abbreviated as , NDK), located in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, is the largest, multifunctional conference and exhibition centre in south-eastern Europe. It was opened in 1981 in celebration of Bulgaria's 130 ...

with a special guest Glenn Hughes, the bass player of

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock music, but their musical style has changed over the course of its existence. Ori ...

. Together they played some of

's biggest hits, such as

Stormbringer Stormbringer is a magic sword featured in a number of fantasy stories by the author Michael Moorcock. It is described as a huge, black sword covered with strange runes, created by the forces of Chaos with its own will. It is wielded by the doo ...

and Mistreated. The concert also featured a symphonic orchestra for two of their songs. From 2003 onwards, the band has played countless shows in many countries, and has also played in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, recording ''Meet in Beijing''. B.T.R. also visited

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

where a recorded show of the band was watched by over 50 million

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia ** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam. * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overse ...

people.

New Developments

In 2008 the band released Deja Vu, which contains covers of famous Bulgarian rock songs. They are also chosen as band of the year by Bulgarian audiences. In 2009 they toured in over 13 cities in Bulgaria. On March 15, 2014 the band played a concert in Toronto, Canada.

Discography

References

External links

The Official B.T.R. web site
*
B.T.R.
at

Bulgarian Rock Archives Bulgarian Rock Archives (or Български рок архиви) is the first online encyclopedia dedicated to rock music in Bulgaria. Launched online on 2 August 2013 and includes more than 350 bands and performers from the mid-1960s. The artic ...

{{Authority control Bulgarian rock music groups