Mizar ( ) is a

Macedonian Macedonian most often refers to someone or something from or related to Macedonia. Macedonian(s) may refer to: People Modern * Macedonians (ethnic group), a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group primarily associated with North Macedonia * Mac ...

rock band ''Rock Band'' is a series of rhythm games first released in 2007 and developed by Harmonix. Based on their previous development work from the Guitar Hero, ''Guitar Hero'' series, the main ''Rock Band'' games have players use game controllers mod ...

from

Skopje Skopje ( , ; ; , sq-definite, Shkupi) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It lies in the northern part of the country, in the Skopje Basin, Skopje Valley along the Vardar River, and is the political, economic, and cultura ...

. They achieved a status of a

cult band A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The latter is often called a cult classic. A film, boo ...

, especially in

Macedonia Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...

and across the former Yugoslavian countries. The group is notable for its first self-titled album, as it was the first popular music album in the former Yugoslavian countries in

. The album was a major success and it is listed among the top ten rock albums ever released in former Yugoslavian countries. Mizar was formed in 1981 in the then

Socialist Republic of Macedonia The Socialist Republic of Macedonia (), or SR Macedonia, commonly referred to as Socialist Macedonia, Yugoslav Macedonia or simply Macedonia, was one of the six constituent republics of the post-World War II Socialist Federal Republic of Y ...

. Because of the band's

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

sound and image, its

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

leanings and support for Macedonian

self-determination Self-determination refers to a people's right to form its own political entity, and internal self-determination is the right to representative government with full suffrage. Self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international la ...

, they were viewed with certain degree of suspicion by the former authorities. Still, the group received great media attention including numerous appearances on the national television. The 2014 documentary '' Mizar: The Star of Hope'' details the band's origins.

Name

The band got its name after

Mizar Mizar is a second-magnitude star in the handle of the Big Dipper asterism in the constellation of Ursa Major. It has the Bayer designation ζ Ursae Majoris ( Latinised as Zeta Ursae Majoris). It forms a well-known naked eye d ...

which is a guiding star for the orientation of travelers in the deserts. The name was given by

Panta Džambazoski Panta Džambazoski () (born 9 October 1960) is a musician and journalist from the Republic of Macedonia. He was first drummer of the Macedonian rock band Mizar (band), Mizar, of which he chose the name. He was in the band for seven years. For a ...

History

In their long history, Mizar has had 5

Revelation Revelation, or divine revelation, is the disclosing of some form of Religious views on truth, truth or Knowledge#Religion, knowledge through communication with a deity (god) or other supernatural entity or entities in the view of religion and t ...

s, all of them with different singers.

The First Revelation (Risto Vrtev)

Mizar were formed in 1981 in Skopje as an instrumental trio of Gorazd Čapovski on guitar, Valentin Zabjakin on bass and Panta Dzambazoski on drums. In late 1981, Zabjakin left the band and was replaced with Ilija Stojanovski. Risto Vrtev joined on vocals soon after. In 1982, the group recorded a demo tape for Radio Skopje. They then sent this tape to Jugoslovenski Rock Moment (also known as YURM), who wrote a short but glowing review of the tape. During 1983, the band then had to break up shortly after due to the members' mandatory army commitments.

The Second Revelation (Goran Tanevski)

In 1985, when the members of Mizar returned from the army, Čapovski attempted to form a band called Inola-X with Vrtev, but it didn't work out. Mizar then reformed with Goran Tanevski-Stapot in place of Vrtev and a new keyboardist, Slobodan Stojkov. They started to use elements of the traditional Macedonian folklore and Byzantine music blended with post-punk, darkwave and gothic rock. This phase of Mizar is known as ' (Mizar - The Second Revelation). Vrtev later founded

Arhangel Arhangel ( , ''archangel'') is a Macedonian alternative rock band formed in 1989. The frontman is Risto Vrtev who has also been part of such rock bands as Mizar and Inola X. The original line-up is: Risto Vrtev, Dragan Ginovski, Panta Džamb ...

(Archangel) which was awarded as the best rock act in Macedonia during the 1990s. Arhangel inherited certain features of Mizar but with a more conventional rock approach which is why Arhangel was sometimes referred as ''the Rock Mizar''. In 1986, the band filmed a music video for the song "Stoj". In 1986, the band played the Druga Godba festival in Ljubljana, but altercations within the band caused Dzambazoski and Stojkov to leave the group. They were replaced by Vencislav Smakjoski and

Goran Trajkovski Goran Trajkoski () (born 21 November 1963) is a Macedonian musician. He rose to international prominence as a frontman of the group Anastasija which was featured on the soundtrack album for the Academy Award-nominated movie '' Before the Rain'' ...

respectively. This lineup played at

Festival Omladina Festival Omladina (English: ''Youth Festival''), also known as Omladinski Festival, is a music festival held in Subotica, Serbia. The festival was founded in 1961 as a competition of young composers of popular music. Their compositions were init ...

, with Vladimir Kaevski on keyboards, and contributed two live tracks to the festival's compilation. These tracks are the first appearance of Mizar on record. Trajkovski would later be replaced by Sašo Krstevski, while Stojkov was replaced by Katerina Veljanovska. In 1986 they recorded a few demos and were a support act for

Laibach Laibach () is a Slovenian and Yugoslav avant-garde music group associated with the industrial, martial, and neoclassical genres. Formed in 1980 in the mining town of Trbovlje, Slovenia, at the time a constituent republic within Socialist Fede ...

and

Disciplina Kičme Disciplin A Kitschme, originally known as Disciplina Kičme ( sr-Cyrl, Дисциплина Кичме, transl. ''Backbone Discipline''), was a Serbian and SFR Yugoslavia, Yugoslav and, for a period of time, Great Britain, British Rock music, r ...

on their Yugoslav tour. In 1987 they were awarded for their unique sound at the most significant rock music festival which was held in

Subotica Subotica (, ; , , ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city in Central Europe and the administrative center of the North Bačka District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. Formerly the largest city of Vojvodina region, contemporary Sub ...

. They released their first, self-titled album, in 1988 with the following line-up: * Goran Tanevski (vocal) *

Gorazd Čapovski Gorazd is a given name. It is a Slavic version of the Hebrew given name Gilad which means Hill of Testimony, Monument. Notable people with the given name include: *Saint Gorazd, a disciple of Cyril and Methodius *Gorazd Hiti (born 1948), Slovene ...

(guitar) *Boris Georgiev (drums) (ex.

Badmingtons Badmingtons (Macedonian: Бадмингтонс) were a Macedonian punk rock band. History Badmingtons were formed in 1983 in Skopje, then SR Macedonia (now the Republic of Macedonia) by Vladimir Petrovski - Karter (guitar and vocals), Dean � ...

) * Sašo Krstevski (bass) * Katerina Veljanovska (keyboards) The producer was Goran Lisica-Fox. Besides their own songs, the album also included a cover version of the notable Macedonian folk song Zajdi, Zajdi under the title ' (Golden Sun). One of the best-known songs from the album is ' (Girl made of bronze). By 1989, the lineup had stabilised to the following: * Goran Tanevski - vocals * Gorazd Čapovski - guitar * Ilija Stojanovski - bass * Žarko Serafimovski - drums * Vladimir Kaevski - keyboards This lineup's first appearance on record was the ''Demoskop 1'' compilation in late 1990, where they contributed two tracks, "Veligden" and "Glas". Between October and December 1990, the band recorded their second album, Svjat Dreams, releasing it on 7 September 1991, the day before Macedonia split from Yugoslavia. The title of the record is inspired by the song "

Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" is a song by British synth-pop duo Eurythmics. It was released as the fourth and final single from their second album of the same name in January 1983. It was their breakthrough hit, establishing the duo wor ...

" by

Eurythmics Eurythmics were a British New wave music, new wave duo formed in 1980, consisting of Scottish vocalist Annie Lennox and English musician and producer Dave Stewart (Eurythmics), Dave Stewart. They were both previously in the Tourists, a band t ...

. On this album they covered the traditional song ''1762'' and a song written by Vrtev, the first singer of Mizar titled ' (''Home''). After the release of the band's second album Tanevski left the group and was replaced by the vocalist Nora, but soon by the end of the 1991 the band split. Tanevski got involved in organising concerts, Kaevski restored his old band Kiborg, while Čapovski left for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. There he formed Kismet in 1993 which is considered a sort of continuation of Mizar's work because the musical style was similar. In 1999, Serafimovski and Tanevski reissued ''Mizar'' on CD under the title ''Svedožba'', with bonus demo and live tracks, including a never-before-heard darker version of the song "Svjat Dreams" recorded in 1989 with Tanevski on all instruments and two unreleased live tracks, "Čifte Čamče" and "Samo eden mig". Also included were a live version of the ''Svjat Dreams'' album track "Veligden" and three tracks from ''Svjat Dreams 1762-1991''. The live tracks were recorded at a concert at Kuršumli An in 1990. In 1999, Čapovski returned to Macedonia and contributed two tracks to a

tribute album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century a ...

dedicated to Mizar, which was released in 2001. In 2002, Kismet released an album called "Dreaming". The band broke up in that year.

The Third Revelation (Goran Trajkoski)

In 2001 a

named ''Tribute to Mizar'' was released. It was a collection of Mizar cover versions by some of the most notable groups in Macedonia incl. Majakovski, the black death metal band Syniac and others. Two years later the first two albums of Mizar were re-released on CD solely for the Macedonian market, but the record quickly spread across the countries of former Yugoslavia. Besides the albums, the CD also contained demos and live recordings. Mizar was reunited in early 2003 with their former member

Goran Trajkoski Goran Trajkoski () (born 21 November 1963) is a Macedonian musician. He rose to international prominence as a frontman of the group Anastasija which was featured on the soundtrack album for the Academy Award-nominated movie '' Before the Rain'' ...

as a vocalist, with whom, first they released the single ' (''Gun Salute''). That summer they played at the

Exit festival Exit (stylized in all caps; ) is a summer music festival which is held at the Petrovaradin Fortress in Novi Sad, Serbia. Founded in 2000, it has twice won the Best Major Festival award at the European Festivals Awards, for 2013 and 2017. EXIT has ...

Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; #Name, see below for other names) is the List of cities in Serbia, second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pannoni ...

and in the alternative club Močvara in

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

. The entrance tickets included give-away records featuring the new single. The following year a new album titled ''Terrible Beauty (is born)'' came out. During 2005 Mizar toured ex-Yugoslavia, August 2005 Mizar toured Croatia together with Croatian gothic band from Zagreb - Phantasmagoria (Croatian band), with its leader Tomi Edvard Sega. That was Jadran Tour -

Pula Pula, also known as Pola, is the largest city in Istria County, west Croatia, and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, seventh-largest city in the country, situated at the southern tip of the Istria, Istrian peninsula in western Croatia, wi ...

( Viva La Pola! festival),

Zadar Zadar ( , ), historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian, ; see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Croatia. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar ...

(Maya Pub),

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enter ...

(O'Hara Club),

Dubrovnik Dubrovnik, historically known as Ragusa, is a city in southern Dalmatia, Croatia, by the Adriatic Sea. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean, a Port, seaport and the centre of the Dubrovni ...

( Lazareti) and in the beginning of November they visited

Serbia and Montenegro The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro or simply Serbia and Montenegro, known until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and commonly referred to as FR Yugoslavia (FRY) or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Southeast Europe locate ...

playing in

Pančevo Pančevo (Serbian Cyrillic: Панчево, ; ; ; ; ) is a list of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the South Banat District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. It is located on the shores of rivers Timiș (ri ...

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

and

Kragujevac Kragujevac ( sr-Cyrl, Крагујевац, ) is the List of cities in Serbia, fourth largest city in Serbia and the administrative centre of the Šumadija District. It is the historical centre of the geographical region of Šumadija in central Se ...

After Trajkoski

During the summer of 2006 the former Mizar vocalist Goran Tanevski replaced Goran Trajkoski. In the beginning of November that year Mizar played in Belgrade and announced their new album featuring Tanevski as a vocalist. The album ''Pogled na cvetnata gradina'' was completed and released in 2007.

The Fourth Revelation (Harmosini)

In 2010, Tanevski left Mizar again and was replaced by the Byzantine choir Harmosini. The album ''Deteto i beloto more'' was released in 2010. The album contains a re-recording of "Hoden že" from Mizar's debut album. In 2014, they were selected as the support band for

Simple Minds Simple Minds are a Scottish Rock music, rock band formed in Glasgow in 1977, becoming best known internationally for their song "Don't You (Forget About Me)" (1985), which topped the ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' Billboard Hot 100, Hot 100 ...

' concert at the Kale hall in Skopje. Their new album, at the time entitled ''Šarena Krava'' (Coloured Cow), was announced at that concert. ''Šarena Krava'' returns the band to its punk rock roots, removing all traditional Macedonian instruments and patriotic lyrical themes. Harmosini has been replaced with

Jana Burčeska Jana Burčeska (, ; born 6 July 1993) is a Macedonian singer. She represented Macedonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 in Ukraine, with the song " Dance Alone". Burčeska first came to prominence in her native country in 2011 after competin ...

, the second female singer in the history of Mizar since Nora Stojanovic's brief tenure with the band in 1991. One song intended for the album, "Nebo", was released on the ''Balkan Under the Radar vol. 2'' compilation in 2014.

The Fifth Revelation

On 26 June 2015, the documentary ''Mizar: The Star of Hope'' was released, featuring interviews with members of early Mizar lineups and discussing a hitherto-unknown period in the life of the band: its beginnings in 1981 until 1986. Before the documentary, it was believed Mizar formed in 1983. To this day, Čapovski has remained the only constant member of Mizar since its formation in 1981. On 12 December 2022, Mizar's sixth album, by then retitled ''Večna praznina'' (Eternal Emptiness), was released.

Musical style

Mizar's musical style is

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...

darkwave Dark wave, or darkwave, is a music genre that emerged from the new wave and post-punk movement of the late 1970s. Dark wave compositions are largely based on minor key tonality and introspective lyrics and have been perceived as being dark, ro ...

and

gothic rock Gothic rock (also called goth rock or simply goth) is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted toward dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie an ...

. Besides influences such as

Joy Division Joy Division were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist, guitarist and lyricist Ian Curtis, guitarist and keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris (musici ...

for instance, Mizar also uses elements of traditional Macedonian folklore and

Byzantine music Byzantine music () originally consisted of the songs and hymns composed for the courtly and religious ceremonial of the Byzantine Empire and continued, after the fall of Constantinople in 1453, in the traditions of the sung Byzantine chant of East ...

. Another main part of their music is Tanevski and Trajkoski's vocals, which are based on

church chants.

Band members

Current band members (2014)

(guitar) *

Zoran Origjanski Zoran ( sr-Cyrl, Зоран) is a common South Slavic name, the masculine form of Zora, which means ''dawn, daybreak''. The name is especially common in Serbia, North Macedonia, Croatia and to some degree in Slovenia. Notable people with this g ...

(drums) * Pece Kitanovski (bass guitar) *

(vocal) * Vlatko Georgiev (keyboards)

Former band members

* Valentin Zabjakin (bass) 1981-1982 * Ilija Stojanovski (bass) 1982–1987, 1989-1991 *Boris Georgiev (drums) 1988-1989 *

Žarko Serafimovski Žarko Serafimovski (; born 13 February 1971, in Skopje, SFR Yugoslavia) is a retired football midfielder from the present-day North Macedonia. International career Serafimovski made his debut for the Macedonian national team in a March 1994 f ...

(drums) 1989-1991 * Vladimir Kaevski (keyboards) 1987, 1989-1991 * Slobodan Stojkov (keyboards) 1985-1987 *

(drums) 1981-1986 * Risto Vrtev (vocal) 1982-1985 *

(bass) 1987 (vocal) 2003-2006 * Vencislav Smakjoski (drums) 1986-1988 * Sašo Krstevski (bass) 1988 *

Novogradska {{Infobox musical artist , name = Igor VasilevИгор Василев , image = Main pic.jpg , alias = Novogradska , birth_date = {{Birth date and age, 1978, 6, 22, mf=y , birth_place = Skopje, Socialist Repub ...

(Backing vocalist) (bass) 2003-2006 * Harmosini (male Byzantine choir) 2009-2013 * Goran Tanevski (vocal) 1985–1991, 2006-2009 * Katerina Veljanovska (keyboards) 1987-1989 * Eleonora Stojanovic (vocal) 1991

Discography

Albums

*1988 - ''Mizar'' *1991 - '' Svjat Dreams (Light Dreams)'' *2004 - '' Kobna Ubavina Terrible Beauty (is born)'' *2007 - ''

Pogled Kon Cvetnata Gradina Pogled may refer to: In Montenegro: *Pogled (mountain peak), a mountain peak in Kosovo, Serbia, and Montenegro In Serbia: *Pogled, Arilje, a settlement in the Municipality of Arilje In Slovenia: *Pogled, Moravče Pogled () is a settlement nort ...

(A View to the Flower Garden)'' *2010 - '' Deteto i Beloto More (The Child and the White Sea )'' *2022 - ''Večna Praznina (Eternal Emptiness)''

Singles

*2003 - "Juda" *2014 - "Nebo" *2015 - "Kajmos"

References

External links

Official WebsiteOfficial Facebook PageOfficial Twitter / X PageOfficial VK Page
{{Authority control Macedonian musical groups Macedonian gothic rock groups Macedonian new wave musical groups Macedonian dark wave musical groups Macedonian post-punk music groups Musical groups established in 1981 Musical groups disestablished in 1991 Musical groups reestablished in 2003