RAPID EYE MOVEMENT

I have only loosely heard the first two albums from Riverside and therefore I have nothing to put Rapid Eye Movement up against. What I can say is that this is a great album, and my interest was caught the first time I listened to it. They are very inspired by Dream Theater, Porcupine Tree and to a lesser degree Marillion and Tool. I hear hints of these bands everywhere in Riversides music. It don´t find them to be ripp- offs though as they set their own special mark on the music. You can clearly hear that it is Riverside you are listening to.

The sound quality and the musicians are top notch, only good things can be said here.

Beyond The Eyelids starts the album of with a Dream Theater inspired instrumental opening which after a couple of minutes segues into the main song. It´s a great song even though I find the metal riff´s a bit generic.

Rainbow Box is a great rocker, with some simple but brilliant keyboard sounds. The vocals from Mariusz Duda are really strong and the lyrics are clever. "Medication time, My favorite Part" what a great start to a great song.

02 Panic Room is the single from the album, and rightly so. This is a strong song with memorable melody lines. The main riff reminds me of Depeche Mode from Ultra if anyone can make the link. A very modern sounding song. The song shifts mood and the closing section reminds me of Marillion, especially the guitar which could have been a Rothery riff. This section is unfortunately cut from the single version of the song, and I just hate it when bands chop their perfect songs up to match the single 3 minute mark. Fortunately this version of the song has it all. What a beauty.

Schizophrenic Prayer is one of the most beautiful songs on the album, I just can´t get enough of this one. Again Duda sings majesticly. The rythm in the drums is worth noting as well.

Parasomnia took me a while to get into, as it is not easily accesible. It´s a great song though and especially the quiet passage in the song is really godly.

Through The Other Side is a mellow Pink Floyd inspired song, and one of the more weak moments on the album. Not bad just not the most exciting song.

Embryonic is another mellow song. Here we hear the Porcupine Tree influence very much. It´s a very nice song.

Cybernetic Pillow is a rock/ metal song and a pretty good one.

Ultimate Trip which is a song of epic proportions ( it last for 13+ minutes). It starts out very well, but I feel it´s loosing it´s breath midway. I think it is a bit too long for the material displayed in the song. Maybe it will grow on me in time. It´s good but nothing more right now.

I was about to give this one 5 stars, but when I came to think of it, some things made me give it 4 instead. First of all, I don´t know if this will stand the test of time. Will I listen to this in 20 years ? And then there is the question of the heavy metal riffs in some of the songs which I find kind of generic. It´s really funny because generally I review metal bands with prog rock tendencies and this time it´s the other way round as I find Riverside to be a prog rock band with metal leanings. It doesn´t suit them that well in my opinion. If they could loose those metal riffs, I think their music would transend to a higher plain.