ANNO DOMINI HIGH DEFINITION

What has not already been written about Riverside, these four boys from the East as brilliant as being uneasy to categorize? Actually, it is fortunate that this fourth opus, "Anno Domini High Definition", is not their first album, because we would have been then quite embarrassed to know in which variety of prog this band would be classified.

Progressive metal? So little, as the powerful and fast rhythms of Dream Theater or other Queensrÿche are missing. Something in the sound, at most... Heavy prog? Maybe, even if it is very difficult to find so much lyricism in the representative bands of this style.

In fact, when I listen again and again to this magic album, I have more the impression to discover a new album of the Pink Floyd of the great time, something which could be situated between "Meddle" and "Wish you Were Here". Everything is there: from the very first bars of "Hyperactive", Michał Łapaj's piano plunges us into a soaring atmosphere a thousand leagues away from the aggressive riffs of metal; the use of repetitive, even heady motifs, the superposition of effects, abundant but always relevant, Piotr Grudziński's inspired solos, the choices of harmonic progressions, the analogical tones of the keyboards...

In fact, it is enough to attend a Riverside concert once to see that the extreme diversity of their audience, which ranges from seven to seventy-seven years old, makes them a universal band that transcends the usual divides between metalheads and supporters of the classic prog of the 70s.

"Anno Domini High Definition" is the kind of album for which one regrets not being able to go beyond five stars. In my opinion, it deserves to be in the top 100 of the best progressive albums of all time. These five tracks are a pure masterpiece that I can't get enough of.

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