ID.ENTITY

If there is something that we have to highlight in the entire Riverside discography, beyond how good musicians they are, it is the ability to generate very well-achieved musical proposals, well wrapped up by impeccable production work. All this, from the hand of its leader, the singer and bassist Mariusz Duda, who clearly sets the group's agenda.

And "ID. Entity" is no exception. Riverside experiments with sounds that go beyond the limits of progressive, as with "Friend or Foe?", a clear reference to the new wave and industrial wave of the 80s, or the jazzy and excessive "The Place Where I Belong", which gives us , in the midst of its extensive development, a little over two sublime minutes, where Duda's voice is perfectly accompanied by Maciej Meller's acoustic guitars and Michał Łapaj's keyboard. There's room for his distinctive progressive streak, too, with "The Big Brother," tinged with electronic elements and dark pinkfloydian sanatorium guitar, arguably the album's best. To conclude, the scratchy "I'm Done with You" and "Self- Aware", reminiscent of the synthesized structures of the 80s Rush.

All in all, and knowing that Riverside releases are always good news, the feeling remains that with "ID. Entity" the Poles have left some punch on the road, a bit of that spicy color that made them combust and be part of the proud front line of prog metal. Being that the central theme of the album inquires about the future of human existence, we find them less aggressive and more reflective, surely motivated by what we call evolution.

3.5 stars