OUT OF AN ANCIENT WORLD

Riversea from UK with their first studio album from 2012 named Out of an ancient world really makes some ripples around them. This is one of the best melodic neo prog albums I've hered lately with some fascinatting and in same time warm vocal parts in this genre. This is a relative a young band born since 2006, Marc Atkinson / vocals, guitars and - Brendan Eyre on keyboards the heads of the game make a very solid album to my ears. Great are the guitar and vocal parts with help from lots of musicians involved here one of them is Paul Cusick. Melodic passages, with warm arrangements, maybe sometimes to mellow but with more spins the album surely delivers great atmosphere in the end. Here are no very up tempo arrangements or duels between guitars and keys, but every thing is done calculated and with grat orchestrations. Well done guys I really enjoy this alot, 4 stars. No weak moments, all 12 pieces are winners, with a plus on The fallen, Falling stars, Wiser, etc.

A great album of smooth, mellow Neo-prog with Marc Atkinson's gifted voice and some very nice, consistent arrangements by Brendan Eyre, as performed by quite a cast of friends. Great production and sound throughout. Just lacking the hooks and gut-wrenching emotional passages that NINE STONES CLOSE's One Eye on the Sunrise had. Only one song really grabbed me and made me want to push repeat: the finale and title song, "Out of an Ancient World" (10/10) Sounds like a great tune from SEAL's second album (eponymously titled, of course). If you like more stuff like this try JENSEN CODE on Soundcloud.com.

4 stars for great sound, great production and overall consistency.

Let's keep this rather short and sweet. So much can be said about Riversea's debut album "Out of an Ancient World", but I feel that this would all be in vain. One must experience this album in order to appreciate its greatness.

Riversea is a two man band that features a broad and eclectic range of guest artists. Brendan Eyre (keys) and Marc Atkinson (vocals and acoustic guitar) started Riversea as a pet project, but it has matured into something truly special. Musically, this album is neo-prog: In other words, lots of synth, wonderful melody, a slow to medium tempo, and influence from the likes of Marillion, etc. Riversea perfectly balances these components and even masters them. Marc's voice is rich and warm, and is one of the best voices I have ever heard. Period. On the other hand, Brendan's keys soar and pierce through the rather melancholy atmosphere to produce emotional highs and lows. Finally, the guest artists provide a range of excellent drums, awesome guitar solos, and backing female vocals. Each and every song is a masterpiece that you will be singing to yourself later: I cannot even pick a favorite because they all fall into place so well. This is definitely an album to listen to in one sitting. Overall, the music is rich with layer after layer of beauty and emotion and masterful composition.

Yet, I'm not so sure all of this is what makes Riversea's debut album so great. Riversea has crafted some of the best neo-prog I've ever heard, but that is not what makes this album so addictive. The addiction comes from the theme. This is a concept album that, in the words of the men themselves, is a spiritual journey. However, I cannot begin to tell you where this journey leads. "Out of an Ancient World" starts out with one of my favorite songs ever, called "In the Beginning": a truly remarkable piece about the existence of God before He created us. The album then goes on to speak about the God-given connection we all have; how we are all part of the song of God. Yet, the world is a dreadful place sometimes, and Marc's emotive voice captures the feelings so well when he begs "Take us back to Eden". We are all Fallen Stars that have forgotten how valuable we are; how blessed we are; and how interconnected we are. In all honesty, I'm still analyzing the last few tracks, but this concept intrigues me greatly (not to mention that I completely agree with it).

Riversea has presented a debut album that truly tugs at the spiritual and emotional strings of my inner being, and Marc's voice and Brendan's keys are the perfect vehicles for their message. I cannot possibly give any higher praise to this absolutely incredible work of art, and I have faith that Riversea will not disappoint with their next release. Until then, I will still be pondering, "Is that what God wants"? Buy this album.

UK project RIVERSEA was formed by Marc Atkinson and Brendan Eyre in 2006, and in the years that followed they slowly but surely wrote material, enlisting the aid of numerous friends when the time came to record their compositions. The end result became the album "Out of an Ancient World", self released by the band towards the end of 2012.

As far as band projects go, Riversea comes across as a fairly traditional one as far as compositions go. The material is rather straight forward, without any structural surprises to speak of and the arrangements pretty much unfolds as expected to. This is a band that sticks to well known territories throughout, taking on the challenge of creating memorable music within a context that doesn't give them too many strings to play upon.

It is a challenge Riversea masters quite nicely too. The mostly tender compositions that unfolds are strong in mood and atmosphere, both when sticking to tender ballad-oriented compositions from start to finish as well as when slowly developing their creations to end up as majestic constellations sporting smooth but rich symphonic backdrops in jubilant harmony with melodic guitar motifs. A token few excursions into harder edged territories appear as well, like the short but brilliant Fallen, and we're also treated to a somewhat surprising lead motif in the initial phases of Fallen Stars. But by and large this is an album that wanders from one ballad oriented construction to the next one, and more often than not in a rather predictable manner.

The key elements that elevates this production are twofold. The minor of these are the keyboards, Eyre knows his way around frail piano motifs just as much as symphonic backdrops and deliver both of them in a high quality manner. But the star of the show is vocalist Marc Atkinson. He's got a beautiful, emotional voice that is just as much at home in delivering the most tender of frail moments as he is when opting for higher impact and forceful use of his vocal talents. At all times with a certain longing tenderness in his voice, of the kind that will mesmerize many and especially those with a strong affection for high quality lead vocals. And just to have mentioned this too: Pitch perfect delivery throughout as far as I can tell, and perfect choice of vocal style and delivery on all occasions too as far as I'm concerned.

If you're looking for boundary breaking, demanding and challenging progressive rock Riversea is a band you can safely pass by. But if lead vocals of the highest quality perfectly used to elevate and emphasize compositions with tender, frail and emotional qualities sounds like something you might enjoy, "Out of an Ancient World" is an album that you should investigate. In particular if symphonic backdrops and harmonic guitar details neo progressive rock style are descriptions you regard as positive ones.

Riversea enlist a small army of guitarists to add their talents to this collection of mellow Floydian compositions. Whilst Brendan Eyre is the sole keyboardist involved, fellow Riversea co-founder Marc Atkinson displays a knack for integrating all sorts of different performers on the guitar side of the equation, with the album's decent production standards doing a good job of making sure the sound feels consistent. Although it's not an album to set the world on fire, and might not catch the attention of many outside the prog community, it's a competent enough effort which makes me interested to hear where the band will go next.