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RIVERSIDE

Progressive Metal • Poland


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Riverside biography
Founded 2001 in Warsaw, Poland -

Despite not being the biggest progressive rock powerhouse of Europe, Poland have certainly sprouted great and interesting progressive bands since the heyday of progressive rock, being the biggest examples of that the singer and multi-instrumentalist Czeslaw Niemen and the supergroup SBB. After the fall of the communist regime, during the 90's and 2000's, more bands begun to form and release their material, strengthening the country's own progressive rock scene, such as the neo prog bands Abraxas and Collage, and Riverside is, quite possibly, the biggest and best known band to come out from that scene.

Riverside was formed almost by accident, when two of its members, the guitarist Piotr Grudziński and the drummer Piotr Kozieradzki, listened to Marillion in Kozieradzki's car back in 2001. Both played in heavy metal bands at the time, but had the common interest for progressive rock, so they decided to join with their mutual friend, Jacek Melnicki, who owned a studio, and started to experiment with progressive rock. Mariousz Duda, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist from the band XANADU , joined the trio later that year for rehearsals and the results and reactions from those meetings were extremely positive. After some more rehearsals, and the completion of some compositions by the band, Mariousz started to take the role as both the band's vocalist and bass player.

In late 2002, about one year after the band's formation, Riverside's was already playing gigs in Warsaw with material that would later be their debut album, Out of Myself, and, after distributing 500 copies of their demos around the town, the band played in a small club in Warsaw by the end of the year.

In 2003, shortly after the recording of Out of Myself, Riverside's founding member and keyboard player Jacek Melnicki decided to leave the band to focus on his own studio, so the rest of the band continued to mix and produce the album, as well as to search for a replacement for Jacek, which would be the band's current keyboardist Michal Lapaj.

Upon its release, in late 2003, Out of Myself had an unexpected success in Poland, and such success led to the album's rerelease in September 2004 by the American record label Laser's Edge, which led to even bigger media coverage and even more praises and attention towards the band. Still o...
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RIVERSIDE Videos (YouTube and more)


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RIVERSIDE discography


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RIVERSIDE top albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

4.20 | 1307 ratings
Out of Myself
2003
4.25 | 1869 ratings
Second Life Syndrome
2005
3.80 | 979 ratings
Rapid Eye Movement
2007
4.22 | 1425 ratings
Anno Domini High Definition
2009
4.07 | 1152 ratings
Shrine of New Generation Slaves
2013
4.07 | 868 ratings
Love, Fear And The Time Machine
2015
4.00 | 566 ratings
Wasteland
2018
3.98 | 266 ratings
ID.Entity
2023

RIVERSIDE Live Albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

4.19 | 201 ratings
Reality Dream
2008
4.37 | 106 ratings
Lost 'n' Found: Live in Tilburg
2017
4.60 | 30 ratings
Wasteland Tour 2018-2020
2020

RIVERSIDE Videos (DVD, Blu-ray, VHS etc)

4.26 | 161 ratings
Reality Dream
2009

RIVERSIDE Boxset & Compilations (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

4.81 | 99 ratings
Reality Dream Trilogy (6CD)
2011
4.43 | 37 ratings
Love, Fear And The Time Machine (Special 5.1 Mix)
2016
3.98 | 166 ratings
Eye of the Soundscape
2016
4.32 | 25 ratings
Riverside 20: The Shorts & The Longs
2021

RIVERSIDE Official Singles, EPs, Fan Club & Promo (CD, EP/LP, MC, Digital Media Download)

4.32 | 57 ratings
Riverside
2003
3.99 | 58 ratings
Loose Heart
2003
3.62 | 270 ratings
Voices in My Head
2005
2.79 | 88 ratings
Conceiving You
2005
3.79 | 136 ratings
02 Panic Room
2007
3.71 | 95 ratings
Schizophrenic Prayer
2008
4.58 | 19 ratings
Reality Dream Tour 2008
2008
4.75 | 8 ratings
Live In Canada (Official Bootleg)
2009
4.14 | 21 ratings
Forgotten Land
2011
4.13 | 339 ratings
Memories In My Head
2011
3.63 | 80 ratings
Celebrity Touch
2012
3.93 | 15 ratings
# addicted
2015
4.26 | 19 ratings
Time Travellers
2016
3.87 | 15 ratings
Shine
2016
4.11 | 28 ratings
River Down Below
2018
4.45 | 29 ratings
Lament
2018
4.15 | 33 ratings
Vale of Tears
2018
3.65 | 23 ratings
Acoustic Session
2019
3.22 | 9 ratings
Live Acoustic
2021
4.08 | 13 ratings
Story of My Dream
2021
4.18 | 17 ratings
I'm Done with You
2022
4.36 | 14 ratings
Friend or Foe?
2023

RIVERSIDE Reviews


Showing last 10 reviews only
 Memories In My Head by RIVERSIDE album cover Singles/EPs/Fan Club/Promo, 2011
4.13 | 339 ratings

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Memories In My Head
Riverside Progressive Metal

Review by Hector Enrique
Prog Reviewer

4 stars "Memories in my Head" is an EP released after the highly successful "Anno Domini High Definition", which returns to Riverside's primordial roots marked by "Out of Myself" and "Second Life Syndrome", and with its more than thirty-two minutes it lacked little more than nothing to become a fully-fledged album. Three tracks were enough to build a short but intense proposal on the basis of atmospheric, dark, intriguing and futuristic scenarios, which combine progressive elements of seventies and eighties heroes, ethereal transitions and heavy chords of the roughest side of the genre.

The pieces are connected to each other by the common denominator of a long gone and missed time: from the disturbing beginning of "Goodbye Sweet Innocence", and its steady but unhurried pace, guided in its development by Mariusz Duda's melancholic voice and Michal Lapaj's protagonic and mysterious keyboards with Arabic airs at times, the raging and superlative "Living in the Past" that shows the overwhelming solvency the Poles are capable of, with mid-tempos dominated by the forcefulness that flows naturally from the distorted guitar riffs of the excellent Piotr Grudzinski, the hypnotic keyboards of Michal Lapaj and the sober accompaniment of the ever-fulfilling drummer Piotr Kozieradzki, in one of the best tracks in Riverside's discography, until the tragic "Forgotten Land", a description of the dramatic fate of a people condemned by their arrogance, where the opening bass lines recall Rush's "Cygnus X-1" and give way to a painful and heartbreaking lyrical narration by Duda accompanied by the whole band until its haunting end.

"Memories in my Head" is a great EP, which was only available at concerts and shortly after fortunately offered to the general public. A jewel in the discography of the band led by Duda.

Excellent.

4/4.5 stars

 Rapid Eye Movement by RIVERSIDE album cover Studio Album, 2007
3.80 | 979 ratings

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Rapid Eye Movement
Riverside Progressive Metal

Review by Hector Enrique
Prog Reviewer

4 stars Riverside's acclaimed breakthrough into the progressive world with their astonishing "Out of Myself" was confirmed by the follow-up "Second Life Syndrome", which was even more highly rated than its predecessor. And so the expectations generated with the release of "Rapid Eye Movement", their third album and final chapter of the "Reality Dream" trilogy, were high. And as can happen when you expect so much, the final result may not end up shining as brightly as expected, and there is something of that with "Rapid Eye Movement".

An album that favours psychedelic atmospheres to recreate the deepest phases of sleep, enveloped by Michal Lapaj's keyboards and the impeccable lyrical intervention of Mariusz Duda, who displays a versatile vocal register that goes from whispers, Steven Wilson-style megaphony and some unburdened shrieks in communion with his bass; all this at the service of dark structures marked by the band's work as a whole over individual performances, and which, on the other hand, misses a more intense participation of the excellent guitarist Piotr Grudzinski, of great prominence in the previous albums.

From the auspicious instrumental opening of "Beyond The Eyelids" and its controlled aggression with nods to Dream Theater, the tracks follow one after the other hypnotically, with the industrialised sounds of the strange "02 Panic Room" and the fantastic final section marked by Lapaj's piano and Grudzinski's guitar arpeggios accompanying Duda's peaceful singing standing out, the progressive metal waves of "Parasomnia", the calmness transmitted by the withdrawn "Embryonic" with its beautiful acoustic melody, one of the band's best ballads, and the power of the hallucinatory "Cybernetic Pillow" that compiles in just under five minutes the harsh influences of Riverside.

And this digging through the twists and turns of the mind has its final point with the extensive and very progressive "Ultimate Trip", whose first two thirds show the band very composed, mostly dominated by Lapaj's keyboards, Duda's bass and Piotr Kozieradzki's percussive support, to then be diluted in the last third in an instrumentation that languishes until its closing.

"Rapid Eye Movement" has the enormous responsibility of living up to its older brothers and, although at times it seems to fall short, it is a very good album from the Poles.

3.5/4 stars

 Second Life Syndrome by RIVERSIDE album cover Studio Album, 2005
4.25 | 1869 ratings

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Second Life Syndrome
Riverside Progressive Metal

Review by Hector Enrique
Prog Reviewer

5 stars After "Out of Myself", Riverside's surprising introduction where they showed a solvency and instrumental aplomb uncommon for a band that was just taking its first steps, the time had come to ratify that it had not been the fruit of a fleeting inspiration. "Second Life Syndrome", their second album and at the same time the second part of the three that make up their "Reality Dream" Trilogy (the story of a lonely man who fights with himself to overcome his inner demons and move forward), not only confirms the band's excellent form, but also consolidates them as one of the most auspicious appearances in the progressive scene of the 2000's. Led by Mariusz Duda, singer, bassist and main songwriter, Riverside brilliantly fuses elements and nuances of the hardest and darkest side of progressive rock (Dream Theater, Opeth, Tool, for example) with atmospheric digressions into the intergalactic oceans of the genre (Pink Floyd, Porcupine Tree).

Nothing seems to be left to chance, from the whispering start of the hypnotic "After", the songs follow one after the other instrumentally intense and piercing, with Duda's deep voice very versatile and demanding, even reaching guttural notes without problems as in the energized "Volte-Face" or in the very heavy and fierce "Artificial Smile", Piotr Grudziński's protagonist guitars, clean and sustained and with clear floydian influences, as in the superb and extensive "Second Life Syndrome" and its initial airs to the Gilmourian "Shine on... "(one of the best pieces of the album), and also rough and forceful as in the super progressive "Dance with the Shadow", and the excellent accompaniment of both keyboardist Michal Lapaj (incorporated after the departure of Jacek Melnicki) who builds spacey synthesized carpets for all the themes and contributes some beautiful piano notes in the peaceful and harmonic "Im Conceiving You", and the sober percussionist Piotr Kozieradzki to complete the fantastic sound wall of an unmissable album.

Beyond its progressive metal label, "Second Lyfe Syndrome" is a top album of the progressive genre of the last two decades, and positions the Polish band as one of the must-listen references for fans of the genre.

Superlative.

4,5 stars

 ID.Entity by RIVERSIDE album cover Studio Album, 2023
3.98 | 266 ratings

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ID.Entity
Riverside Progressive Metal

Review by Mellotron Storm
Prog Reviewer

3 stars 3.5 stars. RIVERSIDE hit us with studio album number eight in 2023 after their longest break between albums and I'm sure the emotional toll of creating 2018's "Wasteland" was a part of this. Where do we go from here? This is a concept album about technology and how it affects us all in negative ways. I have said many times that I'm just not into concept albums and the lyrics here don't "cut it" overall for me. Why am I tired of this?

Right from the first spin I have been on the fence about this record. I remember how connected I felt with this band when I first got into Prog in the mid 00's. That FLOYD-like space contrasted with the heaviness and aggression, but then add a vocalist and guitarist who would become among my favourites so yes maybe I hold them to a higher standard but these guys have always delivered the goods. Until now. This is the first record of theirs I have not given 4 or more stars to.

There's so much good music here but I just find the album to be inconsistent. And for me this is a big drop-off from "Wasteland" their previous record. So a lot of my feelings have to do with comparing this to what they've done in the past and I feel it's left wanting. I do have a top three though and that begins with the opening track that got me excited the first time I heard it. I like the keys and heaviness early on then some electronics with bass and beats. Catchy as the guitar arrives and synths followed by vocals after 2 minutes. There's more passion on the chorus and some riffing later.

"Big Tech Brother" doesn't get off to the best start with those spoken words but then a fast bass line arrives as it builds. Steven Wilson comes to mind here as he did on the previous track "Landmine Blast". Awesome sound after 2 minutes with those powerful synths. I like when the heaviness returns at 5 minutes. "I'm Done With You" is my final top three and starts out great with the electronics and riffs. It settles with vocals and the only time we get some brief aggressive vocals is on this song. I like the heaviness of this one. I'm not into the closer "Self-Aware" like most seem to be but find it inconsistent like some of these other tracks. Great start to it though. I actually thought of THE TANGENT at one point later on. The longest one "The Place Where I Belong" also sits in that category but some amazing stuff on it. A fairly moving second half at times on that one.

So yeah sad to not be fully into this one even though it has it's highlights.

 Wasteland by RIVERSIDE album cover Studio Album, 2018
4.00 | 566 ratings

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Wasteland
Riverside Progressive Metal

Review by progrockeveryday

5 stars I love this album. The general atmosphere of "Wasteland", dark and desolating, but with some glimpses of light for moments. In my Top Albums of Riverside, this is my #2 because I love "Love, Fear and the Time Machine" (because of that brighter sound and feel), but this album I can say is their best balanced album.

From dark, metal with some odd rhythmic moments too (Acid Rain, The Struggle for Survival, Wasteland) to lighter and melodic songs but still powerful (like Vale of Tears) and exceptional and emotional ballads where Mariusz is a king (Guardian Angel or the beautiful ending with The Night Before, that piano melody is literally goosebumps moment)

And I can't end without mentioning River Down Below, such a great song, one of their best songs ever. So emotional, dark album, but it shows you that there is always hope and light.

 ID.Entity by RIVERSIDE album cover Studio Album, 2023
3.98 | 266 ratings

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ID.Entity
Riverside Progressive Metal

Review by kev rowland
Special Collaborator Honorary Reviewer

3 stars It has been five years since the last album, 2018's 'Wasteland', which was recorded as a trio with some guests, following on from the death of guitarist Piotr Grudziński. They are now back as a full quartet with Mariusz Duda (vocals, basses, electric and acoustic guitars), Piotr Kozieradzki (drums), and Michał Łapaj (keyboards and synthesizers, Rhodes piano and Hammond organ) being officially joined by touring guitarist (and guest on the last album) Maciej Meller (electric guitars). There is no doubt that Duda has a fine voice, but the issue with this album is the lack of soul and power and the way the production has sanitised any roughness or power out of existence. My initial thoughts on hearing this was just how much they reminded me of Marillion, not in the musical style but the way the singer had now ripped the passion out of the band and all the focus was now on him.

A Polish friend gave me the debut album not long after it was released (can that really be 20 years ago now?), and while I never put them into the same brackets as bands like SBB or Collage there is no doubt the prog masses fell in love with them and to many are the ultimate Polish prog act. That this is very clever and well performed is never in doubt, but I have found the more I play it the less I actually enjoy it as I am feeling somewhat smothered whereas I should be feeling invigorated and excited at having the first new Riverside album for five years. It may well be top of the PA charts for Polish releases in 2023 but is actually the only one to get enough reviews to be included and does not have as many points as last year's album by Collage. It currently sits at #28 in the overall charts for 2023, but sad to say that is in my mind mostly due to fans being so pleased to hear a new album that they have marked it very high indeed. Don't get me wrong, this is a pleasant release which many will find satisfying, it is just that for a band 20+ years and eight albums into their career they should be producing music which is far more exciting and dangerous than this middle of the road affair.

 ID.Entity by RIVERSIDE album cover Studio Album, 2023
3.98 | 266 ratings

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ID.Entity
Riverside Progressive Metal

Review by Hector Enrique
Prog Reviewer

4 stars 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

 Loose Heart by RIVERSIDE album cover Singles/EPs/Fan Club/Promo, 2003
3.99 | 58 ratings

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Loose Heart
Riverside Progressive Metal

Review by alainPP

5 stars RIVERSIDE and the Hidden Chronicle, revisited 20 years later, for those who dared to put a 1/5 on it; or why it is much better, unfortunately for them!

1. 'The Same River' radio, EAGLES, a bit of pop with ah it goes fast, the bass, yes it's Mariusz, ah that intro that I no longer imagined, that solo by Piotr, that wave noise against the rowboat, PINK FLOYD in the distance what; it's going up and it gives a taste of the prog revival of the new millennium; just perfect; Mariusz arrives very late on this phenomenon title, his voice sticks to the sound; a sound that looks like RIVERSIDE, reminiscences yes but it's them, the PINK FLOYD, MARILLION or COLLAGE for the atmosphere otherwise it's dreamlike a bit of vocoder ą la 'Animals' and this vintage keyboard of Jacek yes the first keyboardist who melts; the most is Piotr's spleen guitar, hi Piotr you remember at the bastille scene when I greeted you in the room and you turned around he's talking to me in Polish him, short RIP; fundamental title for curmudgeons who are weary 2. 'Out of Myself' eponymous title which keeps the sound, the atmosphere; dark prog metal before its time with this metronomic bass and this abortive metal riff which only asks to roar a little more; ah Marius has understood, his voice rises, surfs on the metal profile, on the verge of belching, a moment of sharing the musical waters where metal shows its adherence to the progressive movement, phew! 3. 'I Believe' I can't believe it, we are transposed into the open bar, after the concert; the intro, the spatial moment when you no longer know where you are; depressive primary acoustic-vocal to keep a good mood in itself; the crescendic ballad that rocks you; I find there the melancholy madness of the ANATHEMA, the ballad of the happy days of the fans sad forever to see where the world is going 4. 'Reality Dream' with this title in declination, yes you are thinking of ARENA and its I, II, III; you think of SAGA and its chapters, in short, prog there in front of you; the intro I come back to the intro straight out of a S-F game soundtrack; the instrumental piece with the anthology of instruments that speak to each other, Mariusz remaining in voiceover halfway through, more on a siren sound; souvenir piece of my first listening, wow they do an orchestral in addition, the catchy melody of the guitar, the keyboard which helps it behind, the riff which is loose, the foot; quickly answer it sounds. 5. 'Loose Heart' follows on another beautiful depressive melody, where the musical oxymoron invites itself to the table; the more this vibration of Piotr which hooks the most reluctant and brings them before their contradictions... ah it was better before.... ah but we don't ask you to choose, to compare, just to listen.... the melody that I will call syrupy to rinse the ears a little where Jacek signed the melancholic bases; prog digression on the last minute with the nascent, striking, almost surreal, enjoyable growl. 6. 'Reality II' ... and the second interlude, a declination, an aside, a dreamlike journey of catching up for the nostalgic who would have the laziness to get up ... hop on we go back to the instrument to move a little because yes that's it RIVERSIDE it's captivating and catchy, Piotr that you play so easily; it cascades, echoes...prog, stereo, dreamlike. 7.'In Two Minds' second acoustic-voice with the piece church, I'm kidding but good YES made it vibrate well on flights worthy of a cathedral; ANATHEMA and TANGERINE DREAM played well in it and it was not a sacrilege, not an abuse of power, not a publicity effect to make the buzz... I won't say more about it; well the zik is the least addictive for me, yes I concede it but those who like what is melodic, ethereal are likely to like this passage. 8. 'The Curtain Falls' for the second title master; the soft title, one that blends in with the crowd, with a solo by Piotr that tears you off anyway; yes but since it's stamped prog pure juice, you are entitled to the declination at mid-term, like a wave that gets stronger after the slack; it rises, it increases, we wait to see the musical tidal bore, we seethe; ah that's the riff.. you see the wave rising, growing, sweeping everything in its path; the vibratory spleen of Piotr's guitar notes dries up our tears of joy; final planing like a TANGERINE DREAM precisely. 9. 'OK' I remembered more, I check it was indeed on my CD; like what to listen, to listen such is my motto becomes a necessity; well surely this one hasn't passed, too bad, it will serve me to finish my column slowly... oh yes the outro I had really forgotten the hidden end.

It's up to you to make your choice, personally I have been listening for 20 years. 5 for the album 'Out' of course!

 ID.Entity by RIVERSIDE album cover Studio Album, 2023
3.98 | 266 ratings

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ID.Entity
Riverside Progressive Metal

Review by progrockeveryday

4 stars I'm a huge fan of Riverside, but with this album, the first time I listened to it I wasn't convinced at all. But after a few times listening to the album, I understood it better. Conceptually and lyrically, a great proposal and critic about society.

Musically, it's like a mix of all their albums; you find some dark metal moments as you would see in their first records, and some fresh and soft rock as in their album "Love, Fear and the Time Machine", which is my favorite one. I think this time, you enjoy it more if you listen to the entire album, all the songs work well together as a unity.

However, if we had to choose a song or two, I would definitely go with "Friend or Foe?" (I know it's really melodic and pop but it's a nice tune), "Self-Aware" (more classic hard rock, very Rush-ish) and with the longest track "The Place Where I Belong".

Not my favorite album, but a great job by the guys from Riverside!

 ID.Entity by RIVERSIDE album cover Studio Album, 2023
3.98 | 266 ratings

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ID.Entity
Riverside Progressive Metal

Review by TheEliteExtremophile

4 stars Riverside is one of the bigger names in the progressive music world. They're a progressive metal act based out of Poland that came to prominence in the early 2000s. Their first decade or so of existence was great, with 2009's Anno Domini High Definition being one of the best records of that decade. Moving into the 2010s, though, the band faltered a bit. Shrine of New Generation Slaves didn't quite land, in my opinion, and I disliked Love, Fear and the Time Machine so much, I didn't even give their 2018 album, Wasteland, a listen. So, when I saw they had a new record coming out (their first since I started this site), I was viewing it comparably to how I view Dream Theater: something I'm pretty much obligated to cover; something I'm not that jazzed about; but something I'm willing to be surprised by.

When I first heard "Friend or Foe?", the album's opening track and leadoff single, I had a rather negative reaction to it. Those blooping faux-80s synth lines usually summon a visceral revulsion from me. I don't like synthwave or most of the other '80s pastiches that have been in vogue for what feels like at least a decade at this point. It can be fun as an interlude to switch things up, admittedly, like BTBAM did on Colors II. "Friend or Foe?" isn't even a bad song; I've warmed up quite a bit to it. But there's a difference between tossing in some contrast two-thirds of the way through an album versus leading an album off with such a decision. I was worried this would wind up being something of a mission statement for the record, but thankfully it isn't.

"Landmine Blast" opens with a Steve-Howe-inspired riff in an irregular meter. This is the sort of sound I expect from Riverside. It's dark and atmospheric, straddling the line between rock and metal. Mariusz Duda's voice is gentle but strong, and it suits the song very well. The closing 90 seconds features a lovely instrumental crescendo, building from a quiet moment back to the main riff.

Hacky, robotic sci-fi narration opens "Big Tech Brother". It made me roll my eyes a bit, but it's thankfully short. The opening riff on this song is really well composed, but the synth tone is atrocious. It's this awful, farty synth brass that sounds like it's right out of 1988. After this speedy, technical section, the verse is dark and slow-moving, evoking some of the stronger moments off The Wall. The lyrics are a bit Steven Wilson-y for my taste (specifically his shallow technophobia seen on Fear of a Blank Planet and The Future Bites), but it's not that hard to tune out.

"Post-Truth" opens with some great, growling organ. As the song goes on, it does blur a bit into generic Riverside-ish mush. That's not necessarily a bad thing, as generic Riverside is pretty decent, but this piece doesn't do much to stand out in their oeuvre.

The longest song on ID.Entity is the 13-minute "The Place Where I Belong". Duda opens this track with gentle singing over acoustic guitar in a passage reminiscent of Porcupine Tree. Duda's voice has a warmth that Wilson's does not, though, so while similar, it is distinct. (It's really hard to not repeatedly compare this band to Porcupine Tree, and I apologize for doing it so much. There's just a lot of sonic similarity. At times, Riverside may as well be Drzewo Jeżozwierza.)

Moving past this acoustic opening, a groovy, slightly-fuzzed bassline leads to a churning, hard-rocking passage where their keyboardist gets a few chances to show off. It's melodic and engaging, and it does a great job of moving the track along. In its second half, the song slows down and focuses more on mood and melody; it's a nice way to wrap things up.

"I'm Done with You" kicks off with a crunchy instrumental passage that gives bass, organ, and guitar their turns in the spotlight. This energy contrasts against the quiet, tense verses. This lull in turn builds to a more impactful passage, but the band constantly switches up the dynamics. Loud-quiet contrasts are a staple of their sound.

The riff that kicks off "Self-Aware" reminds me strongly of '70s hard/arena rock acts, like Boston. I'm not crazy about the rather poppy melody of the verses, either, or the first six minutes of this song, but I could see a lot of people liking it. As the song enters its final three minutes, though, the mood becomes more ominous and anxious. A palm-muted guitar line and eerie stabs of synth cultivate a nervous atmosphere that adds another dimension to the piece overall. 

A spacious, haunting plucked passage opens the 12-minute "Age of Anger", though this intro lasts for too long. It's not until three minutes in that some semblance of a real musical idea shows up. A simple pulsing rhythm and lonely guitar line provide a small sense of momentum while maintaining that isolated atmosphere. A metallic riff finally emerges to give this cut some urgency and backbone. Unfortunately, this song can't keep it up, and it keeps oscillating between some pretty solid riffs and vacuous noodling. This instrumental probably could have been halved, and it would have been stronger for it.

ID.Entity closes on "Together Again". The track alternates between slow, stretched out guitar-and-synth passages and more muscular metallic riffing. Much like the preceding cut, this is an instrumental, and it also goes on for too long, though its length is a more digestible six-and-a-half minutes. It feels like a fitting conclusion to the record, but it simply doesn't say or do enough to warrant its length.

I was pleasantly surprised. This is a pretty good record. Is it worth the eye-watering 21 US dollars they're charging for it on their Bandcamp? No, absolutely not. No digital release of this length is. But it's pretty solid. This is about what I would expect from Riverside. It's consistent, dark, fairly heavy progressive rock; and it's a worthy addition to your library.

Review originally posted here: theeliteextremophile.com/2023/01/30/album-review-riverside-id-entity/

Thanks to ProgLucky for the artist addition. and to Quinino for the last updates

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