MEMORIES IN MY HEAD

32 minutes of solid gold atmospheric prog metal!

I own all of Riverside's albums and it has been a while between listens but it was an absolute pleasure to return to their inimitable style on this new EP. Immediately the Riverside sound is there on 'Goodbye Sweet Innocence', with a squealing feedback sound over a throbbing drone. It is pitch dark and atmospheric, gaining volume and power until the drones fade and a backwards guitar is heard. Finally a clean guitar breaks in and feedback slashes across the sound, allowing room for the quiet vocals of Mariusz Duda. The lyrics are based around the trials of life, the regrets of the past, and the changes we experience; "stuck in the crossroads of time". The lead break of Piotr Grudziński is delightful. The violin sound section is effective, and the strong keyboard solo, making this one of the most atmospheric of Riverside's repertoire. A great start.

Next is 'Living In The Past', not a Jethro Tull cover, but a very well structured song about what we leave behind as we move through life's difficulties and overcome them. The effects of keyboard swirls adds an ethereal quality. The guitar solo at the beginning is beautiful, haunting and passionate. The blasts of organ and guitar complement one another, and there is a very Pink Floyd like vibe to this. The vocals are fresh with lyrics that are memorable; "cancel all light, I'm not going to live like everyone, and I don't care if the signs are over, my future is living in the past." The little riff in the next section sounds Arabian. Eventually the song bursts into a heavy distortion and lengthy instrumental break that pounds along with sensational keyboards. Another terrific song highlighted by an inventive structure and very bold instrumentation.

Lastly, 'Forgotten Land' begins with minimal bass pulses, echoes of high pitched guitar, pounding drums come in, then the vocals; "there was a kingdom here a city full of lights". The lyrics focus on the ancient days of a lost civilisation where gods were believed, the Greek mythology perhaps, they "Call themselves gods above everything and everyone" and then the song talks about how the people build monuments to their deities, "faster and faster, higher and higher, great temples of gold glitter in the sun, the gods assured of themselves never lost their pride." The track builds gradually into some powerful soundscapes of emotionally moving guitar and vocals. "How quickly they die! How quickly they turn into dust," is sung with venom and is a phrase that is memorable on this song. The instrumental section that follows is absolutely mesmerising, chilling effects and ambient keyboard motifs and guitar swells.

On this new EP, Mariusz Duda is very good on vocals, at times aggressive and then passive and melancholy. His bass and acoustic guitar work is well executed. Piotr Grudziński has a chance to shine on some incredible lead breaks. Piotr Kozieradzki is an accomplished drummer who knows when to crash down and when to hold back on gentle hi hat work. The real treasure of the musicscape is Michał Łapaj who is a wizard on keyboards.

If this is a sign of the next Riverside album, we are in for a real treat. This is a sensational EP, it grows on you with every listen, and every track is offering amazing high quality progressive metal.

Well, you know that usually I don't like the metal-prog music genre, even though there are some interesting features inside the present EP, in spite of the uneven structure of the songs and their continuous melancholic mood, which also characterized the earlier albums by Riverside.

In fact at the end I can appreciate their effort as a Polish Prog Band singing in English and trying to be a bit distant from the typical clichè of this genre, regarding in particular the good vocalism by Mariusz Duda.

Probably They cannot give up incorporating the elements of a kind of New Progressive Wave in the vein of Marillion and alredy used by another Polish Band, Collage; but it could be a minor defect after all, even though the sense of melody- belonging to the keyboardplayer and also the sound colour, seem to be their secure music imprinting. The unique defect consists of a few melodies that probably have been chosen as a filler- or perhaps being recovered from some unreleased previous issues- and moreover the sound mix is not at the top...I don't understand the title of track#2 "Living in the Past", which is not a tribute to Jethro Tull, but the arrangement is good and the vocal work as well.

In general I think of the performance at the guitar (especially inside the first suite) by Piotr Grudziński, finding a perfect complementary instrument into a quite delightful violin section, which can be so sweet...and even though I can't get crazy for the simplistic drum work and the vibes from the synth (always according to the style of the seventies), the intelligent lyrics within the last track and their fascinating imagination regarding the presence of Gods (from the Ancient Cretans of the Greek Civilization to the Maya Era, too much earlier vanishing as for a traumatic event or whatever else), let me change idea about the "taste" of the band!

Not essential EP (for the diehard fans only, I think) but it's not bad, after all!

Without question this is the best RIVERSIDE release I have heard. To commemorate their 10 years in existance the band released this almost 33 minute EP of three songs.The tracks do blend into one another making this feel like one long ride. And what a ride it is ! I knew something was up when I saw the picture of the band in the liner notes. I've never seen these guys smiling before, but here they are looking happy in this warehouse that would other-wise be quite dark except the sun is streaming through the windows up high in the roof and on the sides.Why is this so meaningful ? I kept thinking of it during the first track as we get this dark atmosphere early but then the light shines through in such an uplifting manner that it causes emotion.That dark / light contrast is what this album is all about just like that picture.Travis Smith did the cover art and as usual he did a great job. I have to believe that Mr.Duda's solo project had to have some impact on the direction they took here.This is more in the style of the debut (which was my favourite album from them until now) but even better.

"Goodbye Sweet Innocence" is the best track i've ever heard from this band. Atmosphere galore to start then we hear some guitar after 2 1/2 minutes coming out of the darkness. Reserved vocals are next followed by drums. My God talk about feeling transformed by what comes in after 3 1/2 minutes. So beautiful before 5 1/2 minutes. It's turning heavier before 7 minutes and we get some huge bass lines too.The atmosphere is back before 10 1/2 minutes as it blends into "Living In The Past" .Drums join in and I must say that this is so freaking good ! Bass and guitar are next then vocals before 2 1/2 minutes. It gets fairly intense then it settles back before 4 1/2 minutes.Love the guitar that follows.It kicks back in before 6 minutes.The organ before 6 1/2 minutes is killer. Amazing sound after 10 1/2 minutes. It settles to end it then it blends into "Forgotten Land". A beat comes out of the atmosphere then guitar expressions followed by chunky bass. Nice.Vocals are next and they do get passionate before 4 minutes.Some great sounding guitar here too.The organ comes in when the vocals stop. Atmosphere after 7 1/2 minutes. Electronics then arrives as the spacey waves continue.

Congrats to the band on 10 years and thankyou for the many great albums over the years, especially this one.

Since the very start in 2003 I am a fan of this band. Their debut 'Out Of Myself' absolutely amazed me. Over the course of several albums they surely have refined the sound, especially the keyboards and Duda's vocals which are way more variable today. Probably I'm a bit nostalgic, but I always liked to come back to the early spirit though ... and this EP bears something of it I would say, don't ask me why - perhaps it is only because they provide their distinctive mixture of heavy art rock and prog metal again on 'Memories In My Head'.

Goodbye Sweet Innocence they promise .. and probably the cosmic intro is meant which they deliver. What follows IS innocent mellow though, somewhat balladesque, until they turn into some heavier and tricky moments lately. Living In The Past starts with a nice relaxed groove but also shows a heavier, agressive execution furthermore, including headbanging qualities. Rather tricky again due to several twists and turns. Forgotten Land does not fall back while beautifullly variating from ethereal moments to agressive outbreaks.

Memories in your head are following voices in your head. There is nothing considerably new to state from a stylistical point of view in my opinion, but this surely are three thrilling new songs from RIVERSIDE, featuring compositional brilliance. Once more matchless is Piotr Grudzinski's sensitive and clean guitar work, an important trademark of course. Michal Lapaj is certainly successful in the meanwhile in putting in his notable impact. By all means an excellent addition to your collection, my dear prog lover.

Talking about a departure from a winning concept!

Just when I had Riverside figured out and sorted under modern prog masters they decided to shift their course once more toward the atmospheric style that almost turned psychedelic on Rapid Eye Movement. Luckily, I'm one of the few who actually happened to enjoy that slight change of direction that the band has taken on their third studio outing. So why am I not entirely convinced by their 2011 EP Memories In My Head?

First off, I just didn't find any of these compositions memorable enough to stand out among the vast majority of groovy atmospheric compositions that Riverside have released over the years. None of them is annoying in any way but they just don't make for any real standout moments. Yes, Goodbye Sweet Innocence has the whole Hackett-sounding vibe of guitar in a few notable places going for it. Living In The Past is the most melodic of the three with some nice solo guitar spots and prominent melodies, sounding almost like a crossover between Camel and Pink Floyd. Forgotten Land is, in my opinion, the most ambitious piece of the bunch. Still, even this is not nearly as close to the level that was set by Anno Domini High Definition.

My biggest problem with this EP is the lack of any real purpose to it. Riverside aren't exploring any new territories with this new material and it almost feels like the band decided to take a short departure in between their forth and fifth studio releases. That, per se, isn't a bad things since there is clearly a lot of passion in these performances but it still doesn't justify an excellent release rating for me.

**** star songs: Living In The Past (11:59) Forgotten Land (9:57)

*** star songs: Goodbye Sweet Innocence (10:40)

Released as an inbetween to please the fans while they wait for the next album, this "Memories In My Head" is head and shoulders the weakest release I've seen from Riverside. There's an all pervading sense of disinterest, cliche, routine and lack of inspiration in every lengthy track on this album. Despite loving the guy, I will blame this mostly on Mariusz Duda.

The vocals are one of the main attractions for me in Riverside, but how they fail me here, Duda mumbles his way through almost unidentifiable vocal melodies that sound like 300 others he's done before. Considering how strong his melodies and delivery were for Lunatic Soul I can only conclude he wasn't into this at all. But also the guitars could be better, the main hooks on this EP have all been heard on countless other Riverside (and Marillion) songs.

Around minute 7 to 8 into "Goodbye Sweet Innocence", the band tries to save what they can and bring about an enjoyable jam. I hope that Riverside recognizes their potential in this area and will further explore this sort of improvised interaction. It's clear to me that continuing their same old kind of songwriting without having the hooks to make 'm memorable will not do for me.

A pointless EP for me with very average songs that have been stretched out to totally inappropriate lengths. I quite liked it the first time around but with every new listen my enthusiasm decreased. My dear wife (and Riverside fan) immediately told me it was entirely forgettable. Yeah, I should listen to her more, and spare me the trouble of listening 10 times to this 30 minutes of grey dullness. Sounds like the artwork, for fans only.

After the stunning Anno Domini High Definition, Riverside managed to reach the quality of their fourth opus with this incredible EP.

Retrieving part of the atmosphere and the soul of Out of Myself but maintaining the complexity and great instrumental skills learned through the years, Riverside gave us a great present in the shape of three songs, a bit more of 30 minutes of pure prog-rock at its best.

Goodbye Sweet Innocence starts with an incredible bass and wonderful guitar melodies, great verses and a powerful instrumental interlude. Is a song in the Out of Myself vein, but with strong 70`s influence. A band's classic in my opinion!

Living in the Past has a rhythmic beginning with keyboards which give way to a wonderful melody of bass and guitar, later accompanied by keyboards again. The verses and chorus are pure genius, while the instrumental part is pure prog-rock which lots of changes, progressions where the whole band shines, specially Lapaj and his wonderful keys around minute 6. And what to say about the section "Even clowns..." Scary, brilliant, genius! The bass after 08:48 introduces another marvelous instrumental section very in the mood of Anno Domini High Definition.

Forgotten Land starts with a melody which in my opinion is a Little homage to John Carpenter! Just listen The Thing or Escape from New York... But after this Little section a piercing bass of Mariusz introduces the melody of another great song which again brings automatically Out of Myself to mind, with an intense vocal interpretation and a very atmospheric ending, delighting the fans of this side of the band.

Conclusion: Memories in my Head is maybe short, but everything is almost perfect. The three songs included here count among the best that the band ever recorded and should be played live in every concert they make. True modern prog-rock classics!

I hope that in the Wasteland tour that they will start after summer they retrieve one or two of this wonderful songs for their performances, because they are a must for every fan of modern progressive rock and should be never forgotten.

Best tracks: the three songs are just great!

My rating: *****

"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