2015 has so far been a great year for progressive rock, and the trend continues with “Love, Fear and the Time Machine”, the 6th album from Polish rockers Riverside. The album dwells on themes of life changing events, of pivotal moments in one’s life where you find a new path to move forward; basically it’s about being progressive in your life, and not just in your music.
The first song is called “Lost”, while the last one is “Found”, book ending nicely this narrative. Along the way, they sing of transformation in “Caterpillar and the Barbed Wire”, of the inner strength needed to reach for new adventures (“Discard Your Fears”) and the allure of the “over there” (“Towards the Blue Horizon”). The music sounds like a cross between Marillion and Steven Wilson (maybe too much like the latter at times). “We don’t sound as retro and 70s as before,” explains Mariusz Duda (lead vocals and bass). “We moved forward, we sort of demolished the previous foundations and build new ones. Despite the huge dose of melancholy and nostalgia, there is a new space, the songs are arranged with more flow and at the same time they have never been so concise and to the point before.”
The music flows well, and the songs come together as an album, maintaining a cohesiveness that makes you want to listen to the whole thing. Excellent record, for fans of old and new progressive rock.
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He's also a regular contributor at the excellent news site Montreal Rampage
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