Riverside
Love, Fear and the Time Machine

When sudden swerves arrive, I always hope they are indeed "the start of a new phase." This was not seriously the case for Riverside. When the powerful and highly inspired "Anno Domini High Definition" was released in 2009, I thought it was truly the beginning of a new, decidedly more adventurous phase, but the band would then prove everyone wrong in a blink of an eye; the band quickly takes a cup of chamomile and the 2011 EP "Memories In My Head" revisits the atmospheric approach of the first two albums, then in 2013 comes "Shrine of New Generation Slaves" with its mix of delicate sounds and seventies rock/hard rock elements, appreciated by some and a bit less by others, something new for the band but nothing truly bold and daring like the 2009 album.

"Love Fear and the Time Machine" takes the softest elements found in the previous album and pushes them further; we are thus faced with the most intimate and refined album of the band. A delicacy that dominates throughout the entire album, even in the less explicitly delicate and slightly more dynamic moments. Dominating are always soft and pristine guitars with a touch that is sometimes almost decadent, supported by a very present and dark bass, and by intense yet tremendously relaxed organ and keyboard layers, as tremendously relaxed as the vocals are.

An approach that might remind of Anathema, tense yet relaxed as in "Alternative 4" and "Judgement"; Anathema has always been among the influences of the Polish combo, but this time, the resemblance is quite obvious (just listen to "Caterpillar and the Barbed Wire" and "Found," quite similar to "Feel"), even though the Riverside imprint is still very present. And it seems that even a slight touch of The Cure has influenced the band (as you can see in the guitar and bass parts of tracks such as "#Addicted" or "Towards the Blue Horizon"), contributing to that "decadent" touch to the album.

We thus have an album of incredible refinement and truly impeccable melodies. However, I don't think it's even a case to shout miracle. Some evolution in the sound of the band can be identified; surely the album is not a carbon copy of any of their other works, but talking about a real "new course" might be excessive. The impression I got is that what has been done is essentially to take the sound from the first two records and strip it of certain elements; if we want to get an idea of what "Love Fear and the Time Machine" is, we must imagine the atmospheric sound of the first two albums, remove the robust keyboard layers and replace them with dark and slightly vintage organs, remove the metal parts (as well as the hard rock elements present in the previous album) and the robust-sounding solos, and add a more gothic vein.

They knew how to dare much better with "Anno Domini High Definition," that indeed could have opened a new course, but unfortunately, it was an isolated episode that didn't even get everyone to agree (the fact that many indicated the less adventurous and more traditional "Left Out" as the best track on that album is full proof of how that new sound didn't convince many fans, especially those less inclined to see a band change even radically), also because I think turns are made to be carried forward and to last a couple of chapters (take example from groups like Rush, in my opinion, a model band on how a band should structure its own career, that is in clearly distinguishable phases).

I hope the desire to dare a little more returns soon to the band, but I cannot be disappointed at all with a work of such strong melodic refinement. Among the significant releases of the year, Riverside cannot be missed.