Riverside
Shrine Of New Generation Slaves

Here they are again, after four years of silence, except for the ep "Memories In My Head" from 2011. But who are Riverside? They were formed in 2001, in the cold Poland by the vocalist and bassist Mariusz Duda. A few years of hard work, several demos, and finally the release, now distant, of 2003's "Out Of Myself," their first studio CD. Already from that work, the Polish band's style was clearly evident: a progressive rock linked with the most pyrotechnic metal, yet always winking at a band like Porcupine Tree. It is not a simple proposal, dark, personal, and especially in the early works, intimate and introspective. Nevertheless, this great journey led Riverside to release in 2009 "Anno Domini High Definition", considered by many as the most accomplished album by Duda and company. It is precisely because of the time elapsed since that release that the curiosity about the new CD of the combo has increased, finally brought to light in January of this 2013 and titled "Shrine Of New Generation Slaves" (which for convenience I will abbreviate to the acronym SONGS).

Following this long introduction about the musical reality in question, it is good to move on to analyze the new release, starting from a fundamental assumption: SONGS is an excellent album, another chapter in the discography of Riverside that showcases artistic, compositional abilities, and knowledge of the subject. Characteristics not possessed by everyone.

As usual, Riverside's albums are never easily digestible, and this applies to the new work as well, especially since Riverside have consistently varied their proposal. "Shrine" appears as the most essential album ever produced by the band, where every single note and every minor variation in tone is fitting to the overall musical discourse created by the four musicians. There is less room for elaborations and for prog intended in its most "personalistic" and technical sense, in favor of a more direct approach. Wanting to simplify and use an even misleading term, it can be described as a "simpler" approach. In this new perspective, Michal Lapaj's keyboards are inevitably more sacrificed compared to the past. But it is precisely this need for essentiality, to eliminate the "superfluous", that makes SONGS an endeavor the band has completed in the best way possible. "Celebrity Touch", the chosen single, is perhaps the track that more than any other gives a good idea of how the new album is globally structured: guitar in the foreground, compelling vocal lines, and a break that splits the song in two without dispersing the atmosphere and mood emanated from the first notes. A cross between the softer vein of Steven Wilson's creature and the Rush progressions of the late '70s. A similar discussion applies to "We Got Used To Us", an absolute gem where the apparent simplicity of the "new course" fraternizes with the more hidden and sadly melancholic side of the Poles.

The entire proposal moves on a flawless recording that highlights the mellow atmospheres of "The Depth Of Self Delusion", another perfect track in its compositional delicacy, and the dark recesses of "Deprived". Absolutely impactful also is "Escalator Shrine", the longest and most complex track, where Riverside indulge in some "intrigue" otherwise absent from the CD. The only track that doesn't entirely convince is "Feel Like Falling", perhaps too catchy for the band's strings, yet it shows an underlying banality not shared by any other track on the album.

"Shrine Of New Generation Slaves" is a musical work that needs to be carefully considered, as it "breaks" with some of the characteristics that had distinguished the group's past. A release that could seem, at least at first, a confusing work, almost intending to emphasize with this partial shift in perspective that sense of global and individual alienation the band sought to express with the concept underlying the work. Overall, another fine creature by one of the most interesting and consistent progressive rock/metal bands in recent years.

1. "New Generation Slave" (4:18)
2. "The Depth Of Self Delusion" (7:40)
3. "Celebrity Touch" (6:48)
4. "We Got Used To Us" (4:11)
5. "Feel Like Falling" (5:17)
6. "Deprived (Irretrievably Lost Imagination)" (8:26)
7. "Escalator Shrine" (12:41)
8. "Coda" (1:39)