They played Lost (...) when I saw them at the weekend (first time, and as wonderful as hoped) and I really enjoyed it - much more than Discard The Fear when that was released, hope it's a little bit closer to that song, but honestly they've never come close to disappointing so I'd be very surprised if this is a letdown

Wow, it's beautiful.

Decent album, but nothing spectacular. I also feel a stronger than usual Porcupine Tree/Steven Wilson influence, that is not welcome in my ears. PT should be PT and Riverside should be Riverside.

Wow, what a beautiful release. I got a few flashbacks while listening to this to albums like "Still" by Wolverine. Even with the obvious difference in tone and style, I get a similar vibe in construction. Had this year not been so stacked, this disc would stand out more than I fear it will.

The Steven Wilson influence is HUGE on "Time Travelers" and its absolutely tremendous. Reminded me of listening to "Happy Returns" from Hand Cannot Erase for the first time.

It's been a terrific year for progressive music.

Written by Metren on 04.09.2015 at 14:53

Decent album, but nothing spectacular. I also feel a stronger than usual Porcupine Tree/Steven Wilson influence, that is not welcome in my ears. PT should be PT and Riverside should be Riverside.

From the first few listens:
It seems they are more focused on the song structures and the individual sound additions. It's a beautiful album, but too drawn out a points. (The minimal instrumentation buildups aren't always rewarding). I love the ringing bass tone on this one, Mariusz's voice is on point as usual, even if the lyrics are a bit odd at times. I never truly appreciated the chugging at 4:39 in 'Discard Your Fear' until hearing it in it's intended non-Youtube HQ format.

I've been listening to the double CD version with the Day Session, so this is a lot of music to wade through. Highly recommend the second disc if you enjoy the more ambient-atmospheric style of Lunatic Soul ('Aether' builds up to a nice ominous 80s electro run). 'Machines' is one of the best songs from this release not sure why it wasn't included on the main disc, it has an awesome NIN Fragile-era vibe. I can already feel the album growing on me, hoping it will stick. Wasn't a big fan of Shrine, loved Memories, Anno, and everything before it.

I like it a lot, but considering how much I've loved pretty much everything from OOM to SONGS, it's a slight step down in comparison. Lost, Caterpiller, Saturate Me and Towards The Blue Horizon stuck out most on first listen. Need to check out the Day Session tracks at some point.

I really liked it, but I expect more

Great stuff, but I didn't feel as entranced by this release as I did with their others.

Written by Metren on 04.09.2015 at 14:53
I also feel a stronger than usual Porcupine Tree/Steven Wilson influence, that is not welcome in my ears. PT should be PT and Riverside should be Riverside.

Looks like I wasn't the only one

I am a huge Riverside fan and really not an "in the past, everything was better" person. But I have to get used to the idea that they made only two really outstanding studio albums in their career. That said, the new album is not bad at all, but for my taste, there are many better releases in this year.

It's different and beautiful as always, this album is almost 85% Atmospheric Progressive Rock, "8.8".

The musical equivalent of a warm embrace and an understanding word in crestfallen times.

Too little Riverside in this Riverside. The band seems to be shedding what made them original with every subsequent release. It started on "Shrine" and it's continuing here. Still a decent listen, but quite bland in quite a few songs.

I loved it, one of the best albums I've heard this year.

I'm very split by this - I enjoy it a fair amount and the likes of Under The Pillow and Saturate Me are very nice songs. And yet at the same time I'm rather disappointed - this would be fine from a number of bands but is far below what Riverside is capable of. I have no problem with going softer - I really like Shrine..., and I liked last year's Lunatic Soul album very much, which is also like non-rock Riverside, but this doesn't have that same feel. There's some moments which seem influenced by more mainstream rock or indie rock that really sound a bit off here - I half-cringe at times during #Addicted, Towards The Blue Horizon and a couple others. And "Lost", which was so impressive live, for some reason lacks punch here. And yet, even subpar Riverside is still rather likeable - it's just, instead of being a solid 9 album like everything else before this, this one teeters between a 7 and 8 for me. I'm going to stick with an 8 just because Day Session is arguably stronger than the main record, and acts as a nice extension of the Lunatic Soul sound - Aether, Return and Machines are all great. I hope it grows over time, but out of the trio of 4th September albums I was so excited for, only Amorphis didn't leave me slightly disappointed.

Edit: I'm finding Time Travellers really grating on repeat listens, so gonna have to drop it down to a 7 :/

Liked it from first shot, softer than I expected but still very good, somewhere between 8 and 9 for me. Lost and Time Travellers are my favorites.

Gave it 10 to compensate a bit the children 1 votes.

Written by Illwill on 14.09.2015 at 21:49

Gave it 10 to compensate a bit the children 1 votes.

So you admit going down to their level, I see. Better be honest, abusive 10's get nuked as well.

Written by Risto on 14.09.2015 at 22:50

Written by Illwill on 14.09.2015 at 21:49

Gave it 10 to compensate a bit the children 1 votes.

So you admit going down to their level, I see. Better be honest, abusive 10's get nuked as well.

I understand. I feel sorry for you

#1sthalf>2nd

Written by Illwill on 14.09.2015 at 21:49

Gave it 10 to compensate a bit the children 1 votes.

Last time I did that, I got all my votes nuked. Just a word of warning

Written by musclassia on 12.09.2015 at 16:46
There's some moments which seem influenced by more mainstream rock or indie rock that really sound a bit off here - I half-cringe at times during #Addicted, Towards The Blue Horizon and a couple others.

...Day Session is arguably stronger than the main record...

Edit: I'm finding Time Travellers really grating on repeat listens, so gonna have to drop it down to a 7 :/

Definitely with you on that, but I'm not too bothered by that for some reason. Perhaps its because I can still hear Riverside behind it all

I guess I'll have to check out the Day Session soon then! Night Session from the previous album didn't impress me all that much, so I'm hoping this will be something different.

I actually quite like "Time Travellers", despite the ultra-high level of cheese

Written by LeKiwi on 22.09.2015 at 16:03

Written by musclassia on 12.09.2015 at 16:46
There's some moments which seem influenced by more mainstream rock or indie rock that really sound a bit off here - I half-cringe at times during #Addicted, Towards The Blue Horizon and a couple others.

...Day Session is arguably stronger than the main record...

Edit: I'm finding Time Travellers really grating on repeat listens, so gonna have to drop it down to a 7 :/

Definitely with you on that, but I'm not too bothered by that for some reason. Perhaps its because I can still hear Riverside behind it all

I guess I'll have to check out the Day Session soon then! Night Session from the previous album didn't impress me all that much, so I'm hoping this will be something different.

I actually quite like "Time Travellers", despite the ultra-high level of cheese

I guess so, but I wonder whether that's just becuase Duda's voice is so great he can make near-anything convincing. They're not bad, just feel very awkward for Riverside

It's not amazing but I liked the middle 3 songs rather a bit, it's quite a bit closer to Lunatic Soul than Riverside, but I really liked Walking on a Flashlight Beam so that's a-ok with me.

"Time Travellers" is not awful, and I've not disliked it so much on subsequent listens, but "let's go back to the world" made me tempted to scream with irritation on that listen. I don't hate it, but would give it a 6, max 6.5/10, which is way below what I'd give most-all other Riverside songs

Written by musclassia on 22.09.2015 at 16:44
I guess so, but I wonder whether that's just becuase Duda's voice is so great he can make near-anything convincing. They're not bad, just feel very awkward for Riverside

It's not amazing but I liked the middle 3 songs rather a bit, it's quite a bit closer to Lunatic Soul than Riverside, but I really liked Walking on a Flashlight Beam so that's a-ok with me.

Indeed, it can be a little wobbly at times. I wonder what the next release will sound like...

I don't remember much from Lunatic Soul's latest, so we'll see

Written by LeKiwi on 22.09.2015 at 17:06


I don't remember much from Lunatic Soul's latest, so we'll see

It's an album that I know that I like but can't remember that well - I'm pretty certain the last 3 songs are really strong though, particularly Pygmalion's Ladder (might go give it a listen now!)

Honestly I found it quite bland. A Good record but far from being among their best albums

It's difficult to not be pleased with this release as Riverside seem to be unable to make a bad album. Yes, their sound has evolved over the years, but one thing that people tend to forget is that the band members also evolve as humans. That being said, considering that all of the band members are originally intact, it's quite remarkable how well they make their music work. They defy what most bands tend to do as they age---abandon their roots.

Mixed feelings about this one. they've managed to really slow down on most of the tracks. Some songs reminded me a bit of The Gathering, it's probably their most Ambiental record to date. It's somehow a step down from their last release in terms of originality and songwriting, but it's far from being considered "bad" in my book. It's a good release from a band that continues to evolve their sound.

Not bad, I liked it.
Unfortunately I used to Love the previous albums...

Still got definite problems with this album, but I will say that "Saturate Me" is a really fine song, easily the best one on the album

New to this band.Pretty good stuff..

This appeals to me hugely.