After the magnificent tribute 'Wasteland' to their friend and guitarist 'Piotr Grudzinski' in 2018, followed by the very good live 'Lost'n'Found – Live in Tilburg' at the end of 2020, the Poles of 'Riverside' release a new album, 'ID.Entity', which marks a turning point in the history of the group, the title of this new baby not being insignificant and corresponding to this search for a new identity to give to the project, after the death of Piotr. 'Mariusz Duda' is now the captain of the ship 'Riverside' and, after the compilation that retraced the first 20 years (see here) and which saw the new title 'Story of my Dream' appear, we already felt that the Poles had passed the painful period of mourning and that they needed to get out of this melancholy to go on something more energetic and more direct.
This is confirmed with the first title 'Friend or Foe?' which somehow breaks with the past in a radiant atmosphere reminiscent of the formations of the early 80s which brought more electronic sounds to rock, I am thinking in particular of 'Depeche Mode' or 'Ultravox', the melody pleasantly tickling our eardrums. With 'Landmine Blast', we continue in this positive energy which mixes the old and the new 'Riverside' in an original progressive, imaginative and bringing a feeling of freshness throughout the title. Follows the admirable 'Big Tech Brother' which welcomes us in a sonic firework, merging jazzy brass sounds with muscular guitars and which continues with an imposing instrumental section with unbridled rhythm to arrive at the more moderate sung part which is a pure delight, 'Mariusz Duda' showing all his vocal talent on a gripping melody and the breaks in intensity being simply brilliant: I agree 200% but this title would have deserved a real ending rather than this fade out. With 'Post-Truth', it's still a well removed composition with a beautiful dynamic which shows that the Poles know how to send heavy while keeping this elegant character, the singing of 'Mariusz Duda' being never aggressive and the break finale on the piano bringing that little extra that makes all the difference. We arrive at the centrepiece of the album, 'The Place Where I Belong', which takes us on a journey through time inside a progressive labyrinth with 'Floydian' influences (whether at the level of the bass line, of the sounds Hammond or this magnificent 'Gilmourien' guitar solo from 'Maciej Meller' which is now an integral part of the group), but which still keeps a very current face, the production being absolutely irreproachable. The album ends with the two singles with first 'I'm Done With You' (see the video above) which develops a more marked atmosphere with many changes of intensity between moderate verses and a chorus which explodes in a raw energy, supported by an energetic rhythm section, then, 'Self-Aware' which has a very lively first part with a catchy chorus which makes it a more direct and less progressive title, the swaying rhythm making us go up at the end of the 70s and reminiscent of the English of 'The Police', then which ends with a long decrescendo which does not exist in the single of which we can see the video here.
In summary, the Poles of 'Riverside', after going through a long period of mourning, offer us a new album which, musically, is filled with a newfound enthusiasm by admirably merging influences of 70s progressive with a beautiful modernity but which also brings a well balanced mix between rock and metal which demonstrates this desire that the Poles had to reinvent themselves: the proof, this magnificent cover full of colours which succeeds the grey of 'Wasteland' and which is exactly like the atmospheres deployed in this last album... | |
