Riverside - Out of Myself (2004) #Review

Hello friends, very good day to all. This time I bring another modern Progressive Rock band, which is not as popular as Porcupine Tree, but still enjoys a small reputation, very good and with very interesting works. This band is called Riverside, and was founded in 2001 by Mariusz Duda, Piotr Grudziński and Piotr Kozieradzki in the city of Warsaw, Poland. This band has a very progressive sound, reminiscent of bands like Pink Floyd, guitars and Anathema because of the darkness. A very good progressive rock, with some tinges of progressive metal in its progressive moments, but mainly in the later albums to which it will show.

I will present their debut album, called "Out of Myself", which was published in 2004 and consists of 9 songs. Where the sound is clearly dark, melancholy and sad, with a conceptual theme below, where the lyrics are really exciting and can attract you a lot of feelings. This album represents the first part of a trilogy, called "Reality Dream", which continued in 2005 with the album "Second Life Syndrome" and ended in 2007 with "Rapid Eye Movement".

1. This album starts with a totally progressive piece, called "The Same River" , a theme of about 12 minutes, with a long instrumental introduction, which immediately introduces us to the spatial atmosphere of the band. The song is guided at first by the sound of the bass, to then increase in strength and speed, appearing the guitars with beautiful sounds and distortions. Having remarkable moments of Progressive Metal, finally when the voices appear in the distance, they describe a man facing failure and depression.

2. Continues "Out of Myself", one of the darkest pieces of the album, with a very particular beginning and clearly influenced by Pink Floyd. The bass guides the sound equally, along with the melodies of the guitar, which are accompanied in the distance by the arrangements of the keyboard, leaving a sound that we will not forget. The spectacular voice.

3. The following is one of my favorites "I Believe" , with a small diffuse introduction, the acoustic guitar starts, guiding at all times this beautiful ballad, where I like the voice a lot. That does not exactly fall into the progressive rock scheme, but it's still an incredible song, very relaxing. With a very deep, sentimental and obscure lyrics.

4. "Reality Dream", is one of the instrumental pieces of this album, has a slow start, then in the first minute, jump to a sound, very progressive metal, quite aggressive and entertaining, with some very particular riffs with the sound of the keyboard. A piece that will not bore you, pretty good.

5. Follow "Loose Heart", from the beginning it has a melody that you will not forget. One of my favorites, where the voices come back, to slow down the music. A slow and dark song, where he remembers a lot of dark bands like Anathema. The guitar riff is very beautiful, quite nice and spatial. A soft and beautiful song.

6. "Reality Dream II", This is the second part of the instrumental. Start immediately with the drums, but fall once in a lost tone, then resume with an interesting sound. That progressively evolves. In its most aggressive moments, we clearly see flashes of progressive metal. Another fascinating instrumental piece.

7. We continue with another beautiful ballad "In Two Minds" , the voice lowers the rhythm again, accompanied by the acoustic guitar and very good guitar riffs, which give a much more pleasant atmosphere to the song.

8. We continue with one of the best progressive pieces of the album, "The Curtain Falls" , well, it looks a lot like Pink Floyd, one of the most melancholy and sad songs on the album, that evolves progressively in a way majestic It is the best guitar of the album without a doubt, with some very good solos, almost permanent. Some riffs of the progressive and space rock.

9. The closing of this album is very peculiar, called "OK" , the band leaves aside the sound of the guitars, to give us an ending based on the beautiful and nice sound of the saxophone, beautiful final without Doubt, something slow but very good. I really like the saxophone, it can reflect enough emotions with its sound.

This is an album without a doubt, very loaded with emotions. With a very dark and melancholic sound, mainly when the voices were present. Rarely the most aggressive and metal, were undoubtedly instrumental, while the songs with voices were much slower. The guitar was the main instrument undoubtedly throughout the album, giving only space to acoustics in few subjects. The bass behaved perfectly, giving a dark atmosphere, while the keyboard and the drums did not contribute enough by themselves, but as complements. It is an album clearly influenced by bands like Pink Floyd, but which I review for being one of the progressive rock debut that I have liked the most, and it is complicated to make an album of this genre.