Riverside: Rapid Eye Movement

Riverside have completed their amazing trilogy with Rapid Eye Movement, an album that lends itself to the melodious side of the debut and the heavier aspect of the band's second album. It achieves a wonderful balance between its two predecessors, emphasizing atmospheric dynamics more effectively and also showing signs of growth and compositional improvement. Like the first two albums, Rapid Eye Movement also contains nine tracks and encapsulates everything what the Polish band stands for: moody soundscapes, emotive vocals, dense keyboard structures, and a solid rhythm background.

Though there will always be fans who'll consider Out of Myself Riverside's high point, it is a given that vocalist Mariusz Duda's vocals have improved significantly since the debut came out. Now, Duda incorporates all kinds of styles into his vocalizations with great results. His unique chants that open up "Beyond the Eyelids" function as a foreshadowing to the album's emotionally dark aura throughout its course. His voice is always strengthened by mood-intensive synth work and textural guitar voicings, which eventually transform into jam-like sessions with a strong rhythm presence. The instrumentation on the track is underpinned by keyboardist Michal Lapaj's electronic sequencing, which works brilliantly underneath Duda's doubled vocal harmony that occasionally borders on aggressive outbursts.

The band must have been heavily inspired by Porcupine Tree while composing "Rainbow Box", right down to the vocals. Built around an instantly memorable main riff, this is one of the shorter pieces that lends itself to crunchy rhythm variations, around which Piotr Grudzinski's textural guitar lines are woven. The single-note keyboard in the background is stretched into eternity to provide an extra layer of atmosphere; and segues into "02 Panic Room", a track with a heavily synthesized bass line and a cool guitar theme. This theme is subtly developed whilst fizzling synth sounds pan on the right and left speakers (listen to it with headphones) and Duda's schizophrenic whispers are filtered through a thick soundscape. The last section of the song, while giving the impression that it may have been added as an afterthought upon first list, is comprised of cold acoustic guitars and funereal atmosphere, mostly because of Duda's low monotone singing. The way the guitar sound becomes less and less audible while Duda's voice is set against a mournful piano figure are testimony to Riverside's aesthetic ability, not only songwriting-wise but also from a production standpoint.

From here on, the album sinks into the depths of despair. "Schizophrenic Prayer" boasts Middle Eastern acoustic guitars and a mournful vocal delivery which eventually culminates in a terrific melody. Duda's wordless humming and tragic croon precede a drawn-out instrumental middle part, formed by a steady, unbreakable rhythm. The song is finished off with some of the most schizophrenic whispers and repeated guitar themes you'll hear on any progressive rock release. Much like "Schizophrenic Prayer", "Through the Other Side" and "Embryonic" are also compositions proceeding in a glacial pace. They are both characterized by a largely acoustic framework; the contrast between Duda's ultimately soothing and reassuring voice and the terribly disturbing subject matter on "Embryonic" is impossible to ignore. Riverside brings together opposite poles of songwriting elements here, and concludes the track with a phenomenal guitar solo which recalls Jim Matheos' restrained playing on A Pleasant Shade of Gray, due to its context. It's got the same vibe of building the whole album up and then climaxing with a killer solo that is emotionally draining.

The most progressive cut on the album is "Parasomnia", one of the longer pieces. Not only does it marry the hallmarks of the Riverside sound their fans have come to love over the years, it is a track with a powerful bass centre and wonderful harmonies. The a capella intro alone is worth checking this album out, Duda has rarely before captured so much intensity within only a couple of seconds. As the song proceeds, amidst rampaging bass and Tool-like tribal drumming, Piotr Grudzinski intensifies its degree of heaviness with added guitar voicings and shifts of tempo. The song retreats into a dreamy section, filled with Porcupine Tree-like acoustic guitars and floating synth lines, not to mention the Floydian guitar solo. Just as its intro, the overly repeated whispering atop sparse synth notes at the very end is simply sick -- and his chants are to die for. Duda is among the most expressive singers in this genre no matter what anyone says.

There is another epic-length song on the album to finalise the three-part concept story. After a long jammy intro, "Ultimate Trip" merges both vintage and modern synth sounds, developing a unique Riverside aesthetic, and contains extensive lead work by both Grudzinski and Lapaj. The tense silence in the middle is only a chance for the listener to take a breath as the piece is concluded with smashing rhythm battery and impressive guitar work.

The debut album was perhaps the band's most melodically engaging work while Second Life Syndrome saw the band expanding into heavier territory accentuated by intense guitar work. As for Rapid Eye Movement, this is their most atmospheric statement, created to underline the psychological turmoil of the protoganist. This is not to say any of their albums lack melody or atmospheric depth; it's just each album has its own priority and the level of cohesion achieved between each release is remarkable. The production is amazing, perhaps their best. Upon the first couple of listens, I had to think of the production of Katatonia's The Great Cold Distance, though this has somewhat waned now. Still, I can't help but listen to these albums back to back -- they do have something in common, at least spiritually.

Now that they've released their albums and solidified their sound, it will be interesting to observe what kind of path Riverside will forge on their future albums.

They will not disappoint.

Track Listing

1. Beyond the Eyelids
2. Rainbow Box
3. 02 Panic Room
4. Schizophrenic Prayer
5. Parasomnia
6. Through the Other Side
7. Embryonic
8. Cybernetic Pillow
9. Ultimate Trip

Added: October 17th 2007
Reviewer: Murat Batmaz
Score:
Related Link: Riverside website
Hits: 9808
Language: english

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