RETURN OF POLISH LEGENDS, RIVERSIDE, ID.ENTITY IS A CREATIVE TOUR DE FORCE
Riverside return in 2023 with their eighth studio album, ID.Entity, and the first in five years following the release of Wasteland. This album, the first major progressive outfit release of the year was hugely anticipated amongst the global community and has been played almost continually since arriving through the Lazland letterbox a week last Friday.
Notable here is the confirmation of Maciej Meller, who appeared on Wasteland, as the band’s permanent guitar replacement for the sadly departed Piotr Grudzinski. He joins the core trio of vocalist and bassist Mariusz Duda, whose Lunatic Soul project albums remain favourites with me, Michał Łapaj on keyboards, and Piotr Kozieradzki on drums.
It is fair to say that this album has divided opinion, with several online posts bitterly complaining of “pop rock” in their midst. Oh, horror of horrors! There is a dedicated minority of progressive rock fans who seem determined that our world should remain utterly impenetrable to the outside population, especially with regards to that dirty word, commercialism, forgetting, of course, that their original seventies heroes were amongst the biggest selling popular music acts in history.
This website has no such qualms over a decent rock song with catchy licks, and opener Friend or Foe has this in spades. Very deliberately, and cleverly, infused with 1980’s sensibilities, the opening keyboards simply demand to be lapped up before the band enter. One minute in, the rhythm section take charge, and I might add here that I for one would quite happily buy an album by Duda featuring his bass fretwork and nothing else. He really is all over this album. The lyrics are very knowing of the reaction this track would engender. “So, are you neo or post?” and “who is behind the filter? Who’s behind the mask? How much of yourself is left in you?” to those keyboard warriors spewing out their stereotypical bilge. I really like this single, and quite frankly could not care less if in parts it reminds me a tad of a certain Norwegian outfit, because I think that has been done quite deliberately in between the crunching riffs which signal that this is, in fact, a damned good and heavy at times Polish outfit.
Landmine Blast is next. It talks of the polarisation and atomisation of the modern world and the loss of community that we are all suffering, themes which are particularly close to me living in a tightknit rural community, but without a local work office for quite a few years now since the government closed them all down leaving only city centre carbuncles’ standing – indeed, as I write this review, I am on a six hour train journey simply to attend a meeting. Anyhow, enough of me. The opening section of the track oozes menace and anger with its deep bassline especially and the shrill guitar lead - it is not for the fainthearted. The closing couple of minutes after the lyrics end are incredibly thoughtful and reserved with some lovely chords washing over you before the crunching anger reasserts itself in the dying moments.
Big Tech Brother opens with an Artificial Intelligence voice asking you to accept the terms before you listen to the next song, because it won’t hurt, at least not now (maybe later!). Anybody who has sat on a UK railway station listening to the interminable announcements such as “see it, say it, sorted” and clicking on “I Accept” every time you go on even the most innocuous of websites will recognise this, and it is clever. The online dream has morphed into a wee bit of a dystopian nightmare. The ability to listen to music worldwide and communicate with friends is incredible, but the reduction of our humanity into nothing more than digital capitalist lemmings is to be regretted, and that is precisely what this song is about. The keyboards ooze a nightmare scenario, and the bass rumbles viciously always driven along by the drums and percussion. When the guitars join in, and the Hammond organ introduces itself, it is fair to say that it is not a happy smiley noise, but raging. In contrast, Duda’s voice is delicate, and light compared to the music around him, with the words referencing those paragons of futuristic dystopia, 1984 and Brave New World, although both were, of course, as much commentaries on their societies and governments of the time as futuristic predictions. This is a perfectly weighted piece of music and very impressive, especially Meller who makes his guitar scream in places.
Post Truth follows. The lyrics talk to me of the constant battering our minds are subjected to from a slew of information, much of it false, and certainly a lot of it serving no purpose other than to act as dopamine for pathetic existences. I really do like the “headline drew attention” chorus, with its wonderful commercial feel, whilst the dark and heavy riffs which burst out just short of three minutes in provide for a real opposition to that. Meller does produce a fresh and sunny guitar riff after the vocals end before the dystopia once again emerges. It is, therefore, a very welcome surprise to hear the gentle piano notes which close the song.
There is one epic track on the album, namely The Place Where I Belong, which clocks in at over thirteen minutes. How much can you bear being fucking lied to? I, for one, have had a gut full. Why is it that we are continually presented with the choice of extreme left and extreme right only? There is talk of pop-philosophers telling us how we should live, something which is all too familiar in every single celeb utterance online today, although such was always the case – you only had to open the newspaper magazines and “style” or “living” sections to see that back in the day. This very intelligent piece of music encourages us to get out of that race, to think for ourselves, although I do think that in this concept and lyrics, Duda might be preaching to the converted, addressing a group of human beings who are, by definition, enjoying thoughtful music and might (should) not be easily persuaded by said popsters. Musically, it has a laidback start, with some of Meller’s guitar work clearly influenced by Steven Rothery circa Happiness is the Road. Duda produces some wonderful acoustic guitar work and there are some nice nods on the Hammond to Jon Lord days. There is a touch of latter-day Floyd and classic psychedelia in there as well. I think the key to this track is that it takes a range of influences from a range of eras, but melds them into something interesting and different, which is not an easy trick to pull off, and pull it off this does superbly. It grabs you quietly and then refuses to let you go.
I’m Done With You is the other single thus far lifted from the album. It is angry, in fact reminding me a little bit in theme of a disturbing black comedy we watched on Disney+ last night, The Banshees of Inisherin, a bleak allegorical story of the consequences of a lifelong friendship being broken. The theme is set by some extremely dark chords thundering from the speaker by all four protagonists, and this mood runs throughout the track, albeit interspersed with brief delicate passages. It will not have them dancing in the local disco, but it should be enjoyed by all fans of the darker and heavier side of rock music. When Duda screams “far away!”, he means it.
The regular album closes with Self-Aware. This track closes the thematic part of the work perfectly, talking as it does of having shutting oneself off from the evils and nonsense witnessed online and politically, but realising that those of us who loathe the hatred should reconnect and take the future into our own hands, unsubscribing the ones who make us hostile. There is a lot of love and beauty in this world, and we need to grab it and cherish it. This is another track on the album which has upset some of the “purists”. I love it. There is some great funk in there, there are definite nods to Rush in their pomp, expansive commercial rock and it all races along at a fair old pace. The closing passages revisit some of the earlier themes in the album, and the chords revolve around a wonderful bass lead. By its denouement you are smiling to yourself, your and Riverside’s core self, restored.
As is usual on this website, the main review is of the prime album, but I did buy the 2CD version, and I would recommend this to those of you yet to buy. Age of Anger is a long, very slow burning instrumental, psych blues to its core. Together Again is nicely trippy, and there are single edits of the bookends of the main album.
A word about the artwork produced by the talented Jarek Kubicki. The whole layout and presentation are lush.
ID.Entity is a clear return to form by Riverside. Wasteland sounded to me a very difficult album, unsurprisingly given the circumstances in which it was recorded without a longstanding friend. They are shortly to embark on an extensive tour of North America and Europe, and it should be fantastic should you be able to make it. For those of you who have not yet got the album, it would be a huge surprise if it did not make most critics Top Ten List at the end of 2023, and it would deserve to do so. This is the return and sound of a very confident band releasing intelligent, thought provoking music and is deeply impressive.
Highly recommended.