December 15, 2003 - Riverside and Out Of Myself

Six days after my last release a new band joins my library when Riverside released their debut album "Out Of Myself" on December 15, 2003. But who is Riverside? They are a four-piece progressive rock/metal band from Warsaw, Poland consisting of frontman Mariusz Duda (vocals, bass, acoustic guitar), guitarist Piotr Grudzinski, keyboardist Jacek Melnicki and drummer Piotr Kozieradzki. Riverside are more rock than metal, but they can be heavy at times and they are pretty progressive and space-y most of the time with a very epic style of prog-rock. Let's see what Riverside is all about!

The album kicks off with the twelve minute song "The Same River" and it begins with someone flipping through the radio (including a snippet of "Hotel California") before they settle into a space-y main riff. Melnicki plays some epic droning synths, Duda plays some pretty cool bass and Grudzinski adds some slow, epic guitar to this pretty epic and cool opening. Eventually the guitar speeds up to a cool faster riff and Kozieradzki joins the mix with a nice drum beat to fully form things. Around the 4:45 mark things take a marked shift to a new riff as Grudzinski takes over with some pretty sweet lead guitar and Melnicki backs him with some nice epic keyboards as well. The rhythm section is solid as well and everything sounds pretty great! After a couple minutes of this they show off their progressiveness with another smooth segue to another completely new riff with Duda leading the way with a cool new bass riff. Duda sings finally after seven minutes or so and he has a pretty smooth and epic voice that I think fits this style very nicely. He holds some nice long notes and after a cool verse Grudzinski delivers an epic guitar solo and the backdrop to it is a funky and pretty cool new riff as well! After this epic solo things drop off and get very quiet as just a soft guitar riff Remains and Duda sings a nice soft verse to match this new mood. The final minute plus is led by another pretty epic guitar solo by Grudzinski and this was a fantastic introduction into what Riverside are all about! I like it a lot! Up next is the title track "Out Of Myself" and Grudzinski and Duda sync up and play the same catchy riff on guitar and bass. Duda sings an epic verse overtop and Melnicki adds some cool keyboards to the mix as well for an epic and cool main riff. Things eventually start to get a little heavy and Duda even escalates in volume until he's almost screaming, and I wish he would keep going, but it was still really cool! He sings a catchy and solid chorus as well and this song keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole way through, I thought it was very solid. Track 3 is "I Believe" and it begins with a bunch of incoherent Chatter before Duda whispers softly and Melnicki's keyboards take us into the main riff where Duda takes over with an epic and cool acoustic guitar riff with Grudzinski adding some light electric guitar overtop. Duda sings an epic verse overtop and he adds some cool bass as well for a great mix of sounds that is done really well. It's easily the lightest of the songs so far, but it's still a cool song for sure. The next track is "Reality Dream" and it starts with just a ticking sound before some trippy keyboards fade in and things take a very psychedelic turn. Out of this trippy stuff emerges a keyboard solo by Melnicki and it's a pretty sweet one as things gave a bit of a Dream Theater vibe going on, which is definitely a good thing! After this awesome solo Duda keeps the pace with a great little bass riff, Kozieradzki provides some cool drums as well, then Grudzinski takes the lead with some slow but super epic and cool guitar. Aside from some wordless ohhing in the background this whole 6:15 is instrumental and words don't do proper justice to all the sweet guitar, bass and keyboards in this song, it's easily my favourite on the album so far! There's a sudden clock ringing that signals the end of the song and we hear a deep breath, which is needed after that great song! Track 5 is "Loose Heart" and it's got a slow and space-y pace to it and once Melnicki's epic keyboards enter the mix the main riff is complete with all kinds of smooth epicness. Grudzinski plays some cool melodic guitar and Duda sounds great singing softly overtop. Most of this song is lighter and space-y, which is fine, they do a great job at it, but the final minute or so has Duda singing "raise me up, don't let me fall" in increasing ferocity and by the end he, and the music sound pretty sweet! A nice end to another solid tune! Up next is "Reality Dream II" and Kozieradzki starts us off with a pretty cool little drum beat, before things settle into another space-y riff with more droning synths by Melnicki and we hear a phone being dialed. Duda plays a pretty cool bass riff before Grudzinski takes the lead with some epic guitar. Like it's Brother this song is instrumental and once Melnicki jumps in with an epic new keyboard riff things sound pretty sweet! I don't think it's as cool as the first "Reality Dream", but it's another pretty sweet instrumental song for sure! Track 7 is "In Two Minds" and Duda starts it off by himself with a catchy acoustic guitar riff and a soft verse to go nicely with it. After a solo first verse Melnicki joins in with some epic keyboards and Duda sounds fantastic hitting some smooth, high notes in the chorus. Grudzinski finally adds some epic guitar to the mix and with Duda on bass as well now things sound very epic and cool indeed! Everything is so expertly done it's hard to believe that this their debut album! They all seem to know each other so perfectly to form these cool soundscapes and this is not a headbanger by any means, but still a really well done song. The next track is "The Curtain Falls" and it begins with some trippy guitar and keyboards before they settle into another super smooth and cool main riff with some silky smooth bass by Duda, a solid drum beat, dreamy keyboards and some pretty cool guitar leading the way! After over a minute Duda finally starts to sing the first verse and it's a soft and smooth verse that of course fits the mood perfectly and he really is a good singer! After a couple rounds Duda switches to a cool new bassline, he says the name of the song epicly, then it's off to a similarly dreamy new riff that sets the stage for an extended guitar solo by Grudzinski. It's mostly slower and trippy, but the end of it things start to ramp up heavily and I love that part, except that it leads nowhere but right back into the main riff as they quietly jam out this slightly disappointing finish to an otherwise pretty solid song. The final song on the album is "OK" and Kozieradzki plays an echo-y drum beat, Melnicki plays some cool  slow piano and Duda sings in almost a whisper, but he still sounds pretty epic. His voice gets deeper for the chorus which is slow and epic in it's own way, then we're treated to some slow and trippy horns that add an interesting extra layer to things! After a couple more rounds Grudzinski plays a slow guitar solo that matches the mood pretty nicely, then the song appears to end around the 3:43 mark. After 45 seconds of silence we hear Duda ohhing and ahhing in an echo-y effect, then the song is over. A strange finish to an otherwise interesting closer.

That is the end of "Out Of Myself" and I thought it was a pretty sweet debut album by Riverside! These guys are excellent at both quieter, tripper stuff as well as faster and heavier stuff but everything sounds super epic no matter what! I can't wait to see where Riverside go from here! This also brings us to the end of 2003, and so begins the year-end wrap-up! 38 albums this year is 2 more than last year as there was a LOT of great music in 2003. Here is the top 20!

1. Absolution by Muse
2. As the Palaces Burn by Lamb Of God
3. Meteora by Linkin Park
4. The Artist in the Ambulance by Thrice
5. Waking the Fallen by Avenged Sevenfold
6. Train of Thought by Dream Theater
7. Black Utopia by Derek Sherinian
8. Hate Crew Deathroll by Children of Bodom
9. Billy Talent by Billy Talent
10. Out of Myself by Riverside
11. Hot Damn! by Every Time I Die
12. Frail Words Collapse by As I Lay Dying
13. Anthems of Rebellion by Arch Enemy
14. Thirteenth Step by A Perfect Circle
15. Valley Of The Damned by DragonForce
16. Hidden Hands of a Sadist Nation by Darkest Hour
17. Breathing Is Irrelevant by Ion Dissonance
18. Damnation by Opeth
19. Revolutions Per Minute by Rise Against
20. Take A Look In The Mirror by Korn

Wow, that is one stacked top 20! There was so much amazing music this year, but Muse takes the throne with their amazing third album, followed by some heavier stuff. It's time to finish off the first half of this decade, onward to 2004!