RIVERSIDE – Wasteland (2018)

I did not know what to expect when I started listening to RIVERSIDE’s new album “Wasteland”. As a quartet, this Polish awesome band produced some of the most characteristic and captivating albums in modern progressive rock / metal.
Sadly, the untimely passing of founding guitarist Piotr Grudziński in early 2016 sent fans and the remaining members — vocalist / bassist /lead songwriter Mariusz Duda, drummer Piotr Kozieradzki, and keyboardist Michał Łapaj — into a painful world of uncertainty about if, when, and how they should continue. After all, Grudziński’s distinctive style was a major part of their treasured formula, so adequately replacing him seemed both impossible and potentially impolite.

Ultimately, they decided to stay together, release a compilation of new and old instrumental pieces dedicated to Grudziński (2016’s Eye of the Soundscape, featured here at the blog), and spend the next two years or so working on a proper follow-up to 2015’s Love, Fear and the Time Machine.
Happily, their efforts and apprehensions have paid off, as their first studio album as a trio, “Wasteland”, is a beautifully bleak testament to the aftermath of tragedy that retains almost everything that made Riverside special since they first emerged in 2004.

Suitably written “from the point of view of someone bereft, someone who has survived a tragedy,” the LP finds Duda taking over six-string duties too, but he’s cleverly enough to call experts to play the guitar solos; touring member Maciej Meller and Mateusz Owczarek, and on some songs Riverside incorporates violins via Michał Jelonek.
Aiding the aforementioned personal subject matter is post-apocalyptic social commentary inspired by fiction like Cormac McCarthy’s ‘The Road’ and the ‘Fallout’ video game series.

The record harkens back to earlier albums in a few ways, and I love it. Most overtly, its opening mantra (“The Day After”) conjures Second Life Syndrome’s starter, “After,” in title and form (as does its closer, “The Night Before,” albeit more quietly and sparsely). Likewise, its harsher, more riff-focused cheerlessness evokes that sophomore effort, too, as well as Shrine of New Generation Slaves.
Truthfully, its abrasive leanings and solos can be a bit perfunctory and repetitious at times (like the verses of “Vale of Tears”), yet Riverside still infuses those moments with enough inventive nuance and engaging intricacy to make it worthwhile.

Of course, they mostly still excel when it comes to unleashing progressive metal delights, such as the gripping chorus of “Lament,” the mesmerizing complexity of the wordless “The Struggle for Survival,” and the infectiously quirky jam halfway into the title track.
Without a doubt, “Wasteland” delivers plenty of idiosyncratically destructive and sophisticated gold.
That said, the band—as well as Duda’s solo project, Lunatic Soul—always shines most during the more introspective, melodic, and earnest moments; on that front, Wasteland is truly masterful.

In general, it proffers an overarchingly ingenious compromise between its heavy and light personas, with a few standout passages ranking among the top Riverside moments ever.
For instance, the closing half of “Acid Rain” lets an atmospheric bridge give way to one of Duda’s catchiest and most spiritually rich chants (a returning trademark that appears several other times, in different forms, on the full-length).
Elsewhere, his frank deliveries meld with forlorn soundscapes to make “Guardian Angel” a lovely acoustic ballad, whereas “Lament” cleverly reprises the piercing violins of “The Day After” to give Wasteland even more conceptual continuity.
Also, “River Down Below” is a wonderfully mournful and peaceful ode (Duda’s trembling tenor makes it downright heart-breaking, in fact).

“Wasteland” is another remarkable album from one of today’s best progressive outfits: Riverside. Sure, the absence of Grudziński’s personality is surely felt, but the guitar work here is still quite fitting and capable.
The album offers a snapshot of one of progressive rock’s heavy hitters figuring out how to pick up the pieces and keep going in the face of hardship. Great art, as the cliche goes, often arises from hardship and maybe “Wasteland” is an example of that. Maybe when you get stranded in a wasteland the only way out is through.
No matter the source, though, “Wasteland” is an album that Riverside fans will love, and not prog fans but anyone interested in high quality rock music should laud.
HIGHLY Recommended

01 – The Day After
02 – Acid Rain
I . Where Are We Now?
II . Dancing Ghosts
03 – Vale of Tears
04 – Guardian Angel
05 – Lament
06 – The Struggle for Survival
I . Dystopia
II . Battle Royale
07 – River Down Below
08 – Wasteland
09 – The Night Before

Mariusz Duda – vocals, bass, guitar, ukulele, Hammond
Michał Łapaj – keyboards, Hammond, Theremin, backing vocals
Piotr Kozieradzki – drums, percussion
with:
Maciej Meller – guitar solos
Mateusz Owczarek – guitar solos
Michał Jelonek – violin

PRE ORDER:
www.amazon.co.uk/Wasteland-Riverside/dp/B07FDNSJ8M
.