Album Review: Riverside -Wasteland

There isn't much harder than losing an important band member, except for losing an important band member. Riverside is not walking into this new album simply without guitarist Piotr Grudzinski, they are still mourning his loss. The fork in their road is not one of disagreement, nor a change in direction, but true loss. There were questions about how to move on, and whether it was even something worth pursuing. But they have decided to move on, and Riverside is back, albeit different now.

"Wasteland" is a meditation as much as an album, and trying to judge an expression of grief feels a bit garish to me. How can you tell someone the way they have chosen to cope is wrong?

For this outing, the band has changed course and started to look backward a bit. I wasn't particularly thrilled with the last couple of albums, but this one is more streamlined with callbacks to the "ADHD" sound, which was my favorite of their records. Sounding more like a 70s hard rock band filtered through a prog lens (there are ample hints of Uriah Heep through the organs), the music is more interesting this way than when the band had settled into a more comfortable somber prog mood.

Noticeable about the record is how the guitars are filtered. The distorted tones are fuzzy around the edges, a bit like a ghost hanging in the air. There is a lack of sharpness I would usually criticize, but considering the message the album is putting forward, it makes sense. This music shouldn't crackle with energy, or sparkle with a sheen atop it all. There needs to be grit and emotion to it, and letting the guitars feel distraught and incomplete works for that.

What has always made it difficult for me to get into Riverside is their take on what melody in prog is supposed to be. It's the same issue I have with other bands that receive lavish praise, such as Kingcrow (who also have a new record). They sing clean, but always with such subtlety that the hooks feel dull to the touch. There is melodic and there is catchy, and Riverside has always been exclusively in the former camp. You can argue that this album should be exactly that, but there still needs to be something for us to grab onto as listeners.

"Guardian Angel" is the perfect example of that. The song has some lovely acoustic guitars, but the thrust of the song are softly whispered spoken word vocals that have not an ounce of melody to them. The message may be important, but it gets lost without a delivery method that excites us. It is a slow eulogy at exactly the time the audience needs to be picked back up.

"Acid Rain" and "Lament" are far more effective at striking the right balance, delivering powerful doses of emotion that are wrapped up in melodies we can engage with. There is life in them, which is needed on an album preoccupied with death.

I understand that making a record can be a therapeutic experience, and the band needed to do something to take the first steps in moving forward with their lives. But just because something is personal doesn't mean it is enjoyable. I wish the guys in Riverside no ill will, and if this record has helped them, that's great. What I can't do is say I enjoyed listening to this record, because I didn't. Too much of the record is a slow dirge through the pits of despair, which is not where I want to be as a music fan. Good for them, but I'm going to have to pass on this one.