ANNO DOMINI HIGH DEFINITION

Anno Domini High Definition is the fourth studio effort by Polish act Riverside, a band that seems to steadily become more and more popular.

And their eclectic mix of sounds and styles is still innovative 8 years into their career, blending classical-inspired and ambient dreamy segments with sophisticated hard rock and progressive metal, including the inclusion of a few subtle elements from the more extreme parts of the latter at times.

The tracks are diversified, at times to the extreme, suddenly evolving affairs that are unpredictable and challenging despite not utilizing any extreme effects of any sort. Fans of dissonant sounds and disharmonic passages can safely look elsewhere for their entertainment - sparse sequences with insistant dominating elements or richly flavoured and textured themes is the name of the game here. And the latest addition to Riverside's arsenal of sounds - or at least the latest to be given a dominating role - is the organ. Adding a vintage tinge to their otherwise rather modern sounding excursions.

Personally I don't find this latest effort to be a truly great effort though. Final track Hybrid Times is a stunning affair though, and the only creation that didn't really grab my attention was Left Out. The rest of the album, the opening three numbers to be precise, are solid, strong affairs though. And I suspect that all of them eventually may grow on me as well as other listeners - there's so much going on there that it takes more than a handful of listens to digest it all.

But with the limitations the latter does give as far as reaching a conclusion goes, I note this down as a solid effort, and one with a potential to be regarded as more than that as time goes by.