SECOND LIFE SYNDROME

Wow! What a beautiful piece of work by Riverside, I must say I am hooked. 2005 is in any sense the best year for progressive music since long. After so many good, some of them even great records there comes the next, maybe final great album of prog this year.

These progressive rock hopefuls are in any sense a sensation. I really enjoy the warm, beautiful and harmful voice of Mariusz Duda very much. He sounds never too theatralic, his vocals are all about emotion, what he shows in the wonderful single "Conceiving You", the orientalic "Volte Face" or the crowning title piece, which marks the big highlight and appears as the central heart of the album. How can you describe the sound of Riverside on "Second Life Syndrome" at best? Well, the strong Pink Floyd influence of the debut album is still in place, but this album has more edges. Where "Out Of Myself" could be considered as a "new art rock" record, shows the new album the heavier side of the band. Progressive Metal parts appear in some passages, but that in a healthy reduced form. The lead guitars are absolutely shining and remind in some parts on David Gilmour from the "Wish You Were Here" period, which not few prog bands bring on today (see Dream Theater etc.). The production comes very well outbalanced, so that you can hear any single detail in a nice way. Where the singer holds back his aggressions on the debut, he now has some real moments on this album, where he shouts closely like a death metal monster in some few parts, which sounds nowhere as misplaced, it fits to the dark mood of the concept. Not the most happy listen for sure, but a experience of intensity and deepness, music for the mind. I want to repeat that there are some clear metal parts on this album, but the progressive rock element is still the dominant in the sound of Riverside, so don't call this band a prog metal band, because this would be a failure.

"Second Life Syndrome" is the second part of a trilogy, so we can look forward to the third part, which probably will come next year. I mean, they really set one up to the debut with "Second Life Syndrome", the music is deeper and more complex. I have some problems to believe that this band can top this album with their third record, or even can keep it on the same level. If they can top this, they are the new kings of prog music of our time, enough said.

I consider "Second Life Syndrome" a real sign of hope in today's progressive rock, which I never thought will come out of the East. This Polish band is the biggest surprise of prog since many years. They show that the East also has a lot of potential for the future time to come. All those, who believe in progressive rock to find the way into the future, which also can stand the test of time, are highly recommended to listen to this. Specially Pink Floyd and Porcupine Tree fans should also spend some time on this little gem. You won't be disappointed I am sure. Cheers!

9/10 points = 92 % on MPV scale = 5/5 stars

point-system: 0 - 3 points = 1 star / 3.5 - 5.5 points = 2 stars / 6 - 7 points = 3 stars / 7.5 - 8.5 points = 4 stars / 9 - 10 points = 5 stars

Essential: a masterpiece of progressive music