Riverside -
Love, Fear And The Time Machine


(CD, 2015, 01:00:25, InsideOut Music)

The tracks:
  1- Lost (Why Should I Be Frightened By A Hat?)(5:51)
  2- Under The Pillow(6:47)
  3- Addicted(4:52)
  4- Caterpillar And The Barbed Wire(6:56)
  5- Saturate Me(7:08)
  6- Afloat(3:11)
  7- Discard Your Fear(6:42)
  8- Towards The Blue Horizon(8:09)
  9- Time Travellers(6:41)
10- Found (The Unexpected Flaw Of Searching)(4:03)

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Love, Fear And The Time Machine is the sixth studio album from the Polish band Riverside, and what an album it is! It is the best album they've ever made so far, in my opinion. They are a band that becomes better and better over the years. The band has made many trips through different genres. For example, the album Anno Domini High Definition (2009, see review) leans a lot towards metal. This album actually reminds me of the earlier work from Riverside, less metal and more exploring and progressive. The bass is always very present in the music. The album sounds very good, the production of the album is neatly done. Mariusz Duda, the lead singer and bassist of the band, told me this album is about making a big life changing decision, the forces that help you and not help you with making the right choices, and the fear of the unknown while making those big life changing decisions.

The album couldn't start any better than with the track Lost. It starts very soft and sweet and turns into a powerful track with a catchy chorus. I'm sure I always sing along with it. It sounds a bit folk-rock-ish and it is my favourite track of the album, and I'm sure it's one of my all-time favourite tracks as well. The second track called Under The Pillow is also an excellent one. It's a very dark song. It's my second favourite track of the album. The third track Addicted is a more up tempo track and starts with a cool bass riff. Directly after this track some kind of 'secret' instrumental track is hidden, a very beautiful surprise. The fourth track Caterpillar And The Barbed Wire is a real 'Riverside' track and reminds me of the music Riverside made during their first albums. The fifth track Saturate Me has a long instrumental intro (2 minutes). I really love the intro, due to the complexity and the conjunction between the instruments. The sixth track Afloat is a beautiful track, only containing bass guitar, organ and vocals. The seventh track Discard Your Fear is the single from the album. It has a very good and intensive intro but the song could use a bit more power in the chorus, in my opinion. The eight track Towards The Blue Horizon is the longest track on the album. It starts as a very sweet and lovely track with acoustic guitar, but turns into a haunting song, like a lovely day ending up with rain and thunder. Later the track becomes a bit calmer again. The ninth track Time Travellers is a track that starts with an acoustic guitar and vocals. Mariusz Duda has such a powerful voice and shows a lot of emotion in this song. Later the acoustic guitar gets company from a bass guitar and organ. The last track Found is a very good ending track for the album. It's a very tender song you would sing along to.

I'm very sure this will be in my top 3 list of albums from 2015. I've always been a fan of the band, but this album is a real masterpiece. I give this album 5 out of 5 stars.

***** Iris Hidding (edited by Astrid de Ronde)

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