Riverside - Love, Fear and the Time Machine (out now)

The stunning new album from Polish progressive rock band Riverside comes out today and is already available on Spotify and Apple Music. I've been anticipating it was going to be a great record and I'm happy to report it exceeded all expectations. Their most beautiful and accomplished work yet.

 

Great news. Going to see them on the 16th so I better get a little familiar with this!

 

Can't wait to hear this on vinyl!!!

 

Still trying to decide if getting the 2 disc version for the Day Sessions bonus disc is worth it. Wasn't too crazy on the Night Session tunes on the previous album.

 

Thanks for sharing this. I'll definitaly look for it.

 

Just arrived at my home...will take a listen on the weekend.
Seeing them live for the second time in November....looking forward...

 

Fantastic album. Anyone got any DR readings?

It sounds damn good to me, nice wide open sound and I'd be surprised if it's any lower than DR8-9 at the very least.

 

DR8 disc one, DR9 disc 2. It sounds great though, so in this case I'm not going to lose any sleep over DR ratings.

 

Thanks progrocker71. To me, this is demo worthy of how to make compression/limiting work without ruining the music. This album sounds awesome.

 

I should have it waiting at home for me later. I'm really looking forward to listening to this. I have not listened to a single preview of any song from this album yet, so I am going in totally fresh. I also picked up Iron Maiden's new album at lunch today, so I'll be busy listening to music later tonight after my family goes to sleep.

 

The recording engineer responded to a review online and said he was extremely careful with the compression used and the album came out sounding exactly the way him and the band wanted it to sound. Their last album had a lower DR value but it still sounded great.

More important to me though is the material on this album, what an impressive collection of songs! Mariusz puts in his finest vocal performance to date, especially on Towards The Blue Horizon.

 

So I don't really understand all this DR stuff.

Does this mean that the vinyl will sound good? Or is this related to the CD version? Or both?

 

The only rating posted so far is the CD version. The CD version is DR8 which isn't bad for modern mastering and it sound good. The Vinyl will likely have a little more dynamic range but I don't expect it to sound appreciably different from the CD. When the LP is rated for DR value I'll post it.

 

^ Thank you. I might save the extra $20 and just go with the CD then. But I'll wait to hear some thoughts on the LP first.

 

Fans of this album should also check out Walking on A Flashlight Beam by Lunatic Soul (Mariusz solo). It is really wonderful as well.

 

Just listened to that yesterday morning before going to work. It is an excellent album.

 

Great band! Many complain that they are Porcupine Tree copyists, but for me, that is no bad thing - I love both bands. In any case, with Porcupine Tree on hiatus, I can still get my fix of that ambient rock/prog metal crossover sound.

I have the vinyl winging its way to me as I type - can't wait to hear it.

 

Any chance of a link to that review/comments? I like reading stuff about the recording/mixing/mastering process.

My vinyl copy should hopefully be arriving tomorrow and I'm betting it will sound superb if the CD is anything to go by.

 

Here is the post, taken from a comment to the following review:

http://www.angrymetalguy.com/riverside-love-fear-and-the-time-machine-review/

Hi, this is Robert from Serakos Studio. I was responsible for mix, mastering and (partly) production of the latest Riverside album. Browsing the web i found (so far the only one) less enthusiastic review of LFATTM on Your site. Maybe that might be interesting what I can tell
The entire phase of the production, mix and mastering was a very conscious process which was "designed" to highlight the qualities of compositions.

We decided that the whole album has to have a certain "flow" which translates into a very professional but not tiring sound (btw. we tried to give more hi-end frequencies to the mix but i did not work). Anyway, the overall sound seems to be very open but also rich and wide. The bass guitar is a very important element of this record - that is why we set it so loud but IMO the drums are loud as well. Just listed to #Addicted or DYF.
As to dynamics - i'm afraid that i don't agree with Your review So called " a lack of dynamics" - mentioned by You, has nothing to do with buss processing and mastering. Overall compression and limiting (during the mixing and mastering stage) was very low - just 1 or 2 db of gain reduction with auto release "on" in mix and parallel compresion with 1,4 : 1 in the mastering. Overall volume of this record is also not loud by today's standards - more or less about 12 - 11 RMS. There is plenty of dynamics, just listen to the snare drum However we did not want to make an unstable record so - just like in pop music - we balanced each part to to make it fit for the next part. So "a lack of dynamics", it's only an artistic decision. Distorted guitar parts were set to not overshadow everything else.

P.S. If anyone is interested - the album was mixed on hi quality analog console (Audient). We were using ProTools HD native system and Apogee Symphony AD/DA.

Cheers.

 

Wow, that reviewer doesn't know **** haha. Don't what his beef is but there is no way this sounds bad or badly compressed. That part in Discard Your Fear at 4:40ish sounds huge on my system, when that sub-bass freq kicks in with the loud hits on the floor toms.

I'm well impressed with the album and the sound quality.

 

With each album they have sounded more and more like themselves. Duda is a very different vocalist and songwriter than Wilson so I don't think the accusations of being PT clones was ever deserved. When I listen to this album I hear a band with their own distinct personality releasing the most assured album of their career.

 

What I heard so far I do like very much. This surely is a grower-album.
With the track #Addicted they proof they can even do a-ha perfectly without being embarrassing.
Great band!

 

I am loving this album. I love all their albums, but this sounds to me like their most mature work to date. Beautiful sounds

 

Up to track 5 so far and really loving this album. Even my wife is enjoying it and asked if they will be touring in our area soon.(she's had Shrine on her car playlist for 2 years).

 

Superb album, start to finish. This record helps me pass the time until we are graced with a new Porcupine Tree album (no I'm not privy to any info about that). I agree, it is really unfair to brand Riverside as a Porcupine Tree copy band. This is very powerful, original stuff. I think I will be playing the hell out of it this autumn.