Artist: Riverside Album: 02 Panic Room (Single) Label: Mystic Productions Website: http://www.riverside.art.pl Reviewer: Bill Knispel

Track List: 1 02 Panic Room 2 Lucid Dream IV 3 Back to the River 4 02 Panic Room (Remix) 02 Panic Room is the lead single from Polish band Riverside’s forthcoming 3rd full length release, Rapid Eye Movement. While it seems odd, in a way, to review a single in a genre that has been primarily seen as album based, the release offers up an interesting slice of Riverside’s various styles and sides. The major drawing factor, of course, are the two versions of the release’s title track, offering a sneak peek at the band’s forthcoming album. The single opens with what seems to be the album version of the track (as there are no notes declaring this to be an edit or single version, the assumption is likely a safe one). The track is typical Riverside...brooding, flashes of heaviness seasoning the simmering darkness. Bass lines pulse, drums march along with mechanical precision, and guitar lines slice like blinding lights through the murky night. Mariusz Duda’s vocals are pensive and pleading, and the song features a chorus (deeply reminiscent of Depeche Mode) with hooks so big they’d be able to catch a whale. Synths and strings simply add to the impressive arrangement; while the song and arrangement are far from impossibly technically intricate, there is beauty in the song drawn into clearer focus thanks to these additions. The remix, which closes out the single/EP, casts the song in an entirely different light. Gone is the brooding Tool-like alt-metal; in its place is a heavily synthesized sound that pushes the song into more modern Tangerine Dream directions. Where the album version was pensive and edgy, this remix is plaintive and fragile, more the sound of a man broken, shattered and afraid than a man expressing anger with a touch of regret. The comparisons to Depeche Mode are made even more obvious in this remix, as the electronic backing moves this version of the song far closer to DM’s electronic dark synthpop. Also of interest are two non-album tracks, included on this EP release only. The first of these is the instrumental “Lucid Dream IV,” which carries on the themes of the three “Reality Dream” instrumentals from previous releases. This track shows the band in full on metal mode, with the synth seasonings adding lushness to the song. In some ways the track feels very similar to a track like “Mother and Child Divided” by Porcupine Tree...driving, always moving forward, and above all heavy. The second non-album track is also instrumental, with “Back to the River” showing another side of Riverside entirely, overflowing with mood and restraint. The song is very heavily Pink Floyd influenced, an influence that is made all the more plain by the extensive quoting of “Shine on You Crazy Diamond” off PF’s Wish You Were Here album. It’s a neat thing to hear, although it amazes me that no credit is given to Pink Floyd in the release’s writers credits. Hopefully this was just an oversight. While one can be certain that the more restrained, brooding side shown on 02 Panic Room is not typical of the entire album from which it is drawn, Riverside has offered a tantalizing glimpse inside Rapid Eye Movement. It will be interesting to see where and how this track fits into the overall concept of their new album, a release which surely is eagerly anticipated. Band Members: Mariusz Duda - Lead Vocals, Bass Guitar Piotr Grudzinski - Guitars Piotr Kozieradzki - Drums Michal Lapaj - Keyboards