Album: Love, Fear and the Time Machine
Year: 2015
Rating: 95/100
You could be forgiven for wondering just how exactly Riverside would top their previous effort, "Shrine of New Generation Slaves". Having said that, Riverside are exactly the kind of band who thrive on going one step further on each album, and having successfully released album after album that has eclipsed the one that has gone before it, it's now the turn of "Love, Fear and the Time Machine" to do exactly the same. So, the big question is, how does it weigh up?
Well, let's be honest. It's pretty damn incredible. The album opens with the esoterically-titled "Lost (Why Should I Be Frightened By a Hat?)" and its swirling keyboards, Mariusz Duda's impassioned vocals, and Piotr Grudzinski's outstanding guitar work, building up slowly, climaxing perfectly, then dying away. The time signatures and song patterns may be somewhat more straightforward than on "Shrine of New Generation Slaves" at first, but this is Riverside, and they can't resist the opportunity to change things up if they know their ideas aren't going anywhere. "#Addicted" is a fantastic indication of how they have matured as a band, while "Saturate Me" is a beautiful slow burner that hits you just as it hits its peak.
"Love, Fear and the Time Machine" is one of those truly rare albums that has absolutely no weak spots at all. The music is flawless, the vocals are superb, and the songwriting is at a level that the band haven't quite managed to achieve, until now. Stop whatever you're doing right now and obtain this album any which way you can.
Track list:
- Lost (Why Should I Be Frightened By a Hat?)
- Under The Pillow
- #Addicted
- Caterpillar and the Barbed Wire
- Saturate Me
- Afloat
- Discard Your Fear
- Towards the Blue Horizon
- Time Travellers
- Found (The Unexpected Flaw of Searching)
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