When Riverside released their first album, Out Of Myself, they received praise from almost all journalists and this release is no different. Second Life Syndrome is like a Progressive Rock orgasm for me. I am not a big fan of Progressive Rock; usually it's just too similar, but Riverside's sound is very unique and I would say graceful.
Riverside are a fairly new face in the music industry. They released their first album Out Of Myself in 2004. They have done a little bit of touring (not a whole lot) but they did play the ProgPower Europe festival in Holland.
The soundscapes on this album are very pleasant and well put together. The album has just an overall very peaceful sound to it and puts you in a good place. The vocals are very quality; Mariusz doesn't get aggressive very often on the album but when he does, it gets you pretty pumped up. The guitar sound is very crisp and sounds great. The keyboards have a kind of an organ sound to them at times and then at other times more like a normal keyboard sound. The highlight of the album is Dance With The Shadows and it clocks in at just under 12 minutes. The opening riff totally rocks and has nice chugging sound to it. Then it breaks down and gets kind of slow. The aggressive vocals at around the 5-minute mark just blow me away. I don't really know what it is about the vocals but that tone is just awesome. The keyboard solo on the track totally whomps a.k.a. kicks ass.
Riverside should be checked out by any Progressive Rock fan, for sure. Once again the soundscapes are very incredible and the only real flaw of the album is large breaks in between the verses. I realize that is one of the characteristics of the genre but some of those parts are kind of boring to your average listener. Anyway, check it out because I said so.