Progressive music is such a wide term these days that trying to lump all the groups together almost becomes an exercise in futility. Some bands take the idea of Prog as being incredibly complicated and musically virtuosic; some create rhythmic heavy grooves underneath Death Metal inspired vocals; and some paint vast musical soundscapes with pulsating beats.

RIVERSIDE definitely fits within the final category. "Eye of the Soundscape" has a slow, atmospheric melodiousness that blends a wide range of genres from slow moving Prog, to Techno and all the way to Jazz. Across the two discs of this album most of the tracks clock in at around the 10 minute mark. The album tracks all have their own feel and sound which, while showing off a broad range of compositional styles, means that there is not a huge amount of musical consistency throughout the record. The fact that the album is entirely instrumental could also put some people off the release. However, even the title "Eye of the Soundscape" suggests that rather than absorb this album in any regular way, this release is intended to create an overall ambience.

The different tracks on the album keep the harmonic changes very vague, with tonalities slowly melding into one another, which, along with the ever changing shifts in time and metre gives "Eye of the Soundscape" a natural and organic feel, as if it were grown rather than created.

The highlight of the first 5 track disc of this double release is the incredibly jazzy "Night Session - Part Two", which features a deliciously sexy sax solo; something not often heard on the pages of Metal Temple. The 11.36 length of the track gives the musicians time to explore the full expanse of the luscious harmonic background that they have created, with layers of instruments being added and taken away all the time on top of a pulsating heartbeat of a rhythm.

The almost Techno groove of disc two's "Machines" is possibly one of the most up-tempo and bouncy of the album. The echo-drenched synth keyboards and melodic percussion parts create an almost sci-fi film score feel.

In the end, there is not a whole lot of heaviness to this album, however, the experimentation with different styles and different feels and flavours on display mean that there is going to be something that will grab most listeners' ears.