Lament

2018-09-20

Listen to the new song “Lament” from our forthcoming brand new album “Wasteland” (out September 28th) and check out the amazing video made by our friends from Sightsphere.

River Down Below

2018-09-07

Check out our new song 'River Down Below' from the upcoming, seventh studio album 'Wasteland' (out on September 28th, 2018).

Mariusz Duda checked in with the following comment about the track: "'River Down Below' is another song we've written with 'river' in the title, the fourth one, if I'm not mistaken. In our case, river symbolises memory and that's the case here as well. The lyrics tell the story of a wanderer, who accidentally finds the grave of one of those who didn't manage to survive the apocalypse. He hears a voice, "take me from here, take me to the river, that's where I belong..."

"If the band continue to exist, the memory of Grudzień will survive", said one of my friends when I thought it was the end of RIVERSIDE. So there had to be a track on the new album that would refer to it. Not literally. It's still a story about the world in an alternative future, but you can find that reference between the lines.

It's a very simple, delicate, and at the same time incredibly powerful song; one of the most beautiful RIVERSIDE melodies I have managed to write, with a brilliant solo by one of our guests, Maciej Meller. We have always subscribed to the idea that there's great power in simplicity. "River Down Below" showcases the essence of our music and gives an idea of the emotions which can be found on our upcoming new release.

RIVERSIDE’s line-up and the credits for “River Down Below” are as follows:
Mariusz Duda - vocal, acoustic and electric guitar, bass, piccolo bass
Michał Łapaj - keyboards and Hammond Organ
Piotr Kozieradzki - drums

Guitar solo by Maciej Meller
Music and lyrics by Mariusz Duda
Artwork by Travis Smith
Clip by Tomasz Pulsakowski / Sightsphere

Wasteland Story

2018-09-02

RIVERSIDE are back in the game. The band who have been around since 2001, who have so far released six long-players, a compilation, two mini-albums and two live albums, and who have played numerous tours across the world. That band is coming back this year with their seventh studio album called "Wasteland", recorded as a trio: Mariusz Duda – vocals, guitars and basses, Piotr Kozieradzki – drums, Michał Łapaj – keyboards and Hammond organ.

"I remember the moment when we officially announced that we would continue as a trio," says Mariusz Duda, "We were doing a photoshoot at the Polish seaside. I said to the guys, 'Let's remember that this is just the beginning. Many of our fans can't imagine an album without Grudzień and for some of them the band ceased to exist when he died. We have to prove that we are able to survive not only by playing concerts but, most of all, by recording a new album.'"

The tragedy that befell in February 2016 called into question the very existence of RIVERSIDE. The co-founder and guitarist of the band, Piotr Grudziński, died suddenly just before his 41st birthday. RIVERSIDE cancelled all the concerts planned for that year and dedicated the album "Eye of the Soundscape", released in September 2016, to their late friend.

"'Eye of the Soundscape' is a compilation of old and new things," says Duda, "but it's not a successor to 'Love, Fear and the Time Machine'. It is not yet a new music chapter. The new chapter begins now, this year."

Earlier, in the spring of 2017, RIVERSIDE resumed playing live. During the "Towards the Blue Horizon" tour the band were joined on stage by Maciej Meller who officially joined RIVERSIDE as their live guitarist. Why has he not become the official fourth member of the band?

"It's not so simple," Duda explains, "To catch up with 15 years takes time. I love Maciej but everything has to have its place and time. For now we are a quartet only live."

Back then, Duda had already had an idea for another release. To begin a new chapter of RIVERSIDE, they would have to record an album from the point of view of someone bereft, someone who has survived a tragedy. The fact that the album would be recorded without their guitarist might result in having to experiment musically a little more than usual but, most of all, it might translate into deeper symbolism and carry a more profound meaning. "I had a feeling we would be alright and we could make something beautiful and exceptional," he recalls.

The band entered the recording studio in December 2017 and Mariusz Duda assumed the duties of the band's guitarist. "Since I play different instruments and compose mostly on the acoustic guitar, we decided that we would do everything just like we had done before, but this time I would play the electric guitar as well. I also wanted to use my newly acquired piccolo bass, which at times sounds like an electric guitar. We recorded a demo. It turned out alright and we had come to the conclusion that I would manage to play all the rhythmic parts, all the melodies and some of the solos. Naturally, to enhance the sound of the album, we left some space for guests."

And so on the new RIVERSIDE album, you can hear a few guitar solos by Maciej Meller, as well as one by Mateusz Owczarek, a young, talented guitarist, who played with the band during their Warsaw memorial concert for Piotr Grudziński. For the first time in their music, there are also violins played by Michał Jelonek.

"'Wasteland' is undoubtedly one of the musically heavier and more emotional albums in our discography", says Michał Łapaj "In a way, it reaches the beginnings of our playing, there are lots of guitar riffs, darker elements and space. It's all combined with a new, raw sound that we had never had before, which makes the album quite an explosive mix. We're literally going through a second life syndrome and when we were recording this album, we consciously added some elements referring to our second studio release, which sort of makes 'Wasteland' a second part of 'SLS'".

While writing lyrics for the new album, Mariusz decided on an idea for the titles of the first and the last tracks, which makes a very clear reference to "Second Life Syndrome". The album begins with "The Day After" and finishes with "The Night Before". Additionally, "Wasteland" begins with a-cappella vocals, just like the band's second release and both albums comprise nine compositions.

The main theme of "Wasteland" is attempting to survive in a world after the Apocalypse, which is referred to in a few lyrics and song titles ("The Day After" is also the title of a post-apocalyptic film from 1983). On social media, Duda clearly admitted to being inspired by Cormac McCarthy's book, "The Road" as well as games from the "Fallout" series. However, the symbolism of the album refers not only to the post-apocalyptic visions of the world, but also to the death of Piotr Grudziński, to the band's attempt to find themselves in new circumstances, and, in general, to the current situation of the increasingly turbulent world full of new divisions and conflicts.

"'Wasteland' is a big album," says Robert Srzednicki, the sound engineer and co-producer of the album. "It's emotional and full of contrasts. Serious and, for what it's worth, heavy, but at the same time extremely melodious and even potentially 'hit' in a way. The core sound is made by 'live' instruments. Sometimes spacious and soft, at other times raw and harsh. Starting from the incredibly extended drum kit through a very wide range of basses, acoustic and electric guitars, Hammond organs and analog synthesizers, to the whole spectrum of vocals."

"I had never thought that after 17 years of RIVERSIDE, after 6 studio albums and a whole lot of different releases, I will feel again as if I was about to release the first album," says Piotr Kozieradzki "It feels to me like we're doing a 'second debut‘. A very important debut, almost as important as 'Out of Myself'. The album itself carries a lot of emotions which reflect everything that has been happening to the band for the past few years. It's a much heavier and darker face of RIVERSIDE."

There are a few key elements that make the new release a very original one.
First: the characteristic and rather unusual overdriven sound of guitars and basses.
Second: the heavy drums.
Third: Mariusz Duda singing lower more often than ever before.
Fourth: elements referring to soundtracks of... western movies.

"RIVERSIDE have found their style for good," says Duda, "and widened their horizons. It's a quirky mix of contrasts, western movies, road movies and slavic melodies. All that, together with incredibly emotional fragments, creates an exceptional and original combination. It has very little to do with the music of the bands we used to be compared to."

This time, the characteristic RIVERSIDE guitar solos are played by three musicians. Duda, Owczarek and Meller make the album very rich in this respect. The majority of guitar solo fragments are played by Maciej Meller who guests on four tracks. Here is what he has to say about the new RIVERSIDE album:

"Perhaps it is easier for me to evaluate this release because I'm a little more on the outside," he says. "For me, 'Wasteland' is a synthesis of those elements from the entire history of RIVERSIDE that I like most. But there's also a lot of new things! There is the emotional weight of 'SLS' but also the space of 'OOM', there is the twisted guitar blow of 'ADHD' and the melodiousness of 'LFATTM'. And then there's a new kind of storytelling, something I haven't heard before. It's very epic and cinematic, these are music pictures. An empty road, dust, burnt soil and the main character tormented by sad experiences. The end but perhaps also a beginning? These are the things I see. And however silly it sounds, at the moment for me it's the best and the most coherent RIVERSIDE album."

Mariusz Duda: "I've been listening recently to the whole discography of RIVERSIDE, to the way our music has changed. There are a lot of production flaws on the early releases but there is also innocence and the non-repeatable, specific kind of emotions, depth, the 'inner scream', which was later lost. It resurfaced for a moment on the black album of my solo project, Lunatic Soul, but got lost somewhere as well. I don't know if it's a good thing or not, but these kind of emotions, this depth is back on 'Wasteland' and it's back with a vengeance. I honestly can't remember listening to new RIVERSIDE music with tears in my eyes, and there are such moments here. The music very often grabs you by the throat. I have recently released two solo albums, 'Fractured' and 'Under the Fragmented Sky', both talking about coming to terms with a loss, but those were the stories told by someone who had already made the decision to get up from their knees and start a new life. 'Wasteland' grabs you and says, 'wait, tell me more about what had happened before, tell me how you felt at the beginning, tell me what you haven't told me yet'. And so I go back. I go back to the darkest moment. And it turns out that I had saved the 'inner scream' for last. It looks like I had to finally deal with it in RIVERSIDE."

"Wasteland" is an exceptional release which clearly underlines the most important elements of RIVERSIDE music. The incredibly emotional nature of each of the tracks has a huge potential to move every listener. The seventh album of the band marks a new chapter, a new hand, a new beginning. We will find out whether RIVERSIDE together with their guests stood up to the pressure and the formidable task on September 28th.

And in mid October, the band will go on the "Wasteland Tour", their biggest tour yet. The concerts in 2018 have been planned in bigger than before venues in Europe and more legs of the tour will take place in the spring of 2019.

Wasteland is out on September 28 - preorder the new album here: https://Riverside.lnk.to/Wasteland

See the band on tour - Tour

photo by Oskar Szramka

Vale of Tears

2018-07-27

Wasteland presale:

insideout
mystic

***

VALE OF TEARS

Shake me down
I’ll make a noise
Tap my hand
I’ll make you smile
Give me hope
Then take away

Like you did the last time
Like the last time
Like the last time

Tell me who I have to be
Cross my head, lips and heart
Make me get down on my knees

Like you did the last time
Like the last time
Like the last time

Wading through the desert
I am wading through the desert
To the promised land
You burned to the ground

Take me to the highest hill
Show the fireworks display
Tell me it’s for my own good

Like you did the last time
Like the last time
Like the last time

Turn poetry into prose
Then launch a crusade
Make another vale of tears

Like you did the last time
Like the last time
Like the last time

Wading through the desert
I am wading through the desert
To the promised land
You burned to the ground

***

Music and lyrics by Mariusz Duda
Artwork by Travis Smith
Clip by Tomasz Pulsakowski / Sightsphere
Recorded at Serakos Studio, Warsaw, Poland by Magda and Robert Srzedniccy

Mariusz Duda - vocals, electric guitar, bass, piccolo bass
Piotr Kozieradzki - drums
Michał Łapaj - keyboards and Hammond organ

Guitar solo by Mateusz Owczarek

Riverside – “Wasteland” album artwork and first release details!

2018-07-17

We are pleased to announce that our upcoming seventh studio album “Wasteland” will be released via our longtime label partner Inside Out Music on September 28th, 2018.

The album will once again feature artwork designed by longtime visual partner Travis Smith (Opeth, Devin Townsend, etc.) and the record’s main track-listing reads as follows:

RIVERSIDE – “Wasteland”:
1. The Day After
2. Acid Rain
3. Vale Of Tears
4. Guardian Angel
5. Lament
6. The Struggle For Survival
7. River Down Below
8. Wasteland
9. The Night Before

RIVERSIDE’s Mariusz Duda checked in with the following comment about the album’s overall concept:

“I'd been thinking about exploring "post-apocalyptic" regions for a long time. I read books, watched films, played video games, all connected by stories about an attempt to survive in a world that had just ended. But writing such a story myself didn't make much sense until now. RIVERSIDE are starting a new chapter and after our recent experiences, a story like that has gained more meaning. "Wasteland" is mostly about what's happening in the world these days but it also makes a reference to the tragedy that befell the band in 2016. Musically, we've returned to darker sounds but we have also turned a new page and recorded the album in a different style. It's still RIVERSIDE but expressed in a much deeper and more mature way. Most artists say the same thing while promoting their new releases: that they have just created their best work to date. I won't say that because everything we have done so far has been consistently very good and unique. But I will say that we have never had such an incredible emotional load on any of our previous releases, and it's not likely that we will ever make such a charged album again. "Wasteland" is an epic, multidimensional, poetic and very deep album. Perhaps of the once in a lifetime kind.”

RIVERSIDE’s “Wasteland” marks the first studio album effort with newly composed music after the tragic passing of founding member and guitarist Piotr Grudziński on February 21st, 2016.

Attention! More album details, its pre-order option as well as a first single will be launched on July 27th, so stay tuned for more news soon!

After having just performed on a string of European festivals including the prestigious Night Of The Prog festival at the historic Loreley Amphitheater in Germany last weekend, RIVERSIDE are next embarking on the “Wasteland 2018 Tour” throughout October/November to support the release of their upcoming album.
See an overview of all confirmed upcoming dates here: Gigs

Wasteland 2018 Tour

2018-05-28

It is our pleasure to announce that this year we’re going on the “WASTELAND TOUR 2018” to promote the new Riverside album called “Wasteland”, which will be released at the end of September.

Below you will find a list of the cities we’re going to visit in the Autumn of 2018:

12.10 B90, Gdańsk, PL
13.10 Tama, Poznań, PL
14.10 A2, Wrocław, PL
16.10 Miasto Ogrodów, Katowice, PL
17.10 Magnetofon, Łódź, PL
18.10 Od Nowa, Toruń, PL
20.10 Studio, Kraków, PL
21.10 Hala Koło, Warszawa, PL
30.10 Kesselhaus, Berlin, DE
31.10 Manufaktur, Schorndorf, DE
03.11 Lav, Lisbon, PT
04.11 Mon Live, Madrid, ES
05.11 Salamandra 1, Barcelona, ES
06.11 CCO, Lyon, FR
07.11 La Machine, Paris, FR
09.11 Academy 2, Manchester, UK
10.11 The Electric Ballroom, London, UK
11.11 Casino, Sint-Niklaas, BE
12.11 TivoliVredenburg, Utrecht, NL
14.11 Markthalle, Hamburg, DE
15.11 Turbinenhalle 2, Oberhausen, DE
16.11 Z7, Pratteln, CH
17.11 Gloomaar Festival, Neunkirchen, DE

Tickets go on sale this Friday, June 1st.

More info soon!

Wasteland

2018-05-21

Well, we're back in the game!

We're happy to tell you that our seventh album will be called "Wasteland" and will be released at the end of September this year.

More info soon!

Trio

2018-05-04

The release of the new album is coming closer and so we are getting many questions from you. Is Riverside still the trio from the picture or the quartet from the live shows? And what's with the new album? Are you going to have guest guitarists or no guitar at all?

We know that it is unthinkable for many of you that Riverside should exist without a guitarist. The fact that we announced in the autumn of 2016 that we had become a trio and took a series of black and white photos of us at the seaside is one thing, but there were four of us on stage during the "Towards the Blue Horizon" tour in 2017. So what's the deal with the seventh album which the band is currently working on?

Here's our answer. Riverside is a band which connects a few worlds, a few places where we have certain divisions and some established schemes. Thanks to this structure the band have been going on and, as it turned out, are capable of surviving even the worst earthquake. For live shows, we had found a soul mate in Maciej Meller. Thanks to him we can still be a quartet on stage and sound like Riverside. In the studio, we want to be consistent and the new album is created by the three of us.

Maciej will guest in a few tracks but he will be the only guest guitarist on the album. Which does not mean he will be the only guest.

What can we say about the album at this point? Only that we have never had such emotional charge on any of our previous releases. We are recording our most mature and emotional album in the whole career. It will be intense, dark and very manly. Every minute of it will make it clear that we have suffered a tragedy, that we are now a different band, but also that we are survivors and, with our heads held high, we're proud to be Riverside. We are also aware that we're creating something big, something incredibly important, something that will be remembered for years. Will we succeed? That remains to be seen.

We'd like to say thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, to all of you who believe in us, who have remained with us and who have joined us - thank you for your support and for being there for us. Soon, we will reveal more information and for now, we're sending Riverside greetings to all!

photo by Oskar Szramka

Recordings of the seventh album has started

2018-03-05

Dear Friends,

We've just started recordings for the new, seventh Riverside album (traditionally, in Serakos Studio in Warsaw). It will be our first album recorded as a trio.

Because "our world ended" two years ego, we've decided that the new release will be "post apocalyptic" in nature. We've been toying with such sound for quite some time but now the story has gained a much deeper meaning.

And because of the "post-apo" nature of the album, the music will be much heavier and darker, but still atmospheric, full of soundscapes and with a lot of live instruments.

Most of the music has been written by Mariusz, who will now be responsible not only for acoustic but also for rhythm guitars. There will also be a lot of contributions from Michał.

There will be guests, most importantly Maciej Meller, so those of you who were now expecting only bass solos can breathe a sigh of relief ;)

What will our music without Grudzień be like? It will still be Riverside music. The new album will be different but it would have been different even if Grudzień was still with us. You know that we don't like recording two similar albums and so we are not intending to imitate the sound of one of our past releases. Our music has become more serious and more mature, so get ready for a manly and emotional album. The release date has been tentatively planned for the end of September this year.

Thank you for being with us.

Mariusz Duda, Piotr Kozieradzki, Michał Łapaj

Photo Radek Zawadzki

cassette tapes release of Love, Fear and the Time Machine and Fractured

2017-12-12

Perfect gift for Christmas :) Since these two releases - Riverside's "Love, Fear and the Time Machine" and Lunatic Soul's "Fractured" were musically inspired by the 80s then why not release them on cassette tapes?

And so it will happen. Pre-order starts this Friday, 15.12.2017, at midday. Official release date - 19.12.2017.

These are very limited releases so keep your eyes peeled (no other R & LS titles are planned). Check oldschoolrecords.eu and mystic.pl for more info.

This is the end

2017-10-08

On October 5th 2017 in Rzeszów we finished the "Towards the Blue Horizon" tour. We have played 50 concerts this year. Riverside have survived.

Thanks to your support and involvement, we know that we have someone to go on playing for.

A big thanks to all of you who have joined us in experiencing all the most important emotions. Thanks to our amazing Crew. Thanks to Lion Shepherd.

It has been amazing. We're still here with you and for you. Time to take a bow now but we will see you soon!

photo by Robert Grablewski

final leg of "Towards The Blue Horizon Tour 2017"

2017-09-11

Hello Everyone,

In a week we're starting the final leg of "Towards The Blue Horizon Tour 2017", the tour with which Riverside came back to life on stage. Two sold out concerts in February in Progresja, Warsaw, and the exceptional welcome and crowds at the April and May concerts in Poland and Europe, made us regain strength and faith in the future. Thank you all very much for allowing us to come back.

After the holiday break and a few summer festivals, we will go back to playing in clubs. We will perform the final 13 concerts in the places we haven't yet visited this year. Please forgive us for not being able to go everywhere, we promise to make it up in the future.

We have been joined on guitar by Maciej Meller who has approached Piotr's guitar parts with huge respect, retaining the atmosphere and character of our music. We hope that the two-hour evenings with Riverside music will make all of us feel that we are taking part in an important event and this year will be remembered as the good one.

See you very soon!
R

***

Riverside - Towards The Blue Horizon 2017 - Autumn Edition
(special guest: Lion Shepherd)

20.09. Słowianin, Szczecin, PL [TICKETS]
22.09. Vega, Copenhagen, DK [TICKETS]
23.09. Sticky Fingers, Gothenburg, SE [TICKETS]
24.09. John Dee, Oslo, NO [TICKETS]
25.09. Bryggarsalen, Stockholm, SE [TICKETS]
27.09. Lutakko, Jyväskylä, FI [TICKETS]
28.09. Kerubi, Joensuu, FI [TICKETS]
29.09. Klubi, Tampere, FI [TICKETS]
30.09. Tavastia, Helsinki, FI [TICKETS]
01.10. Rockclub Tapper, Tallinn, EE [TICKETS]
03.10. Zmiana Klimatu, Białystok, PL [TICKETS]
04.10. Graffiti, Lublin, PL [TICKETS]
05.10. Life House, Rzeszów, PL [TICKETS]

photo by Oskar Szramka

Few plans

2017-06-09

We finished our April-May leg of the "Towards the Blue Horizon Tour" with a fantastic concert in Kraków where we received a gold record for LFTM. We have played exactly 30 concerts this year and we have performed in front of the best audiences in the world. With hand on heart we can confirm what we said before each encore, we don't have ordinary fans, we have a family. We are here thanks to you and for you.

We have a few plans for this year. For now, we're resting after the tour (with the exception of a couple of busy members of the band ;-)) but soon we'll be back with summer concerts and the autumn leg of the Towards the Blue Horizon Tour, which will visit Denmark (for the first time), Sweden, Finland and Norway. We're thinking of playing three more concerts in Poland in the cities we haven't visited for a long time. Also this year, we will start recording our new studio album and we'll tell you more about it all soon.

Thank you for being there and have a nice weekend Everybody!

Upcomming shows:
13.07. 11. Festiwal Legend Rocka, Dolina Charlotty, Słupsk, PL [TICKETS]
28.07. ARTmania Festival 2017, Sibiu, RO [TICKETS]
12.08. Huntenpop Festival, Ulft, NL [TICKETS]
19.08. Cieszanów Rock Festiwal, Cieszanów, PL [TICKETS]
20.08. Prog In Park, Park Sowińskiego, Warszawa, PL [TICKETS]
01.09. wROCK for Freedom, Centrum Historii Zajezdnia, Wrocław, PL [TICKETS]
02.09. MateriaFest 2017, Plac Koncertowy, Szczecinek, PL [TICKETS]
20.09. Słowianin, Szczecin, PL [TICKETS]
22.09. Vega, Copenhagen, DK [TICKETS]
23.09. Sticky Fingers, Gothenburg, SE [TICKETS]
24.09. John Dee, Oslo, NO [TICKETS]
25.09. Bryggarsalen, Stockholm, SE [TICKETS]
27.09. Lutakko, Jyväskylä, FI [TICKETS]
28.09. Kerubi, Joensuu, FI [TICKETS]
29.09. Klubi, Tampere, FI [TICKETS]
30.09. Tavastia, Helsinki, FI [TICKETS]
01.10. Rockclub Tapper, Tallinn, EE [TICKETS]
03.10. Zmiana Klimatu, Białystok, PL [TICKETS]
04.10. Graffiti, Lublin, PL [TICKETS]
05.10. Life House, Rzeszów, PL [TICKETS]