'ID.Entity' by Riverside
When the members of the Polish rock band set out to record their eighth studio album, they wanted to focus on their collective strengths—namely, melodies and live performances. The result is ID.Entity, a stunning modern prog masterpiece that is Riverside’s most vibrant, dynamic, energetic, accessible and upbeat album.
For two decades, this group has been criticized for creating music too heavy for prog rock and too delicate for prog metal. On ID.Entity, Riverside ditches all expectations. Despite dark subject matter that explores the dismal state of global affairs with songs such as “Friend or Foe,” “Big Tech Brother,” “Post-Truth” and “Self-Aware,” the band leaves behind much of the musical melancholy that dominated albums like 2018’s Wasteland, 2015’s Love, Fear and The Time Machine and 2013’s Shrine of New Generation Slaves. Instead, this record marks the beginning of a new era for a group that, arguably, has rediscovered its own true identity.
