The Crow Splendid debut of one of the most interesting bands appeared in the last decade!

The music of this album is not strictly progressive metal. For me it’s in the same vein of crossover prog bands like Porcupine Tree or Anathema, with a lot of experimentation and complex passages, being the influence of Pink Floyd also very obvious. The metal comes in some parts, but it's not the main aspect of their music. The experimentation is the keynote, with marvelous keyboard parts and hypnotic bass lines. Most of the songs are really catching thanks the amount of small details they have and the ascending instrumental parts they contain. The bass lines are the body of the songs, and the complex layers of guitars alongside with the great keyboards. Mariusz Duda vocals are dreamy, deep and sometimes even ripped... This man is the soul of the band, with his outstanding bass and good vocals abilities.

Both the long and shorts songs are good, but maybe the last two are not so great. The Courtain Falls is not bad, but not so catchy for me despite being a classic in live concerts of the band. And OK, the slow and ambiental last track, is not the perfect ending in my opinion. It lacks strength and emotion, despite being an interesting trip-hop experiment.

But the rest of the album is really outstanding. The Same River shows what this band is able to do, with long instrumental parts, both peaceful and strong. Out of Myself is a short and powerful track. I Believe is a wonderful acoustic track, in the same vein as the later In Two Minds, one of the highlights of the album... In two Minds is really marvelous, a track in the same with strong Porcupine Tree but much more sentimental. I really love the lyrics of this song.

The instrumentals Reality Dream I and II are catchy and shows the band's skill and potential. And Loose Heart is another hit, a really catchy song, with beautiful lyrics and great tempo. If you want to know the true personality of this band, I think that Loose Heart is a perfect introduction to their sound.

Conclusion: if you are into experimental and progressive rock, you must hear this band. They have many influences, but they are able to translate them brilliantly into their music, making an original and exciting mixture.

If you like acts like Porcupine Tree, Green Carnation, Wolverire, Anathema... You must hear this band. And Out of Myself is perfect to start with them. Not so complex and cohesive like later albums, but with a very good songwriting and great musicianship from the best progressive rock band born in Poland since Collage.

Best Tracks: The Same River, I Believe, In Two Minds, Loose Heart.

My rating: ****

This review was orginally written for ProgArchives, and rewritten for being included in this site.

AtomicCrimsonRush Riverside's "Out of Myself" is the debut for one of the most dynamic prog metal band over recent years. This album is heavier with more distorted metal riffs than the material they would settle into on their fourth and fifth masterpieces. Piotr Grudzinski indulges in a lot of intricate riffing and some thrashy blasts of guitar, Mariusz Duda is more aggressive on vocals on the debut, even screaming on songs like 'Loose Heart', but still maintains an overall clear melancholy texture. He is also a great bass and guitar player. The rhythms of Piotr Kozieradzki on drums is always a solid foundation for the layered musicianship, and Jacek Melnicki's keyboards generate an ambient quality, though he would be replaced later by Michael Lapaj.

The album starts with a Pink Floyd resonance on 'The Same River', a 12 minute musicscape that meanders along patiently and builds into some heavier passages. 'Out Of Myself' soon blazes with some upbeat cadence and then is followed with the contemplative vocals of Duda on 'I Believe'.

The stand out of the album is 'Reality Dream', a powerhouse song that would be played live many times over the years as a regular favourite. The band are able to display their virtuoso skill with the interplay of guitar and keys over shifting time signatures. 'Loose Heart' has an energetic riff and some fractured structures embellished by guitar and keyboard crescendos.

'Reality II' is a fast tricky instrumental with Grudzinski's excellent lead guitar work outs and some sledgehammer syncopated percussion. 'In Two Minds' is a Riverside ballad, something that they would include on every album, a reflective atmosphere with ethereal keyboards and soaring guitars. 'The Curtain Falls' is an 8 minute haunting song with a soft chime, acoustic picking and ambient keyboard textures. It locks into a Pink Floyd 'Run Like Hell' riff that shows where the band have been inspired and that is not a bad thing. The lead break by Grudzinski is wonderful, with sustain and emotional string bends. 'OK' ends this on a rather gentle song with melancholy passages of beauty.

Overall this is a great debut, which is really a beginning for the band who were daring and adventurous but became even moreso on subsequent albums. It is a worthwhile listen with some of their best compositions and a darker feel with some aggression and powerful metal riffs.

Warthur Riverside's extremely capable debut album sees the exploring a fairly spacey style of progressive metal which puts me in mind of Porcupine Tree's In Absentia, but there are a few more flashy, show-offy flourishes here and there which are a bit more reminiscent of the sort of thing Dream Theater might toss in - though much more tastefully done than Dream Theater usually manage. Although its Floydian soundscapes do drag at points - the album rather peters out during the closing track OK - on the whole it's a decent debut which marks the band out for greater things in the future. One for fans of the spacier, Pink Floyd-touched end of prog metal.

bartosso "What a great debut" said hundreds of people around the world in 2003, when the first Riverside' record came out. Well, I cannot agree with them. I really tried to like it, believe me. For me Riverside' opus magnum is "Second Life Syndrome" and that's that. I don't claim that "Out of Myself" is a bad album though. It's fairly good one, but it lacks...

...good composition. I know that "The Same River" has nice melodies, good harmonies and great atmosphere. But it is composed in a way which I would describe as "immature". Sometimes themes change unexpectedly and I don't know what's going on. I would even venture that some parts are a little bit boring. Some of them are very good, that's right, but the whole album seems to be a little bit chaotic.

Another thing is the mood of the record. It's highly subjective opinion, but it is somehow banal at times, at least in comparison with Second Life Syndrome. The ballads aren't as enchanting as they should be and sometimes I'm a bit bored with them. I know that this album is the most Marillion influenced Riverside' release, so maybe that's why my impression is rather negative. Nonetheless, the heavier parts of the record are good and they elevate the rating. Especially first Reality Dream deserves attention, since it is fantastic prelude of Riverside' potential, fully manifested in Second Life Syndrome.

Generally speaking "Out of Myself" is the weakest Riverside' album but it still deserves some attention. 2,5 stars.

Stephen This is my second attempt of recapturing the essence of Riverside's debut after stunningly impressed with their sophomore release, "Second Life Syndrome". I was listening to this album back when it's released but since I don't really have a deep affection to progressive rock, I found them to be decent, until now, when I sat on my comfort couch, and the gentle combination of progressive metal rotating the psychedelic pivot began outflowing through the speakers.

"The Same River" started slow and long before the distorted guitar kicking in, this is a wonderful semi-instrumental track. The title track, dominated by Duda's bass lines and walking on a harsh rhythm, is a good effort of Riverside wandering around the decent progressive metal territory. "I Believe" showed their softer side, playing an acoustical ballad with the noisy chattering in the middle puts up an unusual flair to the song, genius! Praise also goes to other similar tracks, "Loose Heart" and "In Two Minds". Twin parts of "Reality Dream" instrumental series are a very-well representation of explosive prog metal flavor with Pink Floyd-ish ambience. "The Curtain Falls" followed the pattern of "The Same River" where in the later part, the song evolved to a gorgeous metal-driven instrumental piece.

"Out of Myself" has an excellent sonic quality and the listening journey is unbelievably magical. I won't argue with the bold statement of the fans that this is such a jaw-dropping impressive debut. If you fancy the modern breed of psychedelic metal, or perhaps Porcupine Tree and Tool are one of your fave bands, Riverside's debut might be an extreme surprise.

Kilgannon Since last year Riverside has steadily become one of my favourite bands. Having been into progressive music, but not having anyone within my friends group that also liked the genre finding new bands is somewhat of a chore and also somewhat of a satisfying experience when it pays off.

In the case of Riverside, finding this band and experiencing their music for the first time was extremely satisfying. I can say that there is not a single Riverside song that I do not like......... mostly.

Out Of Myself is a fantastic debut that sounds polished and matured. Should I be forced to pick a weak point it would be "OK", there's something about the song that loses my interest and ruins the end of the album for me.

Bad point aside, the rest of the album is excellent. Every song is crafted and played with such technicality that I'm in awe every time I listen. Particularly demonstrative of this are the first two songs in the "Reality Dream" suite.

Two favourites of mine from the album are "Loose Heart" and "In Two Minds" (although I prefer the live versions on "Voices In My Head") these are both powerful, emotional tracks that make for prime examples of the progressive metal genre.

Within this setup Mariusz Duda provides outstanding vocals that range from soaring melodic style to powerful growls (although not too intense). Piotr Grudzinski on guitar and Jacek Melnicki on keyboards are extremely talented musicians and play invaluable roles in the overall sound. However it is of my personal opinion that Piotr Kozieradzki on drums heads the technically crushing tour de force that makes this band stand out.

What also puts this band above the rest is that, from this fantastic start, Riverside have continued to deliver improved quality output with every release since.