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Trollheart · 09-19-2012, 06:45 AM

Riverside's mainman shows he can go it alone

Artiste: Lunatic Soul
Nationality: Polish
Album: Lunatic Soul II
Year: 2010
Label: KScope
Genre: Progressive Rock
Tracks:
The in-between kingdom
Otherwhere
Suspended in whiteness
Asoulum
Limbo
Escape from Paradice
Transition
Gravestone hill
Wanderings
Chronological position: Er, second album
Familiarity: Just through what I've heard from Riverside
Interesting factoid:
Initial impression: Very progressive and ambient
Best track(s): Asoulum, Transition, Gravestone Hill, Wanderings
Worst track(s): None
Comments: This is one I've been waiting to review for some time now. Second solo album from Riverside's bassist and vocalist Mariusz Duda, “Lunatic Soul II” and its predecessor are supposed to be remarkable for the fact that although neither are acoustic albums, and feature keys, piano, drums etc, neither of them have any electric guitar. The first impression I get from the opener is of something starting slowly then building in intensity and passion with a very eastern tinge to the music, and the guitar, while acoustic, playing a large part in the music soundscape.

You can of course hear the obvious comparisons to Duda's work with his parent band, and Otherwhere, the first track to contain vocals, sounds quite Riverside while yet retaining its own sound, the sound of Lunatic Soul. The guitar really comes to the fore on this track, and the eastern influences are very apparent here. A lot of drama and tension in Asoulum, with touches of early Porcupine Tree, while both instrumental Limbo and its segue, Escape from Paradice, have a definite feel of Tom Waits, with the latter throwing in chants and rhythms more proper to an African tribal dance perhaps.

There's a big prog epic carried mostly on piano and synth, joined later by Duda's expressive and emotive voice in Transition, partly reminiscent of the solo work of Peter Gabriel, particularly his more introspective work on “So”. It's the longest track on the album by a long way, coming in at just over eleven minutes, and as you would expect, it goes through changes as it progresses, reminding me of Marillion circa “Marillion.com”, then Gravestone Hill shows how Duda can also pull everything right back to basics, with a tender little acoustic tale that evokes images of a simpler time, Duda's haunting vocal the last thing you hear as it fades out, and the album wraps up with Wanderings, a nice mid-paced little number with again elements of eighties Gabriel.
Overall impression: Certainly lives up to the hype, and proof that Duda has more strings to his bow than just membership in one of the biggest prog rock bands in Poland.
Intention: Listen to more, and perhaps get a little more into Riverside.

09-19-2012, 06:45 AM	#91 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,996	Riverside's mainman shows he can go it alone Artiste: Lunatic Soul Nationality: Polish Album: Lunatic Soul II Year: 2010 Label: KScope Genre: Progressive Rock Tracks: The in-between kingdom Otherwhere Suspended in whiteness Asoulum Limbo Escape from Paradice Transition Gravestone hill Wanderings Chronological position: Er, second album Familiarity: Just through what I've heard from Riverside Interesting factoid: Initial impression: Very progressive and ambient Best track(s): Asoulum, Transition, Gravestone Hill, Wanderings Worst track(s): None Comments: This is one I've been waiting to review for some time now. Second solo album from Riverside's bassist and vocalist Mariusz Duda, “Lunatic Soul II” and its predecessor are supposed to be remarkable for the fact that although neither are acoustic albums, and feature keys, piano, drums etc, neither of them have any electric guitar. The first impression I get from the opener is of something starting slowly then building in intensity and passion with a very eastern tinge to the music, and the guitar, while acoustic, playing a large part in the music soundscape. You can of course hear the obvious comparisons to Duda's work with his parent band, and Otherwhere, the first track to contain vocals, sounds quite Riverside while yet retaining its own sound, the sound of Lunatic Soul. The guitar really comes to the fore on this track, and the eastern influences are very apparent here. A lot of drama and tension in Asoulum, with touches of early Porcupine Tree, while both instrumental Limbo and its segue, Escape from Paradice, have a definite feel of Tom Waits, with the latter throwing in chants and rhythms more proper to an African tribal dance perhaps. There's a big prog epic carried mostly on piano and synth, joined later by Duda's expressive and emotive voice in Transition, partly reminiscent of the solo work of Peter Gabriel, particularly his more introspective work on “So”. It's the longest track on the album by a long way, coming in at just over eleven minutes, and as you would expect, it goes through changes as it progresses, reminding me of Marillion circa “Marillion.com”, then Gravestone Hill shows how Duda can also pull everything right back to basics, with a tender little acoustic tale that evokes images of a simpler time, Duda's haunting vocal the last thing you hear as it fades out, and the album wraps up with Wanderings, a nice mid-paced little number with again elements of eighties Gabriel. Overall impression: Certainly lives up to the hype, and proof that Duda has more strings to his bow than just membership in one of the biggest prog rock bands in Poland. Intention: Listen to more, and perhaps get a little more into Riverside. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 Last edited by Trollheart; 01-13-2015 at 11:22 AM.