Riverside: Live ID.

Since Riverside’s debut studio release, Out of Myself, appeared in 2003, the band has also produced a few excellent live albums. They have extended that streak with Live ID. The recording is taken from a performance in their native Warsaw on June 1, 2024. Given the title, it’s not surprising that it is dominated by tracks from their 2023 studio album, ID.Entity. In fact, half of the 12 tracks are from that album. The only one not featured is “I’m Done with You.�

Of Riverside’s other seven studio albums, four are represented: Love, Fear and the Time Machine (two tracks), Anno Domini High Definition (two tracks), Rapid Eye Movement (one track), and Second Life Syndrome (one track). With most of the songs, the band is pretty faithful to the originals, just with more energy generally. The biggest exceptions are the opener, “#Addicted,� “Egoist Hedonist,� and the closer, “Conceiving You.� They stretch out on all of those, but especially “Conceiving You,� which is about 3:40 on the studio album but more than 12 minutes here. The band was clearly trying to give the crowd a great send-off, and they did.

The only bad thing about Live ID., in my view, is that Piotr Grudzinski sadly left us several years before its recording. But the other guys in the band do admirably in his absence, as they did on ID.Entity and its predecessor, Wasteland. Still, he’s missed.

Some bands really excel in live performance. I have long thought Riverside was one of them. Live ID. further proves it. If you like progressive metal, get it.

Track Listing
1. #Addicted (7:51)
2. Panic Room (4:40)
3. Landmine Blast (7:28)
4. Big Tech Brother (8:11)
5. Lost (6:56)
6. Left Out (12:55)
7. Post-Truth (6:40)
8. The Place Where I Belong (15:45)
9. Egoist Hedonist (11:12)
10. Friend or Foe? (8:46)
11. Self-Aware (9:45)
12.Conceiving You (12:07)

Added: February 21st 2025
Reviewer: Aaron Steelman
Score:
Related Link: Band @ Bandcamp
Hits: 82
Language: english

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