I've loved Riverside, the main band of lead man, lead songwriter, lyricist, vocalist and bass player Mariusz Duda, from my first listen. As I've posted before, I was introduced to Riverside by my husband Marek's best friend, Michał, who described them as Poland's answer to Steven Wilson's band Porcupine Tree.
In 2008, Duda released the first Lunatic Soul album, as essentially a solo project, which I immediately fell in love with, and still love to this day. The story told of a man who, unbeknownst to him, is recently deceased, and follows him on his journey as he learns the truth, and winds his way through the reflections of his life recently past, into the afterlife. It is a brilliant and affecting album, and I recommend it highly; musically akin to (though completely different from) Pink Floyd's "Momentary Lapse of Reason," and Jethro Tull's brilliant "Passion Play."
This latest Lunatic Soul album is a different breed, also one I have posted about before, which was written in response to Duda first losing one of his closest friends, who died in his sleep at age 44; and then his best friend and band mate, the lead guitarist and soul of Riverside, Piotr Grudzinski, whom he considered his musical older brother, who dropped dead of a heart attack at age forty, literally weeks before the band was to embark on a world tour in support of their latest album.
"Fractured" is an apt title for the album, as Duda had worked out a lot of his grief over losing his friend while writing and recording "Love, Fear and the Time Machine," with Riverside; only to be blindsided with Grudzinski's death, and plunged back into the blackness of depression from which he had so recently emerged, which broke his world apart.
And, having lost three of the people I loved the most, back to back, with the September 11th attacks sandwiched in-between, I can completely relate.
Interestingly, if someone had described the songs from "Fractured" to me, I would have pegged "Battlefield" as my least favorite, and in truth, I wasn't initially crazy about the song. But on repeated listenings, I recognized my own anguish and anger at losing my loved ones, without any chance at a final good-bye, and have come to view it as one of the truest reflections of what that time in my life was truly like.
It is not an easy song. But it is an exceptionally good song. And yes, it might make you uncomfortable, and that is not a bad thing. Sometimes we need to be made uncomfortable in order to make forward progress.
And to @valorforfreedom, while this song does not sound like some of those you have posted, it reminds me of them, particularly the Viking songs, as it is coming from a similar place. For that reason, I thought you might relate to it, and possibly enjoy it as well.
So yes, I love this song. And I am glad that Mariusz Duda wrote and recorded it, as here he is at his rawest and most truthful, with his immense gifts as lyricist and vocalist on full display.
Mariusz Duda remains one of the most original and successfully experimental songwriters and lyricists I've come to know in recent years, exceeded only by Steven Wilson, and equaled only by Lisa Gerrard, the members of King Crimson, and Banco de Gaia (Toby Marks).
Which is doubly impressive when you consider that the man is writing in his second language.
Hopefully, you will be moved by his work as well. Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
And I would love to hear your take in the comments.
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The photo of our dog, Lolo, and our late cat, Miod, I took as they were cooperatively begging at the dinner table, despite our longstanding rule of not feeding them from the table.
You can see how much that deterred them both.
The image and video are the intellectual property of Mariusz Duda and Lunatic Soul, their producers and record companies, and all rights remain with them.
I claim no rights, but offer this video, as I offer all the music videos I post, in the hopes of promoting my favorite music artists, so that more people become familiar with their music, and that they grow their fan base in the process, as they so richly deserve.
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