Introducing Mariusz Duda

 

If you haven’t heard of Steven Wilson or Devin Townsend then there is a very good chance that you may not have heard of Mariusz Duda either.

Mariusz is from Poland and fronts a band called Riverside, a very talented progressive rock outfit also from Poland. I discovered the band while searching for new music a few years ago.  If you were to ask Mariusz, he would probably say that Riverside are not a progressive rock band at all. He would perhaps prefer to say that they have a style of their own and that the progressive rock genre have embraced them as one of their own simply because their music is rock and different. 

I would say that they are a rock band but they are more than that in my view; they explore different styles within the genre. Some of their songs are simply beautiful, others being harder and heavier, yet more being progressive epics of the order of 10 to 15 minutes and they have also dabbled with ambient music.

Mariusz is the singer, bass guitarist and leader of the band and main songwriter, and as well as that he has a solo project called Lunatic Soul where he can experiment with different styles of music, some of which is very interesting. He can play guitar, bass guitar and keyboards.

So far Riverside have produced eight albums one of which is slightly more experimental. All of them are absolutely brilliant and on top of that, Mariusz has produced seven Lunatic Soul albums and a purely electronic solo album that doesn’t fit into the scope of Riverside and Lunatic Soul.

I was privileged in 2018 to see Riverside live in Manchester supporting the album “Waste7and” a concept album set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland as the title suggests.

Here is a sample of the work of Mariusz Duda, both with Riverside and Lunatic Soul.

Riverside - Conceiving You – from Second Life Syndrome (2005)

When I said that Mariusz Duda can write beautiful songs, there are fewer that are better than this stunning song from Riverside’s second album. I like a few rock ballads but this one is right up near to the top.

Riverside - The Night Before – from Waste7and (2018)

Equally beautiful is The Night Before, a haunting piano driven song from the latest album by Riverside. It is particularly poignant because it is meant to represent the feeling of safety and comfort the night before something terrible happens. Another masterpiece.

Riverside - Towards the Blue Horizon – from Love, Fear and the Time Machine (2015)

This song illustrates everything I like about Riverside, starting off quite mellow and gradually developing into a grand progressive rock song, not too heavy and retaining a great melody throughout and even reminiscent of Porcupine Tree at the 5 minute mark (check it out if you are a fan of the band).

Riverside - O2 Panic Room – from Rapid Eye Movement (2007)

A slightly heavier and more disturbing song with a video to accompany it (that in fact I have only just seen for the first time). The bass guitar is prominent throughout and if you listen carefully you can hear Mariusz also using his voice as another instrument. 

Riverside - Celebrity Touch – from Shrine of New Generation Slaves (2013)

This is Riverside at their most commercial – a straightforward rock song, again with a slightly disturbing video. The song is about the pitfalls of being a celebrity, desperate for attention.

Lunatic Soul – Navvie – from Through Shaded Woods (2020)

With Lunatic Soul, Mariusz experiments with different kinds of music. Here he tries his hand at folk rock with Navvie from the most recent album. Every Lunatic Soul album is different and different again from Riverside.

I believe that Mariusz’s next project will be a new Riverside album and he has indicated that it will a heavier offering, which I welcome with open arms. I am certain it will still be quite diverse and I look forward to seeing them again should when this damned pandemic finally ends.