Album Review: The Riven – The Riven (The Sign Records)

The Riven is an electrifying powerhouse. Envision heavy blues rock, focusing on big choruses and mean riffs; progressive, psychedelic and classical musical elements standing side by side with a soulful and vigorous voice; each song, a chapter, revealing fates and tales from the past and the future. The force is strong in The Riven. Merging influences from a variety of genres, the Riven emerges as a pure rock element.

The Sign Records is excited to announce the addition of The Riven to their roster. The band is set to issue their debut album on March 1st 2019.

A blues-tinged riff machine, The Riven provide high-energy rock and roll tunes across the 44 minutes that is their self-titled debut. With a wealth of talent in their numbers, the upbeat nature of The Serpent and Edge of Time provide the early high points of the album. The latter in particular is the kind of track to get the rump shaking.

It’s not just the riffs though as another area The Riven excel in is with the vocals. Sultry clean with enough power to make you sit up and take notice. A commanding performance has you on edge as the vocals dictate the pace. Shadow Man and Finnish Woods are two great examples of this at different end of the scales. The former with a bouncier beat and the latter a morose and moody slow number that’s heavy on the bass that eventually kicks it up a gear for a frantic finish.

The Riven are certainly at the higher end of the scale when it comes to their brand of rock and roll. It is given a lift by just having a little more snarl and throwing out the odd unexpected moment such the brief bit of chaos in Fortune Teller.

Even when it feels like it might be getting a bit stretched out, The Riven bring things back from the brink with a wicked guitar solo (I Remember) or a moving rhythm section (Sweet Child).

The Riven – The Riven Full Track Listing:

1. The Serpent
2. Far Beyond
3. Edge of Time
4. Shadow Man
5. Finnish Woods
6. Fortune Teller
7. I Remember
8. Leap of Faith
9. Sweet Child

The album can be ordered here, via Bandcamp and will be available via all major streaming services on release. Find out more by checking out The Riven’s Facebook Page and Instagram.