The Riven – Peace and Conflict
Release Date: 25th November 2022
Label: The Sign Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Hard Rock, 70s Rock, Heavy Metal.
FFO: Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Judas Priest.
Review By: Mark Waight
Peace and Conflict by The Riven is like opening a musical time capsule to the early, and perhaps, glory days of Heavy Rock and Heavy Metal in the 70s and early 80s. Peace and Conflict is sure to go down well with metal purists and those who yearn for a return to the ground-breaking days of those early years and those amazing bands of the time.
By transforming from a 4-piece to a 5-piece band with the addition of another guitarist, The Riven have created that true Metal sound with their second album Peace and Conflict. The Riven are Totta Ekebergh (vocals), Arnau Diaz (guitar), Joakim Sandegard (guitar), Max Ternebring (bass) and Jussi Kalla (drums).
On Time will have you dusting off your air guitar within seconds of hearing the opening bars. It has a beautifully paced tempo that emphasizes Totta Ekebergh’s gritty vocals and gives you a first glimpse of those glorious twin guitars. The driving momentum continues on The Taker, an awesome track with a real nod to those early days of metal, it will compel you to sing-along and the twin guitars of Arnau Diaz and Joakim Sandegard will blow your mind.
Title track Peace and Conflict has a more psychedelic feel to it with a much softer sound, some lovely blues guitars and a tempo that builds pace to an unexpected climax. The track smoothly moves into La Puerta del Tiempo, a fascinating interlude of acoustic Spanish guitar, which leads us into Sorceress of the Sky with its heavy bass riff and dreamy vocals. This track in parts reminded me so much of Led Zeppelin, it really is that good. The whole thing closes out with the return of the Spanish guitar for another short passage.
On Top of Evil brought to my mind the Led Zeppelin classic No Quarter during its opening few bars, and that feeling I was hearing something truly special stayed with me throughout the song. This is great music played as it should be! The Riven absolutely Rock!
Fly Free, the 2nd single, is a punchy sing-along track played at pace, with a catchy hook and delicious vocal harmonies. Penultimate tune Sundown is an amazing acoustic arrangement where Totta Ekebergh’s vocals are accompanied by a solo Spanish guitar. The Riven certainly have a softer side to complement their much harder edge, and this track is a perfect example of that.
Closing track Death returns us again to the heavier side of things. It brings the Peace and Conflict journey to a beautiful finish with a very tight and polished performance, leaving you in no doubt that there are plenty more great things to come from The Riven.
Peace and Conflict is old school Hard Rock/ Heavy Metal for modern times, the sound is super cool and fresh, but the roots are deeply entwined with the past. Get yourself a copy and take a journey back in time with The Riven, I did, and I was right back there in my youth hearing these beautiful gloriously heavy sounds for the very first time – heaven!
(4 / 5)
