THE SAME RIVER - Weight of the World

THE SAME RIVER

Album: Weight of the World

Genre: Heavy Rock / Psychedelic

Release Date: May 13th, 2022

Country: Greece

Label: Sliptrick Records

Band Links: BANDCAMP / TWITTER / INSTAGRAM / FACEBOOK

After having been founded by Diamond Pr and Dimitris Georgopoulos in 2019, Greek heavy rock quartet THE SAME RIVER quickly took shape. United by the lust for life and passion for making music, they released their debut album “Weight of the World” already on May 13th, 2022 via Sliptrick Records, giving the listener an insight into their vision for what this world is about: solidarity, peace and understanding, but carried by the band’s philosophical concerns about the decadence of human society.

And one can feel the "Weight of the World" into their music when they open with a slow, heavy intro, which leads to the 2nd part of the song, “Crossing the Rubicon”. The vocal melodies are deep, coming along with a full and warm tone, accompanied by a minimalistic, groovy instrumentation. Lyrically, it’s about passing the metaphorical point of no return, which our society has reached in several respects. The following “The Oath of a Fire Bringer” draws inspiration from the myth of Prometheus, so does No5: “The Bounds of a Fire Bringer”. Musically speaking, they grab the listener with great psychedelic rock, dominated by the full-sounding bass and the wonderful vocals.

The third song is again parted in two: While “Voyage” represents the journey from birth to our last breath, “The Great Sea” takes us to afterlife, which is referred as the great sea of souls in many old myths. Music-wise, they start with light harmonies, then develop the song like waves growing and falling, always in an amazing flow. The title track is slow and dark in mood, weighs heavily on the shoulders. In the middle part, they lift up tempo, coming along with some cool rhythm patterns. Lyrically inspired by Sisyphus, both the Greek myth and the homonym essay by Albert Camus, it is about the fundamental human need of finding meaning in life.

“Remains of the Holy” refers to the lack of consciousness about our actions and others, but is losing too much tension for me music-wise. With “The Same River” they got me back, as it comes along atmospheric at the beginning, then growing more powerful the further it goes, with a clear message: Life is a short journey and nothing is for granted - Take your chances and live! They close the book with another split song, “We the People \\ No Friends, but the Mountains”, with the guitar weaving intense soundscapes and the progression moving to a kind of katharsis. The bonus track “Blow your Trumpet” is a low-tempo blues and summarizes their vision of the album.

“Weight of the World” is a great debut album, intense in its message and atmosphere. There is a certain melancholy into their music which runs through the whole record, fitting to the thoughtful lyrics. The detailed, groovy rhythmic keeps up tension most of the time, even though the songs are mostly of low or mid-tempo, and the wonderful vocal performance caught me from the beginning. THE SAME RIVER is another amazing discovery for me from Greece, and if you like heavy / psychedelic rock, I'd recommend to put them on your radar and give them a spin.

Written by Katha