Stockholm-based classic heavy rockers The Riven will release their third full-length, Visions of Tomorrow, on April 25 through Dying Victims Productions, and the video for “Set My Heart on Fire” premiering below celebrates the impending LP in duly uptempo fashion, highlighting the more pop-informed side of the five-piece’s style. Traces of Thin Lizzy in the dual guitar at the outset speak to the nascent NWOBHMery fleshed out in the hooky “Killing Machine” early on while a rock and roll — unqualified in genre terms: rock and roll — chorus in “Follow You” answers the accessible intentions of “Set My Heart on Fire.” Like the record from whence it comes, the clip is all about performance — live, in the studio, alone, together — and the communication of thoughts, feelings, moods and atmospheres that emerges from the band’s straight-ahead-in-terms-of-structure songwriting that draws on influences from ’60s garage and ’70s boogie to the harder metallurgical realizations of the early 1980s. Through it all, the band shine through with clarity, persona and purpose.

The album begins with “Far Away From Home,” the first of the 11 inclusions and the first and by no means last soaring vocal from Charlotta “Totta” Ekebergh, who in presence and range takes almost immediate ownership of the material. With the guitars of Joakim Sandegård and Arnau Díaz, Max Ternebring‘s bass and Elias Jonsson‘s drumming behind her, the here’s-that-word-again classic dynamic of the band is both showcase and sandbox, and the whole band plays accordingly.

Like “Travelling Great Distance” and the title-track, “Set My Heart on Fire” is less than three and a half minutes long, but that’s plenty of time for The Riven to plant a chorus in your brain to keep you coming back, and whether it’s the Swedish-language “En Dag Som Aldrig Forr” or the subsequent pledges of affection and loyalty that follow to cap the record with “We Love You” — think Grand Funk writing a song in the studio to play live speaking directly to the audience in the lyrics — and “Follow You.” Engaging the listener, delivering with energy as a part of that, and general efficiency of craft seem to be the priorities across the taut 39-minute span.

It’s to The Riven‘s credit that they’re able to shift between different feels like the atmospheric break in “Crystals” — longest track at 4:55 — and “On My Mind (Tonight),” which rallies around a bouncy rhythm and choppy riff that maybe reminds of Scorpions or maybe just calls back to “Killing Machine” earlier on; I won’t profess to know. Though it all, Ekebergh ties the songs together on vocals and remains a powerhouse ready to belt out another memorable line as the band weave between max-push and mellower looks. It is pro-shop in sound and execution in a way that few records even based adjacent to heavy rock would dare to be.

And as one might anticipate for a record comprised of 11 hammered-out individual tracks assembled together for maximum flow and listener-carry, momentum stays on The Riven‘s side for the duration. The charge of “Seen it All” provides a boot to side B that continues in the title-cut, and “En Dag Som Aldrig Forr” is a groover whether you speak Swedish or not. More than anything else, Visions of Tomorrow feels like a point of arrival for the The Riven in terms of the songs themselves. The band sound like they knew going into writing what they wanted to write, and that they succeed as they do front-to-back continues to highlight them among the most stage-ready-sounding outfits in the ever-packed Scandinavian underground.

For the person in your life — we all have that person — who says rock music is dead, here’s a band whose very existence is fervent counterargument.

Info follows from the PR wire. Please enjoy:

The Riven, “Set My Heart on Fire” official video

DYING VICTIMS is proud to present THE RIVEN’s highly anticipated third album, Visions of Tomorrow, on CD and vinyl LP formats.

Pre-order:
www.dyingvictims.com
https://dyingvictimsproductions.bandcamp.com/

Formed in 2016, Stockholm-by-way-of-London power rockers THE RIVEN have carved a uniquely compelling place for themselves, drawing musical influence from a wide array of genres. Hard rock, old prog, early heavy metal, and even simply rock ‘n’ roll itself: no mossy stone is left unturned by THE RIVEN. And when combined with their lyrical themes – from everyday life all the way to the fantasy-inspired, with sometimes both intertwining – the quintet have forged their own path, displaying a sound fitting firmly within the late ‘70’s and early ‘80s but with an effervescence that feels palpably modern.

Where their second album, 2022’s Peace and Conflict, felt like a watershed moment – moving from the “powerful rocker” of their eponymous debut album in 2019 to an emotive, electric, but no-less-earthy sort of NWOBHM – THE RIVEN sound positively poised for another breakthrough with their forthcoming third full-length, Visions of Tomorrow. Presciently titled, Visions of Tomorrow struts and sways with that sort of star quality that can only come from total, utter self-belief…and absolutely stunning songs! The sound is more present and raw than before, ear-effortlessly exuding dynamics lost to most “hard rock” bands. THE RIVEN here offer a sumptuous feast of familiar-yet-fresh heavy rock built on massive HOOKS and HEART. Not for nothing have they become a finely honed ensemble; touring nonstop has been the band’s lifeblood for years now, and that tangible sense of magick swirls about each of these 11 anthems. New drummer Elias Jonsson pumps that blood with an almost “laidback urgency,” and the rest of THE RIVEN let rip with what they liken more “complete” songwriting: the songs may be shorter than previous ones, but they’re undeniably more action-packed and nuanced.

Interestingly, while writing for Visions of Tomorrow was done in Stockholm in late 2023, THE RIVEN was selected for an international studio residency as part of the Swedish national arts association, and the band lived for a few days at the highly prestigious studio Fascination Street in Örebro. The album was mixed and co-produced by Robert Pehrsson (The Hellacopters, Tribulation, Dead Lord among others). Lyrically, Visions of Tomorrow showcases a band that is frustrated about how the world is run, who’s in charge, and what is about to happen to the rest of us. Musically, it showcases a band that can handle their instruments and is willing to explore and go on musical journeys. THE RIVEN themselves claim that this third album is “a fine example of rock ‘n’ roll being played at its best – it’s honest, it’s urgent, it’s calling you, and it will make you shake your fist and bang your head – all while thinking about where we are and where we are going.”

Wherever you want to go with Visions of Tomorrow, there’s no disputing the fact that THE RIVEN are poised to take over the biggest stages all over the world!

1. Far Away From Home
2. Killing Machine
3. Set My Heart On Fire
4. Travelling Great Distance
5. Crystals
6. On My Mind (Tonight)
7. Seen It All
8. Visions Of Tomorrow
9. En Dag Som Aldrig Forr
10. We Love You
11. Follow You

Line-up:
Totta Ekebergh – Vocals
Joakim Sandegård – Guitar
Arnau Díaz – Guitar
Max Ternebring – Bass
Elias Jonsson – Drums

The Riven, Visions of Tomorrow (2025)

The Riven on Facebook

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The Riven on Bandcamp

The Riven’s Linktr.ee

Dying Victims Productions website

Dying Victims Productions on Facebook

Dying Victims Productions on Instagram

Dying Victims Productions on Bandcamp

Tags: Dying Victims Productions, Stockholm, Sweden, The Riven, The Riven Visions of Tomorrow, Visions of Tomorrow

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 13th, 2025 at 12:49 pm and is filed under Bootleg Theater, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.