The blue sky and 17-degree heat outside held no power of persuasion as The Underworld bubbled with anticipation for a night of Progressive / Technical Death Metal with Rivers of Nihil, Cynic, Beyond Creation and Dååth. Fans piled into the dark basement with undeniable excitement, ready to unleash their inner demonic creatures to the soundtrack of four bands so complimentary in their Aggressive Progressive sounds yet so diverse they require at least three adjectives to describe their Metal genre.
Rivers Of Nihil – Cynic – Beyond Creation – Dååth
The Underworld – 9 March 2025
Words: Lucy Dunnet
Photography: Ashlinn Nash
Rivers Of Nihil
The Underworld had become its namesake for tonight’s headliner, Rivers of Nihil, as the temperature had risen to hellfire levels and everyone’s inner demonic creature was ready to be unleashed. The Sub-Orbital Blues immediately commanded the biggest moshpit of the night so far, and the fervent, sweaty crowd demonstrated the lengths they were willing to go for Rivers Of Nihil.
Guitarists Andy Thomas and Brody Uttley loomed over The Underworld from their raised platforms at the front of the stage as they ripped into The Silent Life, whose darkly catchy riffs had the crowd wrapped around Rivers of Nihil’s fingers. When Patrick Corona came out on the saxophone, hips-a-swaying, the screams were deafening. Hellbirds and A Home raised the temperature even further as the pit became increasingly explosive and the headbanging reached new depths. 
Rivers of Nihil have left no detail unperfected, from their fine black-as-night and blood-red attire to their menacing facial expressions. There is something almost sadistic about their dark stage presence and brutally honed musicianship, making it impossible to deny any of singer-bassist Adam Biggs’ commands for pits, horns or noise.
Rivers of Nihil’s recent single House Of Light received as much enthusiasm from the crowd as iconic tracks The Void From Which No Sound Escapes and Death Is Real. When Rivers of Nihil edge you for a wall of death, not only do you enjoy it, but you give it every bit of rage-fuelled energy you can muster up.
The beauty of The Underworld was being able to get caught in the swirling moshpit at the back of the room one minute, and the next, being so close to the band that you could see Biggs’ spit and sweat. “It’s hot out here, but we will keep going regardless,” Biggs confirmed.
The legendary 2018 album title track, Where Owls Know My Name, brought their set to a pretend close: an incomparable musical rollercoaster of growls, saxophone and all the technical extravagance characteristic of Rivers of Nihil. 
The Underworld filled with chants for one more song: “You guys are still alive, and you wanna hear more music? Incredible,” mused Biggs before demanding we light Rivers of Nihil up with our phones and lighters as they treated us to an encore, Clean.
We now feel even more excited and slightly more prepared for Rivers of Nihil’s self-titled album, which will be released on 30 May. It is undoubtedly going to be a barrage of blistering Metal blends and emotional turmoil.
Cynic
The pioneers of Breath-Metal, Cynic, were the most progressive band of the night, which you could tell from the intense variety of fan reactions and celebrations of their set. Out of one eye was a mosh pit, out of the other a form of interpretive dance, in front of you someone headbanging so erratically that their hair became a sweat towel for your brow, and next to you an eyes-shut swayer. 
The otherworldly, breathy, bongo drum-sounding intro to Nunc Fluens began Cynic’s set. Paul Masvidal’s signature vocoder vocals washed through The Underworld like an intoxicating haze; they simultaneously complimented and contrasted the aggressive growls and screams of the night’s opening bands, Dååth and Beyond Creation.
The panic that had begun to set in when we couldn’t actually see vocalist and guitarist Paul Masvidal was quickly assuaged when he crept to the front of the stage from behind a pillar to riff from down on his knees. When Masvidal chose to break the silence in between songs, the reverberations of his voice made even the simplest of statements feel hallucinatory: “London, the sun feels so good.”
The intense syncopation in Cynic’s music gave the crowd’s movements an increased sense of chaos. Moshpits erupted but jolted and jammed around The Underworld in a way only Progressive Metal inspires. Fans grooved and screamed lyrics to the jazzy, gothic, indescribable Metal.
Masvidal admitted late on in the set that he was medicated on all kinds of gnarly stuff as he was recovering from pneumonia, and this was his first time singing in about a week. “Hopefully, this sauna will help purge out the rest of the toxins,” Masvidal finished as cheers and claps surrounded him. 
Cynic finished their set in the only befitting way of the band whose music “poses more questions than obvious answers:” they snuck off without a word of warning to an ominous soundscape of whispers, leaving us with questions that were only answered when Rivers of Nihil took to the stage.
Beyond Creation
The Underworld was packed with die-hard Technical Death Metal fans, warmed up thanks to Dååth and more than ready for Beyond Creation to keep the room steamy. Hailing from Montreal, Canada, vocalist Simon Girard announced what a “great fucking pleasure” it was for Beyond Creation to be back here. 
Beyond Creation’s set resembled a trek through a thorny forest in the middle of a mild thunderstorm; the melodic breakdowns, elongated and complex rhythm sections, interspersed with Simon Girard’s haunting screams, transcended their performance beyond a great Metal set. From Algorythm to Omnipresent Perception, Beyond Creation’s musical intensity built as the night went on in an unpredictably glorious way. 
Earthborn Evolution had the most enchanting guitar intro, leading to 5 minutes of sheer progressive and instrumental bliss. There is something so very delicious about Beyond Creation: their blend of ferocity with ethereality, jazzy rhythms with jarring beats, and the fiercely loving and precise way they handle their instruments. 
“London, it’s fucking hot in here,” said Girard before launching into Coexistence, an off-the-bat onslaught of extreme tempos and screams. When Beyond Creation announced it was time for their last song, The Underworld rang with “aww”s and “boo”s that were quickly silenced when a circle pit emerged from the eye of the storm. It was smiles, laughs and sweat on and off the stage for Beyond Creation.
Dååth
The Underworld bubbled with uncontainable adrenaline and anticipation from fans who had waited 14 years for the return of Death Metal wizards Dååth. The blue sky and 17-degree heat outside held no power of persuasion as we piled into the basement pit to experience Dååth-induced love and carnage. 
The aggressive musical attack of No Rest No End, the first creation from the new Dååth era, contrasted beautifully with the grins spreading around the room. When vocalist Sean Z screamed at the crowd to get their horns out, loud cheers accompanied the punches into the air.
Dååth filled their set with a good chunk from their newest album, The Deceivers, including Hex Unending, Unwelcome Return and Purified By Vengeance. The unrelenting pit and increasingly loud screams were a testament to the bruising brilliance of Dååth’s new musical direction and the ecstatic relief and celebration of their return. 
Eerie interludes that should have filled the space between songs were disrupted by cheers of delight. When Sean Z wasn’t darting off the stage like a demonic goblin, leaving founding guitarist Eyal Levi, guitarist Rafael Trujillo, bassist David Marvuglio and touring drummer Sebastian Lanser to slash the stage with their musical mastery, he was promising us some old-school shit. Sharpen The Blades, Subterfuge and Day Of Endless Light were outrageous reminders of how great Dååth were 14 years ago and that even though they have shed their skin of the past, they won’t forget their roots. 
There was an unprecedented amount of sweat in The Underworld so early on in the night, thanks to the mini circle pits and rows of arm-in-arm headbanging that Dååth inspired. Dååth are back, and if their returning album, The Deceivers and performance tonight are anything to go by, it is better, bolder and more explosive than before. 
