2020’s The Work, which followed the band’s ‘breakthrough’ release Where Owls Know My Name, cemented Rivers Of Nihil as a band to keep an ear out for going forward. Innovative, crushingly heavy, progressive and intricate, there is much to appreciate about the band from Pennsylvania.
Rivers Of Nihil – Rivers Of Nihil
Release Date: 30 May 2025
Words: Paul Hutchings
Live, Rivers Of Nihil are just mind-blowing, such is the depth of their delivery.
There have been changes in the camp since The Work, but fans will not be shocked for founding bassist Adam Biggs has been shouldering vocals as well since 2023. He is joined here by guitarist Andy Thomas, who adds some glorious clean vocals throughout, as well as founder Brody Uttley (guitar, piano, keys, programming) and drummer/vocalist Jared Klein.
The result is the fifth album in their 16-year journey, and it is another jaw-dropping piece of work that needs time to absorb. As you will have read if you check out other reviews, the symbolism of releasing a self-titled album at this stage in your career cannot be overlooked.
Is it a return to basics, a rebirth for the band?
“I feel like these songs are the perfect blend of all our albums, with all the fat cut away,” says founding member/guitarist Brody Uttley. “There are more technical songs that call back to The Conscious Seed Of Light And Monarchy sound, but with a more mature understanding of how to pace a song. There’s a fair bit of the Owls and The Work-type experimental stuff, but with a more refreshed perspective on those styles for the current era of the band.”
Ten tracks stretch out over 50+ minutes, and it is the mix of spine-busting Death Metal that blends with measured passages of piano and saxophone which makes this band unique. Water & Time, for example, is a soaring, modern Metal piece, with clean vocals echoing across the flowing soundscapes crafted by these musicians.
Thomas adds these cleans with such dominance that you cannot help falling into a mesmeric trance.
Opener The Sub-Orbital Blues was the first song where Biggs was recorded in the lead vocalist role, and another early track, Criminals, also features here. These songs have been present for some time, and their inclusion suggests that the band are comfortable with those early tracks with the revised lineup.
More recently, House Of Light brought fans up to date with a sound that, in the band’s view, “encapsulates the nature of what it is that we do perfectly while offering a different perspective on the sound with the new lineup.”
It’s a huge song, with the switching from harsh to clean vocals, blistering drumming and intensive programming enhancing the driving riffs that power the band forward. Progressive in style and substance, it is no wonder the band feel like they do about it; it genuinely could be the song that one would nominate if asked to suggest the current Rivers Of Nihil sound.
Additional musicians always feature and here they bring some expert elements that allow Rivers Of Nihil to expand and add variety to their sound. These include Patrick Corona on alto saxophone, Stephan Lopez on banjo and McFarland on cello.
Few bands can craft such intense creative noise, such as the blasting American Death, which will no doubt get the pits swirling at shows. It is that heady mix of brutal Death Metal that fuses so well with more technical elements as well as the progressive slab which makes Rivers Of Nihil such a captivating album.
In short, Rivers Of Nihil is the sound of a band hitting their stride in 2025. Technically astonishing, it also retains some of the baser elements of the band’s sound, albeit these do not drop low at all.
This is an album that I need to allow more time to soak in. For now, I will continue to enjoy a release that I believe is likely to challenge those top ten lists come the end of 2025.
Until then, I invite you to dive in deep and allow this technically gifted outfit to pour all over you.
The self-titled release from Rivers Of Nihil will be released on 30 May 2025 via Metal Blade Records. For more details, visit MetalBlade.com/RiversOfNihil.
