Rivers of Nihil – Rivers of Nihil (Review)

After 4 years between their last catalogue installation and some troubled times for the Pennsylvania natives, Rivers Of Nihil return with their fifth, self-titled album. After the exit of frontman Jake Dieffenbach and bassist Adam Biggs taking over vocal duties while also installing Black Crown Initiates Andy Thomas on guitar and clean vocals, expectations were stacked when the band announced their return. After their critically acclaimed previous releases The Work and instant classic Where Owls Know My Name the new line-up and pre-released singles left many fans wondering, where the route would lead the tech death upstartes. Would they manage to live up to those expectations or would their latest offering fall flat compared to previous heights?

After listening to Rivers Of Nihil a couple of times now, I can safely say that the band managed to successfully stay the course. Their newest release both marks a new beginning while simultaneously honoring their technical and progressive death metal roots. This should be evident as soon as “The Sub-Orbital” blues opens the record in its bouncing and heavy fashion. Straight from the get-go we are greeted by the same Meshuggah-esque grooves and bass licks the band is know for. Andy Thomas prominent clean vocals compliment the heavy nature of the track perfectly well, serving as a nice counterpoint to the raspy and guttural bellows of Adam Biggs who wastes no time making sure he is the perfect replacement for Jake Dieffenbach.

Thomas also quickly displays, that he’s no slouch when it comes to playing guitar either. After a bluesy interlude that is also featuring the infamous sax, the groove machine bounces back, delivering its anthemic chorus once again, making the records opener a total success as it demonstrates the albums ingredients and overall sound quite well.

Some might miss the emphasized death metal nature of some older albums on the records opener, but as soon as the blastbeat laden and extremely catchy “Dustman” breaks loose, long-time fans should be happy as well. With its break-neck pace and frantic drumming, the track would also fit on the bands second album Monarchy as the heaviness reigns supreme and clean vocals are turned down significantly, only making a brief appearance. Ultimately these two tracks showcase extremely well how dynamic Rivers Of Nihil craft their songs. While a higher focus on head-bobbing grooves and catchy choruses can be noticed throughout the records runtime (see “American Death”‘s chorus), the songs themselves always throw unexpected curveballs at the listener, keeping things interesting.

May it be the sheer brutality of mid-tracklist cut “Evidence“, the almost synth ballad nature of pre-released single “Water & Time” or the progressive and slowly building “Despair Church” and album highlight “The Logical End“. The bands display of cleverly integrated time and mood shifts offer an overall engaging and cohesive listening experience. Compared to The Work and Owls the experimentation has been toned down quite a bit, resulting in a more stream-lined effort that uses its experimental traits to really enhance the songs rather than just throwing every idea at the listener at the same time. The only slight disappointment the record offers might be its anti-climatic self-titled closer. While closing out the record in a rather melancholic and dreamy in a fitting manner, it ultimately fails to capture the bands ambitious essence in its condensed runtime.

While not quite reaching the heights of Where Owls Know My Name, Rivers of Nihil‘s fifth record manages to capture the bands essence while also serving as another step forward in the bands overall development. Technical Death Metal purists might be disappointment due to an overall more stream-lined and catchy songwriting approach but all those who are looking for a modern progressive death metal record done right, look no further. The bands self-titled record will keep your riff-hunger stilled while making you sing along to its infectious hooks. And yeah, the sax is back baby!