Rivers Of Nihil

[svisser]

I can't believe that there is not a thread for this band. They are pushing the genre of prog death in so many interesting directions. Where Owls Know My Name did so much for the band and the genre and now their new album, in my opinion, has redefined what could be considered acceptable in this genre. I have never heard music like this before.

I consider their new album a masterpiece, but not as good as their last album. It reminds me a lot of what DT did on Projector, or what Opeth did on Damnation. I think it is exciting to hear what these guys can do. Watching live performances makes me think that this band is truly something special. They play with such passion and their fans seems just as connected to the performance.

What does everyone think of this band?

[LithoJazzoSphere]

I mentioned in the other thread that it seems that the new album is more likely to be slow-burner than their others.  Where Owls Know My Name is probably going to be a modern masterpiece.  I love when bands incorporate saxophone. 

[Lonk]

https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=38625.msg1651604#msg1651604

Not a lot of activity there though.

This band is incredible though. Owls is such an incredible album that gets regular plays from me. Monarchy is also very good.

The new album is still growing on me. Not as good as the last 2 but some really strong tracks there.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

So far I don't think The Work is going to top Owls, but it has grown on me as I've listened to it more, and it's definitely got a lot of really strong material. The Void From Which No Sound Escapes is one of the best songs they've done I think.

[Crow]

my stance on the new album is that I found the drum production and mixing so terrible that it gave me a headache and made me not want to return to the album a second time. the compositions seemed like they took a step up since last time but it was hard to tell because of the aforementioned headache.

they really badly need to higher a new sound engineer, christ

[svisser]

my stance on the new album is that I found the drum production and mixing so terrible that it gave me a headache and made me not want to return to the album a second time

they really badly need to higher a new sound engineer, christ

I find this for a lot of those modern prog death metal bands. Black Crown Initiate is another one that gets their songs ruined by ridiculous production. The compression on the drums on The Wreckage of Stars ruined all the other instruments imo. Great album, just terrible production.

For me, The Work is their best as far as musical maturity goes. They are certainly a band that needs to be understood as more than just prog death. As much as I am surprised at how the new album sounds as far as the music goes, there is strong evidence going back to their first album that shows the progression. Granted, the ballads were a total surprise. 

[Crow]

yeah the last BCI album sounded like garbage but in kind of the opposite way, everything sounded incredibly thin

[svisser]

yeah the last BCI album sounded like garbage but in kind of the opposite way, everything sounded incredibly thin

I get that.

[twosuitsluke]

Anyone checked out the new Audiotree session? Well worth a listen!

[DoctorAction]

I should go back to The Work again. Really liked Owls and Monarchy but haven't really listened to that.

[mike099]

I hate that Jake will no longer be in the band.  He matured a lot as a vocalist.  Will be interesting the direction the band takes on future albums.

[twosuitsluke]

New single, The Sub-Orbital Blues, just dropped…

https://open.spotify.com/track/1md3iyYm7Ovimen8lebaPe?si=n-dQq5Y9QYC7BZXTPc17kA

Is this the most clean vocals the band have ever had on a song?

[Lonk]

I like it, a bit more straight forward than their typical stuff.

Do we know who's doing vocals?

[Buddyhunter1]

New single, The Sub-Orbital Blues, just dropped…

https://open.spotify.com/track/1md3iyYm7Ovimen8lebaPe?si=n-dQq5Y9QYC7BZXTPc17kA

Is this the most clean vocals the band have ever had on a song?

Their harsh vocalist left the band / was kicked out earlier this year, and I think the bassist is the lead vocalist now? Still not sure how that's going to work for old songs live, but I'm seeing them next Friday so I'll let y'all know.

[Buddyhunter1]

New single, The Sub-Orbital Blues, just dropped…

https://open.spotify.com/track/1md3iyYm7Ovimen8lebaPe?si=n-dQq5Y9QYC7BZXTPc17kA

Is this the most clean vocals the band have ever had on a song?

Their harsh vocalist left the band / was kicked out earlier this year, and I think the bassist is the lead vocalist now? Still not sure how that's going to work for old songs live, but I'm seeing them next Friday so I'll let y'all know.

So the bassist did all the harsh vocals. The lower clean vocals were also done by him, while the higher ones were harmonies between one of the guitarists and the drummer.

They were pretty good, though the sound was kinda muddy and they had a lot of backing tracks. Thank You Scientist came on after them so they really should have gotten their saxophonist to play the sax bits instead of just piping in the recordings.

[WebRaider]

The new single kicks all kinds of ass! The new clean singer/guitar player is Andy Thomas (formerly of Black Crown Initiate who I was a big fan of) who was also on the song "Where Owls Know My Name" previously with the band.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

I just heard the newest song, Hellbirds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9TyPPEdAIk

Fucking killer and heavy as shit. I wasn't sure how Biggs becoming the lead vocalist would work, but I've gotta say, so far he's being doing an amazing job. He wasn't there for the show I went to (they had the singer from Fallujah filling in, who sounded amazing himself), but I've seen a few live videos where he's doing Jake's part incredibly well, especially considered how involved his bass parts are at the same time.

[Lonk]

I just heard the newest song, Hellbirds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9TyPPEdAIk

Fucking killer and heavy as shit. I wasn't sure how Biggs becoming the lead vocalist would work, but I've gotta say, so far he's being doing an amazing job. He wasn't there for the show I went to (they had the singer from Fallujah filling in, who sounded amazing himself), but I've seen a few live videos where he's doing Jake's part incredibly well, especially considered how involved his bass parts are at the same time.

100% this. I was really worried when Jake decided to leave but the two songs I heard after he left are still killer.

[cramx3]

Bump

So I scooped up a ticket to Lorna Shore's Christmas show this Friday.  Not too into them honestly, but they are impressive and the shows local, was fairly cheap, and something to do on a friday night with a solid line up.  A solid line up of bands I've heard of but never listened to  Figured I can get a good night of new music experiences from all these bands.

Anyway, Rivers of Nihil are playing.  I just started listening to some of the singles I've seen on youutube (including the linked songs here). I was shocked how much I enjoyed them (much more than Currents or Varials, the other openers) and that sax! wow I mean, I don't know if I love them, but this is interesting music to me.

Point is, they got my attention and I read through this thread so now I know a bit more about the band. 

[cramx3]

Well, I thought they were pretty good, but not great.

The clean vocals live were a bit weak honestly and no live sax player.

Overall, the main singer and bassist was pretty killer to watch and I enjoyed their 30 minute opening set.

They were hanging out at their merch booth later in the night so I got to meet the singer and told him I enjoyed their proggy death metal metal and I bought a really cool Owl design tshirt. (I'm wearing it in my DTF secret santa video)

Here's my video of Where Owls Know My Name, maybe a rare time to see them perform next to a christmas tree  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoDkkzDPbf0 Not my best video cause my view sucked, but you get the idea of their live performance.