Rivers Of Nihil - Rivers Of Nihil

That cover is killer.

Great cover and great first single

I don't normally listen to singles before an album comes out, but as I knew I'd be seeing them before the album came out I made an exception - Sub-Orbital Blues and House of Light are both great, I'm so ready for this album and I loved both of the last two!

Elden Ring has permanently changed the way I hear the word "nihil" in my head.

Really not hyped after hearing the first songs. Hopefully the rest will be more in the vein of "Where Owls know my Name" and not the previous album, but at this time I fear for the latter.

The album by Rivers of Nihil is a fusion of intensity, depth, and creativity that will captivate both longtime fans and new listeners alike. At certain moments, it felt like I was listening to Death: An Anthology by Enterprise Earth.

Black Crown-Rivers of Nihil Initiate
When I first read the news that Andy left my beloved and severely underrated BCI I was gutted.
Even though there is still a glimmer of hope for some new music, based on a joint post by Andy and Nick, I was happy to see Andy becoming a regular member of RoN.
I love their fusion approach but there's always something missing and it was more prominent with The Work.
I find that this latest offering suffers from exactly the same problem, and that's the lack of climax in most of their songs. Riffs are great, vocals and drumming are top notch, there's a lot of things going on musically that can only be appreciated after multiple iterations BUT the songs feel like they don't go anywhere in the end.

I enjoyed it to be fair. Way more than their latest album.

It reminds me to Black Crown Initiate, which is always a plus.

It’s alright, not their best by any stretch but a good album with some nice grooves

It's fine. Every song kind of follows the same pattern of having some soaring chorus be the only payoff, however.

Written by zeromus44 on 30.05.2025 at 17:03

I enjoyed it to be fair. Way more than their latest album.

It reminds me to Black Crown Initiate, which is always a plus.

Really? I find zero similarities to BCI, even Andy's cleans sound different.

Written by tedster on 31.05.2025 at 07:41

Written by zeromus44 on 30.05.2025 at 17:03

I enjoyed it to be fair. Way more than their latest album.

It reminds me to Black Crown Initiate, which is always a plus.

Really? I find zero similarities to BCI, even Andy's cleans sound different.

Maybe it's because the singer voice of his way of singing in some parts, I wasn't meaning the music was a copy of Black Crown Initiate or something like that.

Written by zeromus44 on 31.05.2025 at 12:18

Maybe it's because the singer voice of his way of singing in some parts, I wasn't meaning the music was a copy of Black Crown Initiate or something like that.

Got you! I was actually hoping for any similarities, that's why I asked 🤣

Man how does this only have a rating of 7.7? I can only explain this rating by people being disappointed that it is different compared to Where Owls Know My Name.

To me this album is absolutely amazing and really surprised me. Admittedly I didn't like the clean vocals on the first spin because they are a bit cheesy. But if you can overcome that and that just embrace it then this album is really outstanding. The songwriting is top notch and there are pretty much no fillers. Every song is a joy to listen to, there is a lot of variation, it feels like every song has it's own identity and highlights so you don't get bored listening to the entirety of the album. The drums are amazing, the vocals (once you get used to them) are quite melodic and even riffs are really good too. There is not any single element that I would say is bad. For me this is the highlight of the year so far. Not one of those albums that is "theoretically" good but an album that is just fun to listen to for weeks on end.

It has its moments...I just really don't dig those clean vocals even after many listenings...

Written by Skl3ros on 03.06.2025 at 20:42

Man how does this only have a rating of 7.7? I can only explain this rating by people being disappointed that it is different compared to Where Owls Know My Name.

Mate, 7.7 (now 7.8) is a great fucking rating, especially with over 100 votes...

Written by Guib on 07.06.2025 at 16:01

Written by Skl3ros on 03.06.2025 at 20:42

Man how does this only have a rating of 7.7? I can only explain this rating by people being disappointed that it is different compared to Where Owls Know My Name.

Mate, 7.7 (now 7.8) is a great fucking rating, especially with over 100 votes...

"7.who cares" I say. It's not a green number, not even an 8+. They better pack it up and start a Polyphia cover band, or something. Clearly, it's not working out anymore.

It's very consistent compared with The Work. And found the first half very strong than the second part of the album. Nonetheless, it's a good one, but doesn't reach the highlights of the previous one or Where Owls....Maybe in a next one we can see again long songs and more progressive stuff just like the songs of these two albums. They decided to go a bit direct here, and the best moments here for me are the long songs (Water & Time, House Of Light, The Logical End).

This feels like the album I hoped The Work would be. It's definitely less experimental, but I consider The Work a failed experiment so I'm happy they are going back to what they are good at. A very good, groovy album. And the new clean vocals work wonders on this album.

Way better than The Work. I don't think they'll ever top Owls, but that's okay. Very pleased with this. New vocal section is a massive improvement too.

This is their better work no doubts, Owls werent this consistent.

Wow, that sucked. There were 3 sequences (parts of tracks 2, 4, and 9) that really got me going, but then the overall saccharine whine-y-ness was just too much to overcome. Not for me. I'll try to give it another shot one day.

I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. Atmosphere and songwriting is pretty good, and "Criminal" was an early standout. Needs more listens, but definitely the first thing from this band that has stuck.
I do however, agree with Nikarg in the review thread, this album could've benefited from meatier production, especially in the drumming.