[Cover photo credit to Mike Truehart]

Reading, Pennsylvania-based Progressive Death Metal band Rivers of Nihil have released the instrumental edition of their full-length album, The Work, out today on Metal Blade Records.

Rivers of Nihil have been breaking through genre barriers ever since 2018’s Where Owls Know My Name, and when they returned in 2021 with The Work, they forged further into new territory.

The writing process for The Work was long, lasting well into 2020. Even before the music industry shutdown during pandemic, the band intended to take most of 2020 off to focus on writing, meaning that their schedule was not disrupted.

Guitarist Brody Uttley describes the final product as a “Sound World,” a term coined by a friend.

He adds:

It’s an album that almost sounds like a place rather than a thing. It puts you in this world where you’re not exactly sure what is going on at certain points, but eventually, it all comes together. It’s harsh and cold, but also warm and inviting.

The Work (Instrumentals) Track Listing:
01. The Tower (Theme from “The Work”) [Instrumental]
02. Dreaming Black Clockwork (Instrumental)
03. Wait (Instrumental)
04. Focus (Instrumental)
05. Clean (Instrumental)
06. The Void from Which No Sound Escapes (Instrumental)
07. MORE? (Instrumental)
08. Tower 2 (Instrumental)
09. Episode (Instrumental)
10. Maybe One Day (Instrumental)
11. Terrestria IV: Work (Instrumental)

RIVERS OF NIHIL Live:
9/19/2024 Empire Underground – Albany, NY
9/20/2024 New England Metal And Hardcore Fest Pre-Party @ The Palladium Upstairs – Worcester, MA
9/21/2024 Montage Music Hall – Rochester, NY
9/22/2024 Metal Injection Fest – Brooklyn, NY