[Cover photo credit to Mike Truehart]
Progressive Death Metal band Rivers of Nihil will release their eponymous fifth full-length album on May 30th, 2025 via Metal Blade Records. The band intend to lean into the traditional idea that a self-titled record “can signal a return to basics and/or a fresh beginning.”
Founding bassist Adam Biggs became the band’s new lead vocalist/bassist in 2023; the same year marked the appearance of additional guitarist Andy Thomas (ex-Black Crown Initiate), whose vocals also play prominently on Rivers Of Nihil. Producers Carson Slovak and Grant McFarland at Atrium Audio captured the new music.
Founding guitarist Brody Uttley says:
I feel like these songs are the perfect blend of all our albums, with all the fat cut away. 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 Where Owls Know My Name and The Work-type experimental stuff, but with a more refreshed perspective on those styles for the current era of the band.
On June 15th, 2023, the band released a new single, “The Sub-Orbital Blues,” the first track with Biggs handling lead vocals following the 2022 departure of singer Jake Dieffenbach. On April 29th, 2024, the band released the cut “Criminals” and an accompanying music video. Both “Criminals” and “The Sub-Orbital Blues” appear on Rivers Of Nihil.
Of the new album’s first single of 2025, “House Of Light,” Brody Uttley says:
…encapsulates the nature of what it is that we do perfectly while offering a different perspective on the sound with the new lineup. Everything that our fans have come to love about our sound is demonstrated in this song with the new addition of Andy singing and Biggs on main vocals. It has the riffs, it has the big chorus, it has the prog, it has the solos, it has the sax. Just a real classic example of what we do as a band in 2025.
RIVERS OF NIHIL w/ Cynic, Beyond Creation, Dååth:
2/28/2025 Essigfabrik – Köln, DE
3/01/2025 Zappa – Antwerp, BE
3/02/2025 La Machine – Paris, FR
3/04/2025 Slay – Glasgow, GB
3/05/2025 Academy – Dublin, IE
3/06/2025 The Fleece- Bristol, GB
3/07/2025 Engine Rooms – Southampton, GB
3/08/2025 Club Academy – Manchester, GB
3/09/2025 Electric Ballroom – London, GB
3/10/2025 XOYO – Birmingham, GB
3/12/2025 Patronaat – Haarlem, NL
3/13/2025 Gruenspan – Hamburg, DE
3/14/2025 Fryshuset Klubben – Stockholm, SE
3/16/2025 Tavastia – Helsinki, FI
3/18/2025 John Dee – Oslo, NO
3/19/2025 Pumpehuset – Copenhagen, DK
3/21/2025 Proxima – Warsaw, PL
3/22/2025 Columbia Theater – Berlin, DE
3/23/2025 Z-Bau – Nürnberg, DE
3/24/2025 Flex – Wien, AT
3/25/2025 Dürer Kert – Budapest, HU
3/26/2025 Backstage – München, DE
3/27/2025 Slaughter Club – Milan, IT
3/28/2025 Kiff – Aarau, CH
3/29/2025 Substage – Karlsruhe, DE
