Never question my commitment to metal. I wrote this review while sitting at my hotel desk while on vacation. Sure, the weather was awful, but I was at Maryland Death Fest, babe. And while my right wrist was annoyingly adorned with all the wristbands one could imagine, I wanted to make sure I conveyed the proper message regarding Rivers of Nihil’s new self-titled album.

With that being said, it would be derelict of me not to bring to everyone’s attention the lineup shifts enlisting guitarist/vocalist Andy Thomas of Black Crown Initiate (one of my favorite progressive death metal bands). His impact is immediately known and seminal to the album’s success. The opener, “Sub-Orbital Blues,” showcases his unique vocals juxtaposed with throat-shredding growls. One could argue this is the band effectively stating, “We hope you like this because here he is.” Of course, it wouldn’t be Rivers of Nihil without some soulful saxophone, too. If the first track is to be the mission statement for an album, it’s difficult to get any finer than this.

“Water & Time” is one of the singles already released, and it’s easy to see why. It begins slowly with the build leading directly into one of the most heartfelt and catchy refrains I’ve heard all year. That chorus changes slightly but has the same melody the second time around, then there’s more sax. Stemming from that is the heaviest section of the song, with an almost chugging riff, followed by an excellent guitar solo. The final chorus hits hard, then the track sounds almost airy with some clean vocals before it ends. These gentlemen know how to write a stunning song!

Speaking of stunning songs, these boys give off some “Bad Company” from the album Bad Company by Bad Company with their song “Rivers of Nihil.” It’s jarring in a way because it’s very somber and almost quiet for the first two minutes, but it’s fortunate it gets heavy with around a minute left, because I believe it would be an anticlimactic ending to the album.

As for endings, though, I’m not quite finished. Let’s talk about “The Logical End,” which also could have been the closing song, but isn’t, because I just mentioned another track that is. Keep up. This song has a fast riff and double bass to complement it. Once again, the song includes saxophone, which is something that is a Rivers of Nihil characteristic. The growls are perfectly aligned with the excellent cleans from Andy again.

Some may question a band self-titling their new album after several into their career. When I see it, I think they have something to prove and it’s a mission statement, even a re-establishment if you will. Rivers of Nihil came back after a short hiatus (compared to many others) and delivered the career-defining moment they promised. It’s going to be up there on many year-end lists. I’m not sure if it’s going to be on top of mine, but I can assure you it will have an appearance. I can’t fathom a new album from this band being any better and am certainly looking forward to the next chapter.

[Visit the band's website]

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