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Rivers of Nihil

Jun 22, 2025 By Matthew Berlyant Photography by Matthew Berlyant Web Exclusive

After the somewhat muted reception to their last album, 2021’s The Work, it’s nice to see Reading, PA’s leading progressive death metal lights Rivers of Nihil come back to Brooklyn and just wreak havoc on the venue with massive riffs and fans singing along to every word, particularly on material from 2018’s Where Owls Know My Name, long considered their masterpiece and one which even landed them in the Billboard 200 for a brief amount of time, a relative rarity for underground death metal, even one that has lots of progressive tendencies, occasional clean vocals courtesy of drummer Jared Klein (which blend amazingly with the harsh vocals of bassist Adam Biggs), and some subtle deathcore/metalcore influence as well. Playing a setlist composed mostly of material from those two albums, featuring two of the best songs from The Work and no less than four from Owls, they also played no less than four songs from their terrific, brand new, self-titled album (including the title track).

Having to end the show early meant only playing ten songs, but given their average song lengths and the appreciative between-song banter, that stretched out to an hour. Not that I was counting, though, because each second was thrilling, with the band sounding great and clearly being happy to be there. It should also be noted that since The Work, a record written amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and inter-band tension, they’ve significantly changed their membership. Biggs has stepped into lead vocals after former singer Jake Dieffenbach left, and Andy Thomas of fellow Reading band Black Crown Initiate has also replaced Jon Topore. Sounding and looking refreshed, partly due to the warm reception the new album has been receiving, the gig felt like a triumph and hopefully the beginning of a productive new era for this unique band.

Although I unfortunately had to miss the first two bands, I did catch Holy Fawn, who played right before Rivers of Nihil. Although they sound very little like the headliners, their seamless genre-bending worked very well in this context, and they also played a fantastic set. Ostensibly a “blackgaze” band a la Alcest or Deafheaven, they throw in too many elements of doom, sludge and even post-rock to properly classify, but it never sounds like they’re straining or outside their comfort zone. The eclecticism and lack of adherence to genre rules is much appreciated, but beyond that, they just have a great sound and live stage presence as well.