Rivers of Nihil
Rivers of Nihil, Holy Fawn
Rivers of Nihil @ The Meadows, Brooklyn, US, June 20, 2025,
Jun 22, 2025
Pictures by Matthew Berlyant
Internet Unique
After the considerably muted reception to their final album, 2021’s The Work, it’s good to see Studying, PA’s main progressive demise metallic lights Rivers of Nihil come again to Brooklyn and simply wreak havoc on the venue with large riffs and followers singing alongside to each phrase, significantly on materials from 2018’s The place Owls Know My Title, lengthy thought of their masterpiece and one which even landed them within the Billboard 200 for a short period of time, a relative rarity for underground demise metallic, even one which has a number of progressive tendencies, occasional clear vocals courtesy of drummer Jared Klein (which mix amazingly with the cruel vocals of bassist Adam Biggs), and a few delicate deathcore/metalcore affect as properly. Enjoying a setlist composed largely of fabric from these two albums, that includes two of the very best songs from The Work and at least 4 from Owls, in addition they performed at least 4 songs from their terrific, model new, self-titled album (together with the title monitor).
Having to finish the present early meant solely enjoying ten songs, however given their common tune lengths and the appreciative between-song banter, that stretched out to an hour. Not that I used to be counting, although, as a result of every second was thrilling, with the band sounding nice and clearly being joyful to be there. It also needs to be famous that since The Work, a report written amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and inter-band stress, they’ve considerably modified their membership. Biggs has stepped into lead vocals after former singer Jake Dieffenbach left, and Andy Thomas of fellow Studying band Black Crown Provoke has additionally changed Jon Topore. Sounding and looking out refreshed, partly because of the heat reception the brand new album has been receiving, the gig felt like a triumph and hopefully the start of a productive new period for this distinctive band.
Though I sadly needed to miss the primary two bands, I did catch Holy Fawn, who performed proper earlier than Rivers of Nihil. Though they sound little or no just like the headliners, their seamless genre-bending labored very properly on this context, and so they additionally performed a incredible set. Ostensibly a “blackgaze” band a la Alcest or Deafheaven, they throw in too many parts of doom, sludge and even post-rock to correctly classify, however it by no means appears like they’re straining or outdoors their consolation zone. The eclecticism and lack of adherence to style guidelines is way appreciated, however past that, they simply have an ideal sound and stay stage presence as properly.
