Rivers of Nihil Announce New Album + Debut First Single!
Rivers of Nihil‘s 2018 album, Where Owls Know My Name, was about as close to universally-beloved as any metal album can be these days. That being the case, they had their work cut out for them when it came to making a follow-up: can they possibly top — or at least repeat — the success of Owls???
I’m inclined to guess the answer is “yes.” The band has just announced their next full-length — The Work — and released the first single, “Clean,” and, no cap, it’s a bop with some serious drip. If eighteen seconds into the track you hear vocalist Jake Dieffenbach bellow “I WANT YOUR MON-EEEE! YOUR TIIIIIIME! I WANT YOUR PATIENCE! AND YOUR PRIDE!!!!” and aren’t immediately pumped, you’re… well… you’re not real. I simply don’t believe anyone can hear that opening and not wanna jump in a pit, pronto.
“Clean” is more than just a rager, though — it has textures, as the saying goes. It evolves into something completely different over the course of its 6+ minutes, and that completely different something involves atmospheric sci-fi synths and a sensuous guitar solo, both courtesy of Brody Uttley.
“Clean,” in other words, demonstrates all the creative bravado of Where Owls Know My Name and then some. It bodes EXTREMELY well for The Work.
You can check out “Clean” via the below music video, which was directed by Mike Truehart.
Guitars and synths/keys for The Work were tracked at Uttley’s home studio, while the rest of album was recorded with and mixed by, once again, Carson Slovak and Grant McFarland at Atrium Audio. Additionally, Black Crown Initiate’s James Dorton provides extra vocals on the song “Episode,” McFarland contributed cello to “The Void From Which No Sound Escapes,” Zach Strouse once again provides saxophone (as he did on Owls), and Uttley’s friend Stephan Lopez helped out with all of the field recordings, which a press release calls “an integral part of the sonic textures of the record.”
Says Uttley of reuniting with Slovak and McFarland:
“We’ve done so many sessions with those guys that they’re basically an extension of our band at this point. They usually know what we like, and we always encourage them to roast us to make stuff better.”
The Work will be released on September 24 via Metal Blade. Pre-order it here!!! The band has previously hinted that this latest release will be the “winter” (and final) album their four-part season quadrilogy. The incredible album art, by the great Dan Seagrave, is also below.
Rivers of Nihil begin a tour with The Black Dahlia Murder, After the Burial, Carnifex, and Undeath in September. Here are the dates:
3-Sep Chicago, IL Concord Music Hall [tickets]
4-Sep Minneapolis, MN The Fillmore [tickets]
5-Sep Milwaukee, WI The Rave [tickets]
7-Sep Grand Rapids, MI Intersection [tickets]
8-Sep Fort Wayne, IN Piere’s [tickets]
9-Sep Sauget, IL Pops [tickets]
10-Sep Lawrence, KS Granada Theater [tickets]
11-Sep Denver, CO Summit Music Hall [tickets]
12-Sep Salt Lake City, UT The Complex [tickets]
14-Sep Seattle, WA El Corazon [tickets]
15-Sep Portland, OR Bossanova Ballroom [tickets]
17-Sep Berkeley, CA UC Theater [tickets]
18-Sep Los Angeles, CA The Belasco [tickets]
19-Sep San Diego, CA House of Blues [tickets]
21-Sep Las Vegas, NV House of Blues [tickets]
22-Sep Mesa, AZ Nile Theater [tickets]
24-Sep Dallas, TX GMBG [tickets]
25-Sep Austin, TX Come and Take It Live [tickets]
26-Sep Houston, TX Warehouse Live [tickets]
28-Sep Atlanta, GA Center Stage [tickets]
29-Sep Greensboro, NC Arizona Petes [tickets]
30-Sep Baltimore, MD Baltimore Soundstage [tickets]
1-Oct Columbus, OH King of Clubs [tickets]
2-Oct Pittsburgh, PA Roxian Theater [tickets]
3-Oct Cleveland, OH House of Blues [tickets]
5-Oct Detroit, MI St Andrews Hall [tickets]
6-Oct Toronto, ON Phoenix Concert Theater [tickets]
7-Oct Montreal, QC Club Soda [tickets]
8-Oct Worcester, MA The Palladium [tickets]
9-Oct Sayreville, NJ Starland Ballroom [tickets]
10-Oct New York, NY Irving Paza [tickets]
The Work track-listing
1. “The Tower (Theme from The Work)”
2. “Dreaming Black Clockwork”
3. “Wait”
4. “Focus”
5. “Clean”
6. “The Void from Which No Sound Escapes”
7. “MORE?”
8. “Tower 2”
9. “Episode”
10. “Maybe One Day”
11. “Terrestria IV: Work”
