– June 14th, 2024 –
Photo by: Mike Truehart
Stream / purchase RIVERS OF NIHIL’s Where Owls Know My Name (Instrumentals) HERE
Reading, Pennsylvania-based progressive death metallers RIVERS OF NIHIL are pleased to release the instrumental edition of their critically lauded Where Owls Know My Name full-length today via Metal Blade Records.
RIVERS OF NIHIL announced themselves as one of the most promising and forward-thinking metal bands in the world with their first two releases, The Conscious Seed of Light (2013) and Monarchy (2015). But in March of 2018, they shattered all expectations with their third full-length, Where Owls Know My Name.
Formed in 2009 by guitarist Brody Uttley, bassist/lyricist Adam Biggs, and vocalist Jake Dieffenbach, RIVERS OF NIHIL quickly made a name for themselves in the death metal scene, attracting the attention of legendary death metal titan Erik Rutan. Rutan, revered for his work as both a musician (Hate Eternal, Morbid Angel) and producer (Cannibal Corpse, Goatwhore), insisted on recording The Conscious Seed Of Light. The results were, unsurprisingly, spectacular, with Heavy Blog Is Heavy going so far as to assert that the debut “rivals even the most legendary work of some of [RIVERS OF NIHIL’s] peers and influences.” They continued along this trajectory with Monarchy, which Metal Injection praised as an “incredibly striking” demonstration of how “RIVERS OF NIHIL have evolved into a monster.“
Where Owls Know My Name represented a massive evolutionary leap for RIVERS OF NIHIL. Whereas …Seed… and Monarchy were thematically centered around spring and summer, respectively, Where Owls Know My Name represented the fall. And although that season is usually associated with death, for RIVERS OF NIHIL, the autumn served as a rebirth. Delivering an album which is often just as punishing as its predecessors while assimilating ingredients from musical genres as varied as electronica, jazz, alternative, folk, and the golden age of Shrapnel Records, the resulting music on Where Owls Know My Name is indescribably progressive, a multifaceted soundscape that goes beyond the wildest dreams of even the group’s most ardent admirers.
Comments guitarist Brody Uttley on the instrumental edition of the record, “Ever since Where Owls Know My Name came out we’ve had people begging for an instrumental version. Well… here it is! Better see you musician dorks doing all kinds of cover videos.“
Watch a visualizer for the instrumental version of “Subtle Change (Including The Forest Of Transition And Dissatisfaction Dance)” at THIS LOCATION.
RIVERS OF NIHIL‘s Where Owls Know My Name (Instrumentals) is out today digitally. Stream / purchase the record at: metalblade.com/riversofnihil. A reissued slate of Where Owls Know My Name merchandise is also available at: indiemerch.com/riversofnihil
Its release follows the unveiling of a brand new single and video, “Criminals,” earlier this spring. Stream that HERE.
Where Owls Know My Name (Instrumentals) Track Listing:
01. Cancer / Moonspeak (Instrumental)
02. The Silent Life (Instrumental)
03. A Home (Instrumental)
04. Old Nothing (Instrumental)
05. Subtle Change (Including the Forest of Transition and Dissatisfaction Dance) [Instrumental]
06. Terrestria III: Wither (Instrumental)
07. Hollow (Instrumental)
08. Death Is Real (Instrumental)
09. Where Owls Know My Name (Instrumental)
10. Capricorn / Agoratopia (Instrumental)
RIVERS OF NIHIL Live:
9/20/2024 New England Metal And Hardcore Fest Pre-Party @ The Palladium Upstairs – Worcester, MA
9/21/2024 Metal Injection Fest – Brooklyn, NY
“Where Owls Know My Name is not only a fresh breath of air for death metal but metal in general. The record promises extravagant technicality that is fascinating and entertaining. RIVERS OF NIHIL have not only offered an excellent record, but have also raised the bar for death metal.” — Metal Injection
“It’s a Frankenstein’s monster of the tech-metal world. Where Owls Know My Name brilliantly blends thoroughbred, American brutality with European adventurousness, and the end result is an undeniable triumph.” — Louder Sound
“Where Owls Know My Name being the masterpiece that it is, it’s almost inconceivable to imagine how RIVERS OF NIHIL can proceed and attempt to outdo it in the future, however a far more realistic aspiration is that death metal acts all over the world can take note, and further contribute to re-branding death metal into a truly eclectic, articulate, and expressive art-form.” — Distorted Sound
RIVERS OF NIHIL Instrumental Lineup:
Brody Uttley – guitar
Jon Topore – guitar
Adam Biggs – bass
Jared Klein – drums
Zach Strouse – saxophone
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