RIVERS OF NIHIL

A little imagination goes a long way. When RIVERS OF NIHIL first emerged from the Pennsylvania shadows, they were immediately praised for their deviant instincts. Progressive death metal takes many forms, but their 2013 debut album, "The Conscious Seed of Light", was clearly a qualitative cut above the rest and a genuinely fresh take on adventurous brutality. More than a decade later, RIVERS OF NIHIL are widely acknowledged as one of modern death metal's classiest acts, while also fulfilling a secondary role as ascendant stars of the progressive metal scene.

Each of the band's albums to date has been hailed as a triumph, from the sophisticated savagery of "Monarchy" (2015) and the prog-inclined "Where Owls Know My Name" (2018),to the all-out prog explosion of "The Work", which delighted and confused people in equal amounts upon release in 2021. At this stage, RIVERS OF NIHIL are certified heavyweights: a self-evident truth that "Rivers Of Nihil" seeks to hammer home. Nominally definitive, as eponymous albums are generally inclined to be, and much more deeply entrenched in death metal than its ground-breaking predecessor, this is an album that metalheads with discerning taste have been getting very excited about for a long time.

If "The Work" was a no-holds-barred prog record, "Rivers Of Nihil" is an act of consolidation. No less adventurous than its predecessor, this is a sharp, lean ten-song set, with a masterful ebb and flow and, superficially at least, a lot more balls-out extreme metal than "The Work" could comfortably have allowed. But rather than dialing down the weirdness and upping the deathly content in the name of retaining a fan base, RIVERS OF NIHIL have morphed into something subtly new: a dazzling hybrid of progressive death metal, eccentric prog sensibilities, and sophisticated, wildly melodic songcraft. There are saxophones, banjos and Mellotrons. There are vicious, scything breakdowns. There are countless moments of transcendental beauty, and a similar number of punishing death metal assaults. There are vocal harmonies that would not be out of place on a YES album from the '70s. There are atmospheres that hark back to the lysergic prog craziness of GOBLIN and POPOL VUH. And above all, there are huge, life-affirming heavy metal songs that seldom walk an expected path.

"The Sub-Orbital Blues" is an imperious opener and a revealing statement of intent, the sparkly eyed pomposity of DEVIN TOWNSEND's spaciest material colliding with RIVERS OF NIHIL's death metal barrage. "Dustman" and "Criminals" are both tightly structured, prog death diamonds, their colorful instrumentation adding extra layers of mystery to the band's intelligent and immersive arrangements. One of several songs that revels in sonorous saxophone embellishments, "Despair Church" is a slow-loving cyclone of cinematic melancholy and euphoric vocal hooks; while the previously released "Water & Time" is a highly evolved melo-death crusher with a rabble-rousing spirit.

Having taken over as vocalist from the departed Jake Dieffenbach, bassist Adam Biggs acquits himself superbly throughout, giving RIVERS OF NIHIL a more nuanced vocal identity overall, particularly on more epic, out-there moments. A song as rich and substantial as "House Of Light" would be a gift for any singer, but Biggs's inhabits his new role with the conviction of someone who truly understands how great these songs really are and how best to make them shine. As with another, magnificent recent single, "American Death", "House Of Light" is RIVERS OF NIHIL's next-level progressive death in an immaculate nutshell. Brutality will always be an integral part of this band's sound, but as one important part of a broader, more daring musical vocabulary, rather than the whole of the law.

From the highly strung, fluid extremity of "Evidence", to the dreamlike lushness and portentous grandeur of "The Logical End", this is a clever, confident and powerful piece of work that might just be, for one time only, all things to all people. Either way, this is one of this year's most unmissable metal (and prog) records, and RIVERS OF NIHIL are beginning to sound unstoppable.