{"id":109988,"date":"2021-09-23T11:04:49","date_gmt":"2021-09-23T16:04:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/?p=109988"},"modified":"2021-09-23T11:04:49","modified_gmt":"2021-09-23T16:04:49","slug":"tech-death-thursday-rivers-of-nihil-the-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/tech-death-thursday-rivers-of-nihil-the-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Tech Death Thursday: Rivers of Nihil – The Work<\/i>"},"content":{"rendered":"
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How are we all doing today? Feeling awake, feeling good? Let’s change all that.<\/p>\n

Let this work go on and on<\/em>
\n\u2018Til the day is won<\/em>
\n\u2018Til another setting sun<\/em><\/p>\n

Rivers of Nihil<\/strong> is a band that needs little introduction, and rightly so. They have made a name for themselves in the progressive death metal world with a combination of unique, forward-thinking composition and relentless riffing style defined by their ridiculously low tuning and Jacob Dieffenbach’s vicious barked vocals. On top of that, they haven’t been content to simply take the “more songs” approach to their albums; each of the now four records is defined by a season, and the music and lyrics shift to thematically tie to that, from the vibrant spring tones of\u00a0Conscious Seed of Light<\/em> to the arid, smoldering\u00a0Monarchy<\/em> summer to\u00a0Where Owls Know My Name<\/em>‘s<\/em> introspective autumn. And beneath all this change, all these stylistic shifts, has been work.<\/p>\n

A lot of work.<\/p>\n

That all-important work, as you have probably surmised, is at the core of the band’s new album, the winter capstone to their seasonal cycle. Let’s not mince words here; this is not an uplifting album, not something you throw on to just jam out to some sweet icy riffs. It’s also not dark and wintry in a puerile stereotypical black metal “grim and frostbitten” kind of way; it’s much more nuanced than that. No, this is an album that dwells on addiction, on demand, on the work that we do day after day, those days turning into weeks into months into years, the work that defines our life and our being until it’s all that we are.<\/p>\n

Sit right here<\/em>
\n\u2018Cuz baby we can\u2019t take all year<\/em><\/p>\n

I know you see it<\/em>
\n\u2018Cuz I see it too<\/em>
\nAll of our dreams might never come true<\/em><\/p>\n

Let’s focus on the elephant in the room: musically, this is a very different album from its predecessors. It’s overall a quieter, slower experience than their prior output- listening to “Focus<\/a>,” one might almost get the impression it’s a more mainstream effort. While a few songs might indeed be lighter than what you might expect from the band, leaning more into the “progressive” part of the genre than the “death metal” bit, this is very much not easy listening, the occasional pretty melody notwithstanding. The band does not shy away from getting heavy, sometimes devastatingly so, punching through the serene contemplations in a hailstorm of guitar and drums.<\/p>\n