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
Net Unique
After the considerably muted reception to their final album, 2021’s The Work, it’s good to see Studying, PA’s main progressive loss of life steel 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 Identify, lengthy thought-about their masterpiece and one which even landed them within the Billboard 200 for a quick period of time, a relative rarity for underground loss of life steel, even one which has a lot of progressive tendencies, occasional clear vocals courtesy of drummer Jared Klein (which mix amazingly with the tough vocals of bassist Adam Biggs), and a few refined deathcore/metalcore affect as effectively. Taking part in a setlist composed principally of fabric from these two albums, that includes two of one of the best songs from The Work and at least 4 from Owls, additionally they performed at least 4 songs from their terrific, model new, self-titled album (together with the title observe).
Having to finish the present early meant solely enjoying ten songs, however given their common music 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 pressure, 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 searching refreshed, partly as a result of 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 effectively on this context, and so they additionally performed a implausible set. Ostensibly a “blackgaze” band a la Alcest or Deafheaven, they throw in too many components of doom, sludge and even post-rock to correctly classify, however it by no means seems like they’re straining or outdoors their consolation zone. The eclecticism and lack of adherence to style guidelines is far appreciated, however past that, they simply have an important sound and reside stage presence as effectively.
