History & Biography The Hierarchy demo of 2010 followed the band’s formation in 2009. The act was founded as a trio of Jake Dieffenbach (vocals), Jon Kunz (guitar) and Ron Nelson (drums) who had played in another band together before. The band played a gig as a trio. The 2011 demo for the techno-death metal band was called Temporality Unbound. Metal Blade picked the band up and the debut record was made available in 2013. It was called The Conscious Seed Of Light. 2014 touring had the band playing with cover band Death To All, as well as Obituary and Massacre. Hate Eternal, Misery Index, Beyond Creation and Rivers Of Nihil were touring in 2015. Hate Eternal’s Erik Rutan had produced the band’s debut album after trying to promote the band to labels.
Monarchy introduced drummer Alan Balamut and guitarist Jon Topore. Rivers Of Nihil would embark on another North American tour in support of its album, Monarchy, in 2016. The quintet first played a short run of headlining shows before joining Beyond Creation and The Zenith Passage for a tour that ran from July 8th through July 23rd. Where Owls Know My Name was drummed by Jared Klein - drummer Dylan Potts had come and gone - who was one of those strict part-timers. Orbit Culture and Black Crown Initiate became the openers for the Rivers Of Nihil European tour in 2019. The band still called itself 'metal,' but a saxophonist (who, of course, also played keyboards) called Patrick Corona started accompanying the act. Rivers Of Nihil (headliners), Fallujah, Alluvial and Warforged were touring the USA in 2022. Jake Dieffenbach left and Adam Biggs made the microphone a bigger part of his repertoire, alongside the bass. Jon Topore left in 2022. Andy Thomas of Black Crown Initiate joined on guitar in 2023. The man had been friends with the members for years. He would rejoin Black Crown Initiate in 2024. Ironically, upon departing Black Crown Initiate he had claimed too many line-up changes in BCI was the reason for departing. He was contributing to it now! Kyle Schaefer of Fallujah took over the vocals for the last six dates of Rivers Of Nihil‘s tour opening for Between The Buried And Me in 2023. Bassist/vocalist Adam Biggs was headed home due to a new addition to his family.
The band had a single, entitled Criminals, from its upcoming new full-length in 2024. The band was part of the 2024 edition of the Chaos & Carnage Tour featuring co-headliners Carnifex and Metal Blade label-mates Cattle Decapitation alongside The Zenith Passage, Humanity’s Last Breath, Vitriol and Face Yourself.
Rivers Of Nihil had an instrumental edition of its 2018 album, Where Owls Know My Name, through Metal Blade Records in 2024. The band claimed people have been “begging” for the instrumental version. In the line-up of the band’s albums, Where Owls Know My Name represented the autumn. The band was booked for Metal Injection Fest in 2024. The band was managed by Ben Umanov of Metalsucks website, which also had Metal Injection as part of its Blast Beat advertising umbrella. The sites were part of a company called The Orchard.
The band was also booked to play at the New England Metal and Hardcore Festival. The band was booked to play there in 2018 too. Rivers Of Nihil reissued its Hierarchy demo from 2010 through Metal Blade Records on November 8th 2024. The band completed a 2025 album featuring two self-cover versions, The Sub-Orbital Blues and Criminals. The album had the saxophone of Patrick Corona. No word if the band was inspired by Bruce Springsteen, Hall & Oates or Supertramp. Rivers Of Nihil, Cynic, Daath and Beyond Creation were part of The Aggressive Progressive Tour in Europe in the new year. Rivers Of Nihil will return to North American stages that spring on a month-long headlining tour. The Aggressive Progressive Tour of North America in the spring of 2025 featured Holy Fawn, Inter Arma and Glacial Tomb as openers. The band was booked for Summer Breeze 2025. Rivers Of Nihil announced a self-titled album through Metal Blade Records for 30.05.2025. Recorded in Lititz, Pennsylvania between March 2023 and June 2024 at Atrium Audio with Carson Slovak and Grant McFarland once again for production, mixing, and mastering duties, the artwork was created by Dan Seagrave. There was a video for the song House Of Light and featured a person on saxophone. Australia-based Ne Obliviscaris was heading to North America to headline a tour where it would perform its Citadel and Exul albums in their entirety to end 2025. Rivers Of Nihil and Psycroptic were to open. The band was to tour Latin America to begin 2026. The group was booked for Hellfest 2026 and was opening on tour in Europe for Queensrÿche.
Reviews
Interviews
|
