Reading, Pennsylvania-based progressive death metallers RIVERS OF NIHIL are pleased to release the instrumental edition of their acclaimed full-length, The Work, out today on Metal Blade Records.
RIVERS OF NIHIL has never fit neatly into a box, but with 2018’s Where Owls Know My Name, they transcended all labels applied to them. Returning in 2021 with The Work, they forged further into new territory, delivering an album that was as cerebral as it was visceral, and that covers a staggering sonic range, definitively placing them in a category of their own.
With the first track penned in the fall of 2018, while the band were touring on …Owls…, the writing process for The Work was long, lasting well into 2020. Even before the music industry shutdown that happened concurrently with the Covid pandemic, the band intended to take most of 2020 off to focus on writing, meaning that their schedule was not disrupted. Guitarist Brody Uttley describes the final product as a “Sound World,” a term coined by a friend. “It’s an album that almost sounds like a place rather than a thing. It puts you in this world where you’re not exactly sure what is going on at certain points, but eventually, it all comes together. It’s harsh and cold, but also warm and inviting,” he adds.
The Work (Instrumentals) Track Listing:
01. The Tower (Theme from “The Work”) [Instrumental]
02. Dreaming Black Clockwork (Instrumental)
03. Wait (Instrumental)
04. Focus (Instrumental)
05. Clean (Instrumental)
06. The Void from Which No Sound Escapes (Instrumental)
07. MORE? (Instrumental)
08. Tower 2 (Instrumental)
09. Episode (Instrumental)
10. Maybe One Day (Instrumental)
11. Terrestria IV: Work (Instrumental)
RIVERS OF NIHIL Instrumental Lineup:
Brody Uttley – guitar
Jon Topore- guitar
Adam Biggs – bass/vocals
Jared Klein – drums
Zach Strouse – Saxophone
Grant McFarland – Cello on “The Void from Which No Sound Escapes”
RIVERS OF NIHIL Live:
9/19/2024 Empire Underground – Albany, NY
9/20/2024 New England Metal And Hardcore Fest Pre-Party @ The Palladium Upstairs – Worcester, MA
9/21/2024 Montage Music Hall – Rochester, NY
9/22/2024 Metal Injection Fest – Brooklyn, NY
“The Work is nothing less than a work of art. It’s by far the group’s most cohesive, ambitious, meditative, and varied effort, with greater uses of philosophical significance and transcendental respites.” — Metal Injection
“Having birthed a beloved progressive metal concept album in 2018’s Where Owls Know My Name, RIVERS OF NIHIL beat down any confinements of genre in their more experimental and personal follow-up The Work…one of progressive metal’s finest artists.” — V13
“The Work is exhilarating, but it’s also heartfelt. Beyond the technical prowess the band showcases,, The Work is a stunning exploration of perseverance. Life can be devastating; whether it’s striving through the days against a demoralizing day job, addiction, grief or mental illness, life takes work to exist. On The Work, the band don’t just capture this harsh reality, but also provide a ray of hope-that perseverance is necessary and something better is within one’s grasp.” — Treble
More Info:
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