Rivers of Nihil with guests Holy Fawn, Inter Arma and GLACIAL TOMB

Rivers of Nihil have 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, once again upending any expectations fans had placed on them. And now, with a new series of singles recorded in early 2023 that will be released in the coming months and eventually appear together on an album, the band has once again shattered the ceiling of how far they are willing to go in search of new sonic terrain.

The Reading, Pennsylvania-based progressive death metalers spent 2021 and 2022 burning the candle at both ends with a frenzied tour schedule including headline runs of the U.S. and Europe, a jaunt on the European festival circuit and two runs in support of The Black Dahlia M**der and The Contortionist in North America. But once the latter tour wrapped up, they were short a band member.

For personal reasons, founding member and lead vocalist Jake Dieffenbach and the band went their separate ways. The split took place just three days after the recording of a live video and audio session for Audiotree's new 'From Nothing' series, which was released on April 20, 2023. And while initially the band wasn't sure how to approach the release with the departure of a founding member and lead singer - or whether to release it at all - they decided to move forward with it to honor Dieffenbach's contributions to the group over the years and mark the beginning of a new chapter.

riversofnihil.bandcamp.com

"Holy Fawn aren't strictly a metal band, but they are undeniably heavy. Their second album, Dimensional Bleed – released towards the end of 2022, and co-produced with Mike Watts (The Dillinger Escape Plan, Glassjaw) – is a wild ride, taking elements of post-rock, blackgaze, goth, post-punk, dream pop and grunge, and manipulating them all into a brand new super-strain of alternative music. Too dreamy for hardcore, too abrasive for indie, too pretty for straight metal… they’re slippery suckers..."

Vocalist Ryan Osterman says "We are emotionally heavy,” Ryan says. “It’s not traditional heaviness, but it’s heavier music. We use a lot of fuzz pedals. I think exploring that space between really heavy guitars and something a little more… let’s call it beautiful, is something I enjoy.” Bassist Alex Reith adds "“If I had to label it then I think we’re post-metal. I say that as I’m a huge fan of Isis, and I think we occupy the same emotional space that they do. I’m not sure everyone would agree, but it makes me happy to think of it in those terms.”

"...if you’re a fan of dark, brooding, achingly melodic tunes, then Dimensional Bleed is unquestionably going to steal your heart on first listen. Holy Fawn are yet more proof that heavy music has never sounded so diverse and exciting."- Louder Sound

holyfawn.bandcamp.com

Inter Arma's music resists generalization and categorization, but one thing that's consistently true, is that the VA quintet possesses an unparalleled sense of scope. Few artists convey the complexity that INTER ARMA (Latin for "in times of war") does. The band creates terrible and often hauntingly beautiful portraits of humanity through music that is deeply organic yet still mystical and modern.

"A virtual symphony of pummeling, dissonant riffs sculpted with unrelenting precision." - Pitchfork

"You can toss any number of adjectives at the Richmond metal band — psychedelic, progressive, dissonant, sludgy, doomy — but few acts capture the sublime wonder and terror that Inter Arma evokes. Metal with an intense curiosity." —Lars Gotrich (NPR)

www.interarmamusic.com

The Denver, CO trio have embraced the foundations of sludge-corrupted death and black metal from their debut album while levelling up instrumental technicality and nuanced songwriting for their second full length studio album, "Lightless Expanse" which was released via Prosthetic Records on September 20, 2024.

Invigorated by new bass player David Small’s presence, the group meticulously crafted "Lightless Expanse" throughout 2021 and 2022. Founding members Ben Hutcherson (guitar, vocals) and Michael Salazar (drums) embraced the new dynamic and fresh musical perspective Small brought to the band, with Hutcherson and Small’s work together in Khemmis no doubt fueling their creative alchemy.

The resulting album is an unflinching examination of the horrors of existence, captured with authenticity and meticulous attention to detail. The songs were produced and engineered by Hutcherson, with drums recorded at The Band Cave in Denver and everything else tracked at his home studio. In an era of hyper-quantized, soulless extreme music that prioritizes perfection above all else, the trio rehearsed relentlessly throughout 2022 before they began tracking in Spring 2023. They enlisted the renowned mixing and mastering skills of Arthur Rizk to realize their collective vision for this record.

The narrative arc that runs through the nine blistering tracks juxtaposes everyday suffering with nigh-ineffable cosmic horror; mental illness, grief, social isolation, and a longing for meaning all take the form of celestial beings and deific machinations. Hutcherson’s lyrics are inspired by writers such as Thomas Ligotti, Philipp Mainländer, Peter Wessel Zapffe, and Alan Watts.

These bleak themes are wrapped up in a bruising package of dissonant death metal intensity, shot through with a flourish of black metal grandiosity. Whilst the aforementioned dedication to arranging things ‘just so’ gives a technical and cerebral edge to their sound, the choruses are laden with soaring melodic hooks, satisfying the most riff-hungry amongst us. GLACIAL TOMB refuses to fit neatly within the parameters of any one genre, and their sound is all the richer for it. Lightless Expanse is a multi-layered exploration of heavy metal in all its complex and cathartic glory.

www.glacialtomb.com

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