Rivers Of Nihil – Where Owls Know My Name album review

Pennsylvania’s progressive extremists Rivers Of Nihil hit an all-new apex with Where Owls Know My Name

By Matt Mills
( Metal Hammer )
published
Rivers Of Nihil – Where Owls Know My Name

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Where Owls Know My Name

Rivers Of Nihil – Where Owls Know My Name album cover

1. Cancer / Moonspeak
2. The Silent Life
3. A Home
4. Old Nothing
5. Subtle Change (Including The Forest Of Transition And Dissatisfaction Dance)
6. Terrestria III: Wither
7. Hollow
8. Death Is Real
9. Where Owls Know My Name
10. Capricorn / Agoratopia

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On their third full-length album, Rivers Of Nihil have finally done it: they’ve crafted the fully-realised magnum opus that fans have been clamouring for ever since the band first exploded onto the extreme metal scene almost a decade ago. 

While The Conscious Seed Of Light and Monarchy are solid slices of experimental aggression, neither hold a candle to this latest juggernaut, which effortlessly balances the riffs of Enslaved, the drumming of Gojira, the songwriting skill of Death and the diverse instrumentation of Norway’s Shining. 

It’s a Frankenstein’s monster of the tech-metal world. Where Owls Know My Name brilliantly blends thoroughbred, American brutality with European adventurousness, and the end result is an undeniable triumph. 

If, in future, they can expand upon this disc’s monumental precedent, Rivers Of Nihil could well be the next heirs to the heavy prog throne.

Matt Mills
Matt Mills
Contributing Editor, Metal Hammer

Louder’s resident Gojira obsessive was still at uni when he joined the team in 2017. Since then, Matt’s become a regular in Prog and Metal Hammer, at his happiest when interviewing the most forward-thinking artists heavy music can muster. He’s got bylines in The Guardian, The Telegraph, NME, Guitar and many others, too. When he’s not writing, you’ll probably find him skydiving, scuba diving or coasteering.