Rivers of Nihil have been touring relentlessly since the release of their 3rd full length album, Where Owls Know My Name which dropped in March 2018. Rivers of Nihil have also hit the top 100 in US charts with a peak position of #9 for the US Hard Rock charts. The band is currently with Revocationand Exhumed on the first leg of the Revocation tour, which will meet up with Archspire and Soreption later next month for the second leg to go across Europe. I was able to sit down the band to learn more about Where Owls Know My Name, and the process behind the album.

GA: I saw the band live with Enterprise Earth earlier this year, this was about the time when the new album was released. How has the reaction been to the new album?

RoN: It has been pretty sick, a really good reaction. There has been a great response on all the tour stops we have been doing.

GA: The new album Where Owls Know My Name, has more of a progressive feel to it than your previous release Monarchy which was more of a death metal album. What sparked this shift of musical styling for the band?

BU: We just wanted to do something different. We all thought we said what we need to say on the previous two records, and we wanted to broaden our horizons. We wanted to introduce a bigger sonic palate, with more sounds and textures, to express things a little better than what we have done in the past.

GA: Can you tell me a little about the themes behind this album and what the studio recording process was like for the band?

BU: We recorded a lot of the guitar and bass at my home studio.Then we went to Atrium Audio to record drums and vocals, and to do mixing there. I would demo out whole songs at my house, then send it out to the guys. They would give their feedback, and then we would make changes accordingly. A couple of months before going to the studio we started to record the guitars and bass, so when we hit the studio it was a fast process. I think we were in there for two weeks, and just knocked everything out. It was nice because we have everything done beforehand. As far as themes go Adam can speak more on that.

AB: We are continuing the seasons concept that we started on the first album. This record is the fall record, so it has more tones of decay and death, but in a way not like other death metal bands explore this theme. It’s not all fun and games Halloween stuff, its more about the reality of getting older and facing the end of your life.

GA: When writing new material do you have a system, or is it a free for all on ideas to the table? What is your writing process like?

AB: Usually we will talk about what we want to do first. We will discuss what types kinds of moods and atmosphere we want to put towards the music, and make sure it all works cohesively. This is to make sure we are all on the same page first. It is usually Brody who starts the whole thing. He has his home studio set up, so he will crank out songs or bits of things, and we will put our input on it and add flavors. Brody will usually knock out the writing process then we will come in and add our little details.

GA: The band just released a video for the single Where Owls Know My Name, it’s a very trippy video with a nod to 60’s prog style music videos. Whose idea was it to make the video this way?

AB: It was my idea, I have always been a fan of early progressive rock music, and classic rock stuff. All those bands from back in the day did videos like this, like Top of The Popsor BBC. It was just live performances of them in front of a green screen, with trippy images. Usually the camera work was pretty bad, the chromakey looks pretty bad, all the transitions look very hand done, and very cheap, and I kind of wanted that. Initially we wanted a serious video, but as we were shooting it; the goofiness of it started to come out, and it turned into this whole other thing.

JT: It was fun, but a little awkward at first, because we couldn’t grab a tone, and we were just standing there. It was just basically us performing quietly in front of a green screen, then everything else is after effects.

GA: I have to ask whose idea was it to feature a saxophone on the track?

AB: It was my idea, but it was kind of happy accident. We have a friend Zack, who I recorded his band a few years ago,and found out he was a killer saxophone player. When we wrote the record, we found that we had these big open empty sections that didn’t have anything on them. I thought we could either put long guitar solos on these to fill them up, or maybe try something else. I am not a fan of meandering guitar parts so, I thought it would be cooler if we hit Zack up and see what he could do with it. What you hear on the record is what he sent me, he asked, ‘does this work, is this ok’, and it was amazing. We took a chance, and it was a happy accident that worked out pretty well.

GA: What gear is the band currently using for their live set up?

BU: We use Keisel guitars, Kemper amps, Mesa Boogiecabinets and power amps, and Ernie Ball strings.

JK: I use an Acrylic DW Classic drum set, Sabian Cymbals,Vratim drum shoes, and Trick Dominator pedals.

AB: Spector basses, and DarkGlass for my preamp, and a Mesa bass head.

JD: I use a Shure SM 57 microphone.

GA: What is next for the band after this tour?

JD: We have the second part of this tour which will take us to Europe, that will be with Soreption, Archspire, and Revocation. That is the next thing, and it will take us up to the end of the year, then we will come home and prepare for next year.

GA: Where can people go to keep up to date on the band and if they want to support you by buying merch where is your online store located?

BU: We have an Indiemerch store that carries most of our merchandise. If you are in Europe, you can get our stuff through Impericon. For our social media we are on Facebook,Instagram, and Twitter.

Be sure to check out the Rivers of Nihil’s latest release Where Owls Know My Name out at your local music stores and streaming online.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/riversofnihil/

Twitter: @riversofnihil

Instagram: @riversofnihil

Indiemerch: https://www.indiemerchstore.com/b/rivers-of-nihil

Impericon: https://www.impericon.com/us/rivers-of-nihil.html

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George Archibald

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