In line with the decline of physical promos – nowadays we almost exclusively receive MP3s – the popularity of the single as a product is waning. Not least thanks to the popularity of Google’s video platform YouTube, it has made way for the video clip. Yet a few bands still dare to release the previously beloved single. This is also the case with Rivers Of Nihil with the single Criminals.
The disc is a so-called teaser for the album to be released later. It will be the first album on which bassist Adam Biggs takes care of lead vocals and the first album with guitarist Andy Thomas (ex-Black Crown Initiate). This change is accompanied by a break in style with the previous work The Work (2021). That’s not a bad thing at all, because although the album is certainly interesting musically, it lacks impact. It doesn’t work. It is the well-known pitfall of the progressive musician: you can perform fantastic feats on your instrument, but in the end you still have to write a nice song.
They prove that these gentlemen can write nice songs Criminals, which thematically revolves around the delicate balance between crime and punishment. It is perhaps one of the most aggressive tracks the band has ever put together. The track opens with a dark, oppressive bassline accompanied by neurotic guitar strumming. When the vocals kick in, the tech death party is complete.
As we have come to expect from the American quartet, the track has the necessary variation and a lot of experimentation. Of course we hear both clean vocals and grunts in different styles and of course the band again plays ingeniously with loud-soft dynamics. In addition, one understands the art of omission. Everything has been expertly forged together.
The track is accompanied by the singles released last year Hellbirds and The Sub-Oribital Blues, which are completely in line with this track. If the rest of the album to be released is also of this level, then we will have year-list material. This is a band in top form.
Track listing:
1. Criminals
2. Hellbirds
3. The Sub-Orbital Blues
