Rivers of Nihil may ditch saxophone for dissonant follow-up to progressive 'Where Owls Know My Name'

Рет қаралды 10,064

5 жыл бұрын

We caught up with Rivers of Nihil vocalist Jake Dieffenbach and guitarist Brody Uttley to discuss the making of their autumn record, 'Where Owls Know My Name.' They explain the story behind the unconventional use of saxophone on "The Silent Life" and the reasoning behind it, as well as why they don't want to be "the sax band." That desire might lead them to ditch the brass for their new album, the final in a season-themed concept series, in favour of a more dissonant theme to mimic the flurries of winter. They summarize the story behind the first three albums, starting on 'The Conscious Seeds of Light' (spring) and 'Monarchy' (summer), before revealing they don't know where they plan to take it after the fall album. They talk about similar musical phrasing that connects songs on their latest and throughout their albums via the "Terrestria" tracks. Brody also explains his guitar tone and why his goal has never been djent. Interview conducted on July 5 2018 at Toronto's Rockpile, while the band was on tour with Alterbeast and Inferi.
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Пікірлер: 60

@atomicbrain9401 5 жыл бұрын

So we can expect their next album to be the band performing as a full brass ensemble? Got it.

@AggressiveTendencies 5 жыл бұрын

Hahaha. Imagine?

@danrobichaud 5 жыл бұрын

I expect nothing less.

@ThrashBandicoot666 5 жыл бұрын

I love the Sax on Owls, but knowing Rivers they find some way to change their sound so that each album is refreshingly different and I absolutely appreciate their willingness to continue to experiment with their own sound. I'm super excited to see them play this album with Live sax though, it's going to be an amazing time. Love this band ever since the first record.

@AggressiveTendencies 5 жыл бұрын

Man, I WISH that sax tour was coming here. Might have to make a road trip for that. And yeah, they're great at those subtle reinventions that invigorate their sound but don't abandon it. Thank you for watching...Aggressive Tendencies will be posting more regularly now.

@ThrashBandicoot666 5 жыл бұрын

@@AggressiveTendencies Damn, that's a huge bummer that it's not coming by your town, definitely gonna be worth the drive. This show is going to be an unforgettable experience.

@thefilmeffect6089 5 жыл бұрын

They should use flutes on their next record. It's a great instrument alongside metal. I would've never thought that until I heard The Faceless use it on their song Digging The Grave. I love metal bands bringing new instruments into heavy music.

@metalmatt915 5 жыл бұрын

The sax was one of the highlights of the album, but ditching it is heading in the right direction. It will make the album stand out in their discography and obviously they don't want every album to be the same thing. I don't know how they will top Where Owls Know My Name. It is such a great album. I love seeing bands push themselves into new territory and that is what Rivers of Nihil did with Owls. I can't wait to see where it goes from here.

@AggressiveTendencies 5 жыл бұрын

Hell yeah. I'm confident they'll produce something truly interesting on their own terms.

@thefilmeffect6089 5 жыл бұрын

@Himihan 5 жыл бұрын

Loved this interview. A very underrated aspect of this band is how they put that lens of each season on their record. I was thinking the winter record is going to be really gritty, and hopefully have a good amount of black metal influence.

@AggressiveTendencies 5 жыл бұрын

Thanks Josh! Agreed, tempering each record with that lens allows them all to be distinct but without losing the essence of the band. I'm very excited to hear how they encompass winter. Good call on the black metal thing.

@LesusJizard 5 жыл бұрын

Seem like cool and humble guys, lookin forward to more uploads!

@AggressiveTendencies 5 жыл бұрын

They really are. Thanks, Kyle! We should be back on a more regular schedule now. I appreciate you bearing with us.

@bleh8789 5 жыл бұрын

Got to talk to Jake for quite a long time, he's a sweet guy!

@Luemm3l 5 жыл бұрын

Talked with them after a gig where they openes for revocation and obscura when monarchy was just out. Really humble, nice and cool dudes. When winter is coming my ros beanie is gonna keep me warm

@AttilatheThrilla 4 жыл бұрын

Whoa... Looking forward to winter then 😳

@HorseshoeofDeath 5 жыл бұрын

As a massive Mastodon fan, I am just going to come out and say it: I am absolutely not expecting these guys to become some kind of weird clean-vocaled prog band with lots of different instruments. The sax was fine, I wasn't that big on it, but I loved the album as a whole. I really hope these guys can continue to build their sound and if they want, experiment more with different instruments not really linked with the tech death genre, but I hope that they don't take a Mastodon approach. After they lost their "elements" themes for their albums (fire for Remission, water for Leviathan, earth for Blood Mountain, and ether for Crack the Skye) they seemed to really struggle to find a theme. These guys have a lot of potential still left in them, where as Mastodon has almost given up on being a sludge metal band after Emperor of Sand. Show Yourself really showed me the direction that band is heading. If you read all of this, thank you for listening to my ted talk.

@MRSludgedude 4 жыл бұрын

I never though mastodon was sludge. More like melvins proto sludge grunge. Crowbar, down, acid bath are the sludge kings. I'd put mastodon and melvins as sister bands. Proto sludge grunge. Proto sludge lacks the dark doom influence that the southern nola sludge. I'm trying to get into mastodon and melvins but it's long listen lol.

@mr.j1105 5 жыл бұрын

Saw them in Sacramento recently. Dudes absolutely killed it live! Definitely a must see in person.

@jeusvox2878 4 жыл бұрын

Love the emphasis on creativity with meaning and purpose behind their music. Very intriguing.

@Chaoplasm01 5 жыл бұрын

Love how obviously psyched they both are about the band

@AggressiveTendencies 5 жыл бұрын

Hell yeah! And rightfully so, they've had a wicked streak since the latest album dropped.

@dannystumpf321 4 жыл бұрын

I can’t wait for this record

@thefilmeffect6089 3 жыл бұрын

I'd say bring in some flutes or more brass work. I never would've thought flutes would sound amazing on a death metal record, but I heard them on The Faceless' Digging The Grave song and they sound amazing. I would also love some more harmonies with the clean vocals like the start of the title track. I can't wait to see what this band does next and I feel their magnum opus is still to come. The sky is the limit with this band's talent.

@teapotofdoom 5 жыл бұрын

🤘 great stuff

@Kyp031 5 жыл бұрын

I don't why it's shocking, behemoth used a tasteful sax part on their Satanists album.

@fleshmotorcycle9427 4 жыл бұрын

For real, if Rivers works some dissonance into their next album it will be so fitting. Maybe we'l hear a piano like Warforged, I dunno. The reverb-y, dissonant sections in Owls give it a cold feeling, as if we're slipping into winter. I am super stoked to see them work with winter as a theme for the next album.

@jlnihilith 3 жыл бұрын

Totally agree with you here man, Warforged are the best! I'm hoping Rivers will go in a more dissonant / black metal route for the winter album

@voxextremos22 2 жыл бұрын

Warforged is the shit dude

@fleshmotorcycle9427 2 жыл бұрын

I find it personally offensive that they didn’t become giants of the metal genre with that last LP

@jeusvox2878 4 жыл бұрын

I sense keyboard/piano possibly coming on the new record. Possibly some acoustic guitar, clean guest vocals, and maybe some extra strings like violins and cellos. So many ideas come to mind. I also give these guys a lot of credit, theres alot of bands in the metal genre now a days that just sound like rinse and repeat copy pastas of the same music over and over. Just lots of chugging, with a pretty simple riff and normal song structure that is used through the whole album usually. These guys on the other hand have their own unique sound first off with the instruments thenselves., and go the extra mile to add depth, emotion, meaning and character to their music on top of being technically amazing. They remind me of Metallica during the Master and Justice days tbh, with how long some of their songs are first off, and how the changes in melodies can occur with some parts sounding like a completely different song. Did I mention they're incredible live? Much props and respect to these guys, I hope their dream lasts and affirds then a life worth living. It's hard to make a living off of music, especially in the metal scene, but i think these guys are gonna make it, and by make it, i dont necessarily mean make millions of dollars and sell millions of albums, but just being able to make and play music souly for a living. Keep it up RoN 🤘. Quick edit: Rain Eater and Airless are still my 2 favorite songs, but I do enjoy a giant portion of their music on all 3 albums. Awesome band.

@Inverted314 4 жыл бұрын

One of their guitarists plays piano, few clips on his youtube channel so I'd say that's a very solid prediction!

@Hesperyd Жыл бұрын

aaand update, they ruined everything lmao

@mrhamburgler480 2 жыл бұрын

for me personally, many songs across their Owls album, (especially parts when the saxophone comes in) reminds me of Chrono-Trigger. A lot, in fact lol. And its fucking glorious lol. Just puts me in mind of the game, and stirs up many mental images of Chrono-Trigger's music and themes. This band has quickly become one of my new favs. Cant believe I didnt give them a listen sooner.👍 Better late than never though 😎

@calebbenoit7011 4 жыл бұрын

Classic black metal has always felt Christmasy for some reason. So if they had some of that "discusting" gritty black influence, I'd be sooo fuckin down for that

@arturorubio7114 3 жыл бұрын

Love the progressive stuff!

@chacecampbell2697 5 жыл бұрын

I could see black metal and sludge vibes working well for a winter theme. I'm sure whatever they come up with will be fantastic.

@emilrahimov9835 4 жыл бұрын

Fuck Yeah!

@voxextremos22 2 жыл бұрын

The sax Player is also the Bassist In Burial In The Sky. They just released. an album 2 weeks ago. I’m glad they aren’t being a gimmicky band. If they became the sax band they’d be boring in my opinion

@leperlord7078 5 жыл бұрын

Esau? Is that spelled right? i have not heard of them

@AggressiveTendencies 5 жыл бұрын

Ihsahn!

@leperlord7078 5 жыл бұрын

@@AggressiveTendencies Cheers mate i know them Epic stuff

@The_Dusk_Sage 5 жыл бұрын

I hope for tragic melodic black metal parts with cello, ala Pantheon I

@Chicago_Podcast_Authority 4 жыл бұрын

Keep the saxophone. It's fucking badass!

@matiasmontes9758 4 жыл бұрын

Yo sabia q Jake era forifo

@shrediknight4738 2 жыл бұрын

Edge of Sanity

@edwardscissorhands1707 4 жыл бұрын

There’s no reason to get defensive about his guitar style. djent riffs are so tasty. djent became hella taboo for whatever reason but now it’s to the point where the artists are begging, pleading for forgiveness & emphatically apologizing lol

@kijkedwin 3 жыл бұрын

Pan Thy Monium had a sax

@holobolo1 3 жыл бұрын

but sax in death metal is so dope

@metallimatt10 3 жыл бұрын

Fuck that the sax was fucking dope! I was channel surfing on xm headed to work and the sax drew me in lol

@MoonOvIce 4 жыл бұрын

Umm...what's with the short shorts??

@DapperHesher 2 жыл бұрын

It's fuckin' hot in the south, moon man.

@seansullivan7928 4 жыл бұрын

Is brody whatever his last fucking name is. A psuedo name for his real name, Dustin Diamond

@pizzamon963 5 жыл бұрын

The saxophone makes this band

@jctheii 5 жыл бұрын

Pizza Mon It doesn’t .

@mishrazz 4 жыл бұрын

I kind of agree. I would most likely never have discovered this band without the sax song being «a thing» that made them pop up on the radar. And I like The Silent Life BECAUSE there is a sax in there, not in spite of there being one. If you take away the sax, I’m afraid they’ll drown in the numbers of bands that sound pretty much excactly like them... Taking away the one thing that actually makes them stand out, doesn’t sound like the best carreer move, but who knows. They might pull it off.