History Music / RiversOfNihil

* SpecialGuest: Zach Strouse tracked saxophone on multiple songs on ''Where Owls Know My Name'', while [[Music/BlackCrownInitiate Andy Thomas]] tracked guest cleans on the aforementioned album's title track.

* NewSoundAlbum: ''Monarchy'' has less straightforward, more complex arrangements with a much wider variety of tempo and mood shifts. The first half is reasonably similar to ''The Conscious Seed of Light'', but the album becomes its own animal as it nears the second half.

* ProgressiveMetal

* SopranoAndGravel: Sorta. Jake has a mid-ranged roar that is somewhere between [[Music/MorbidAngel Steve Tucker]] and [[Music/{{Vader}} Piotr Wiwczarek]], while Adam has a much higher rasp.

* TrueCompanions: With Kamikabe.

Formed in Reading, Pennsylvania in 2009 by Jake Dieffenbach (vocals), Jonathan Kunz and Brody Uttley (guitars), Adam Biggs (bass, vocals) and Ron Nelson, the band quickly built up a live reputation that helped make ''Hierarchy'', their debut EP, an underground hit in 2010. Shows throughout the Northeast helped continue the momentum, as did their second EP, ''Temporality Unbound'', which came out in late 2011. It was sometime around this period that [[Music/HateEternal Erik Rutan]] discovered them on [=MySpace=] and left them a message praising them and informing them of his desire to work with them someday. This, along with a successful tour with their buddies in Kamikabe, only served to further embolden them; when offered a deal with Metal Blade Records in 2012, it became apparent that their hard work had paid off. Recording for their full-length began in March of 2013; come that October, ''The Conscious Seed of Light'' was released and met with much fanfare and critical acclaim. Various tours followed; additionally, 2014 brought the band's first hiccup, as Ron Nelson decided to leave and was replaced by Alan Balamut. Additionally, their first major tour of that year with Oceano, Broken Hope, Fallujah, and Kublai Khan ended early due to a string of ill fortune that struck every band on the bill except them and resulted in the cancellation of the tour; thankfully, another tour with Whitechapel and [=DevilDriver=] was just around the corner and went fine, so it's likely that that was just a bump in the road. Kunz later quit in September and was replaced by Jon Topore, and the band is currently preparing to embark on the "Swamp Leper Stomp" tour with the newest [[Music/{{Death}} Death to All]] lineup, Obituary, and Massacre. Their second album, ''Monarchy'', is slated for a late summer 2015 release. Around the end of 2015, Alan Balamut left due to a mix of a rough financial situation and a desire to finally finish school; Dylan Potts was brought on as a live fill-in and was inducted as a full-time member sometime after. He did not work out and was gone by the end of 2016, however, and Jared Klein was brought in as a fill-in before being made full-time himself in 2017.

* AscendedExtra: Dylan Potts and Jared Klein were both originally live fill-ins before being asked to join full-time, though the former was kicked out after roughly a year.

* ApocalypseHow: "Mechanical Trees" features a Class 1 that is fast on its way to Class 2; civilization still exists, but the atmosphere is so thoroughly polluted that breathable air has to be created by the titular devices.

* BadassBeard: Jake

* ConceptAlbum: ''The Conscious Seed of Light'', kinda. It's not a true concept album, but it's thematically based around spring and structured in a way that reflects this. ''Monarchy'' follows a similar idea, this time being based around summer.

* AscendedExtra: Dylan Potts and Jared Klein were both originally live fill-ins before being asked to join full-time.

* EpicRocking: "Suntold" (7:23) and "Circles in the Sky" (6:27).

* SopranoAndGravel: Sorta. Jake has a mid-ranged roar that is somewhere between [[Music/MorbidAngel David Vincent]] and [[Music/{{Vader}} Piotr Wiwczarek]], while Adam has a much higher rasp.

Formed in Reading, Pennsylvania in 2009 by Jake Dieffenbach (vocals), Jonathan Kunz and Brody Uttley (guitars), Adam Biggs (bass, vocals) and Ron Nelson, the band quickly built up a live reputation that helped make ''Hierarchy'', their debut EP, an underground hit in 2010. Shows throughout the Northeast helped continue the momentum, as did their second EP, ''Temporality Unbound'', which came out in late 2011. It was sometime around this period that [[Music/HateEternal Erik Rutan]] discovered them on [=MySpace=] and left them a message praising them and informing them of his desire to work with them someday. This, along with a successful tour with their buddies in Kamikabe, only served to further embolden them; when offered a deal with Metal Blade Records in 2012, it became apparent that their hard work had paid off. Recording for their full-length began in March of 2013; come that October, ''The Conscious Seed of Light'' was released and met with much fanfare and critical acclaim. Various tours followed; additionally, 2014 brought the band's first hiccup, as Ron Nelson decided to leave and was replaced by Alan Balamut. Additionally, their first major tour of that year with Oceano, Broken Hope, Fallujah, and Kublai Khan ended early due to a string of ill fortune that struck every band on the bill except them and resulted in the cancellation of the tour; thankfully, another tour with Whitechapel and [=DevilDriver=] was just around the corner and went fine, so it's likely that that was just a bump in the road. Kunz later quit in September and was replaced by Jon Topore, and the band is currently preparing to embark on the "Swamp Leper Stomp" tour with the newest [[Music/{{Death}} Death to All]] lineup, Obituary, and Massacre. Their second album, ''Monarchy'', is slated for a late summer 2015 release. Around the end of 2015, Alan Balamut left due to a mix of a rough financial situation and a desire to finally finish school; Dylan Potts was brought on as a live fill-in and was inducted as a full-time member sometime after.

* AscendedExtra: Dylan Potts was originally a live fill-in before being asked to join full-time.

* ConceptAlbum: ''The Conscious Seed of Light'', kinda. It's not a true concept album, but it's thematically based around spring and structured in a way that reflects this.

The band contains examples of the following tropes:

* TheAllegedCar: Even by metal standards, their old van was a piece of shit and they were more than happy to admit it. Adam even walked one interviewer through all the bizarre and frustrating quirks of it, which included lots of bad sensors that essentially made most of the indicator lights and dials on the dashboard worthless, bad locks that rendered several doors largely unusable, and frustrating air conditioning quirks that seemed to be indicative of larger electrical problems. They got a newer, much better one, however, and their old one presumably met its end in a scrapyard.

Formed in Reading, Pennsylvania in 2009 by Jake Dieffenbach (vocals), Jonathan Kunz and Brody Uttley (guitars), Adam Biggs (bass, vocals) and Ron Nelson, the band quickly built up a live reputation that helped make ''Hierarchy'', their debut EP, an underground hit in 2010. Shows throughout the Northeast helped continue the momentum, as did their second EP, ''Temporality Unbound'', which came out in late 2011. It was sometime around this period that [[Music/HateEternal Erik Rutan]] discovered them on [=MySpace=] and left them a message praising them and informing them of his desire to work with them someday. This, along with a successful tour with their buddies in Kamikabe, only served to further embolden them; when offered a deal with Metal Blade Records in 2012, it became apparent that their hard work had paid off. Recording for their full-length began in March of 2013; come that October, ''The Conscious Seed of Light'' was released and met with much fanfare and critical acclaim. Various tours followed; additionally, 2014 brought the band's first hiccup, as Ron Nelson decided to leave and was replaced by Alan Balamut. Additionally, their first major tour of that year with Oceano, Broken Hope, Fallujah, and Kublai Khan ended early due to a string of ill fortune that struck every band on the bill except them and resulted in the cancellation of the tour; thankfully, another tour with Whitechapel and [=DevilDriver=] was just around the corner and went fine, so it's likely that that was just a bump in the road. Kunz later quit in September and was replaced by Jon Topore, and the band is currently preparing to embark on the "Swamp Leper Stomp" tour with the newest [[Music/{{Death}} Death to All]] lineup, Obituary, and Massacre. Their second album, ''Monarchy'', is slated for a late summer 2015 release.

* TheAllegedCar: Even by metal standards, their van is a piece of shit and they'll happily admit it. Adam even walked one interviewer through all the bizarre and frustrating quirks of it, which include lots of bad sensors that essentially make most of the indicator lights and dials on the dashboard worthless, bad locks that render several doors largely unusable, and frustrating air conditioning quirks that seem to be indicative of larger electrical problems. It's still kicking, but it's definitely not in great shape.

* LeadBassist: Adam is equal parts Type A, B, and D, as his basslines factor heavily into their sound.

* SopranoAndGravel: Sorta. Jake has a mid-ranged roar akin to [[Music/MorbidAngel David Vincent]], while Adam has a much higher rasp.

* TheAllegedCar: Even by metal standards, their van is a piece of shit and they'll happily admit it. Adam even walked one interviewer through all the bizarre and frustrating quirks of it.

Formed in Reading, Pennsylvania in 2009 by Jake Dieffenbach (vocals), Jonathan Kunz and Brody Uttley (guitars), Adam Biggs (bass, vocals) and Ron Nelson, the band quickly built up a live reputation that helped make ''Hierarchy'', their debut EP, an underground hit in 2010. Shows throughout the Northeast helped continue the momentum, as did their second EP, ''Temporality Unbound'', which came out in late 2011. It was sometime around this period that [[Music/HateEternal Erik Rutan]] discovered them on [=MySpace=] and left them a message praising them and informing them of his desire to work with them someday. This, along with a successful tour with their buddies in Kamikabe, only served to further embolden them; when offered a deal with Metal Blade Records in 2012, it became apparent that their hard work had paid off. Recording for their full-length began in March of 2013; come that October, ''The Conscious Seed of Light'' was released and met with much fanfare and critical acclaim. Various tours followed; additionally, 2014 brought the band's first hiccup, as Ron Nelson decided to leave and was replaced by Alan Balamut. Additionally, their first major tour of that year with Oceano, Broken Hope, Fallujah, and Kublai Khan ended early due to a string of ill fortune that struck every band on the bill except them and resulted in the cancellation of the tour; thankfully, another tour with Whitechapel and [=DevilDriver=] was just around the corner and went fine, so it's likely that that was just a bump in the road. Kunz later quit in September and was replaced by Jon Topore, and the band is currently preparing to embark on the "Swamp Leper Stomp" tour with the newest [[Music/{{Death}} Death to All]] lineup, Obituary, and Massacre.

Formed in Reading, Pennsylvania in 2009 by Jake Dieffenbach (vocals), Jonathan Kunz and Brody Uttley (guitars), Adam Biggs (bass, vocals) and Ron Nelson, the band quickly built up a live reputation that helped make ''Hierarchy'', their debut EP, an underground hit in 2010. Shows throughout the Northeast helped continue the momentum, as did their second EP, ''Temporality Unbound'', which came out in late 2011. It was sometime around this period that [[Music/HateEternal Erik Rutan]] discovered them on [=MySpace=] and left them a message praising them and informing them of his desire to work with them someday. This, along with a successful tour with their buddies in Kamikabe, only served to further embolden them; when offered a deal with Metal Blade Records in 2012, it became apparent that their hard work had paid off. Recording for their full-length began in March of 2013; come that October, ''The Conscious Seed of Light'' was released and met with much fanfare and critical acclaim. Various tours followed; additionally, 2014 brought the band's first hiccup, as Ron Nelson decided to leave and was replaced by Alan Balamut. Additionally, their first major tour of that year with Oceano, Broken Hope, Fallujah, and Kublai Khan ended early due to a string of ill fortune that struck every band on the bill except them and resulted in the cancellation of the tour; thankfully, another tour with Whitechapel and [=DevilDriver=] is just around the corner, so it's likely that that was just a bump in the road.

* TechnicalDeathMetal

* FiveManBand:
** TheLeader: Jon Kunz
** TheLancer: Brody Uttley
** TheBigGuy: Alan Balamut
** TheSmartGuy: Adam Biggs
** TheHeart: Jake Dieffenbach