Rivers Of Nihil (USA) Debut New Zealand Shows Announced

Hailed as "one of the heaviest prog metal bands ever" by Loudwire, Pennsylvania powerhouses of the form Rivers of Nihil are making their way to Aotearoa New Zealand for their inaugural visit this winter. Bringing together sonically crushing virtuosity and outside the box instrumentation for their majestic, regularly cinematic compositions — being one of very few visiting metal groups to feature a saxophonist as touring member — Rivers of Nihil have headline dates locked in for Wellington's Valhalla and Auckland's Whammy Bar in mid-August. They're venturing down under touring their acclaimed 2025 self titled album (Metal Blade Records) for a pair of events that will be epic in every sense of the word, brought to you by Valhalla Touring and Destroy All Lines...

Rivers of Nihil

Tuesday 18th Aug - Valhalla, Wellington
Wednesday 19th Aug - Whammy, Auckland

Tickets on sale via UTR from 9am, Monday 16th March

Experience 'Water & Time' from Rivers of Nihil's 2025 self-titled album...

Here's the immense title track from Rivers of Nihil's 2018 album Where Owls Know My Name...

Press release:

Pennsylvania's progressive death metal progenitors Rivers of Nihil make their first voyage to Aotearoa New Zealand.

The quartet's musicianship has been honed to a fine point thanks to an unrelenting touring schedule over the past few years, including headline tours of the U.S. and EU/UK, as well as touring with Cattle Decapitation, Carnifex, Lorna Shore, Between the Buried and Me, and touring with titans of progressive death metal Cynic, Beyond Creation, and Dååth.

Life on the road for Rivers is a treat for fans and band members alike. "For the most part, it's very mellow, with a lot of laughs and a lot of ball-busting. Andy (Guitar, Vocals), and I have been friends for over 15 years, and Jared (Drums) has been in the fold since 2017" says founding member/guitarist Brody Uttley. Founding bassist Adam Biggs became the band's new lead vocalist/bassist in 2023, which upped the ante and led to the release of self-titled album Rivers of Nihil (2025). Traditionally, a self-titled record can signal a return to basics and/or a fresh beginning, and in 10 powerful songs, it's clear that both those factors are in play. "I feel like these songs are the perfect blend of all our albums, with all the fat cut away," says Uttley.

River of Nihil have riffs, big choruses, the prog, the solos, the sax and now it will have Aotearoa New Zealand