Beyond Creation & Rivers of Nihil
15th May 2019
Whammy! Bar, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by Andy Kim. Photography by Sarah Kidd.
Last night was rather an exciting evening in Auckland for a small but dedicated group of extreme metal fans as two international, up and coming technical death metal bands were set to play New Zealand for the first time in their careers; the evening promising to be all about lightning swift digits that would flash across eight string guitars, showering the ever-tumultuous crowd and making them salivate for more.
Neighbours by geographical location, and friends through their shared love of making skull-shredding music, Americans Rivers of Nihil teamed up with Canadians Beyond Creation for an epic double header. With each of their newest albums, Where Owls Know My Name from Rivers of Nihil and Algorythm from Beyond Creation, both bands have embraced a more progressive approach to their song crafting, toning down on the raw aggression and brutality in their sound in favour of incorporating more sonic sophistication and variety, those present in Whammy! Bar enthusiastic to witness the new material live in person.
Before the ensuing chaos however, local band Silent Torture were the first to warm up the crowd. All in all, they were a very tight unit with moments of highlight from each individual member. Lead guitarist Grady Gottler brought out intricate solos throughout their set, while bassist Elijah Pinho and drummer Ross Curtain both had brief solo interludes to keep the tracks interesting; Aidan McGorry laying down firm rhythm sections to hold the overall sound together.
The aspect that I felt the band fell short on was their overall song writing, as each track was indistinguishable from another in terms of both vocal and instrumental delivery bar a riff or two. This of course was no issue at all for their purpose of playing straight forward death metal, and they were well received by the crowd. Vocalist Liam Hand’s distorted vocals throughout their songs contrasted by his friendly and pleasant ‘thank you’ after each track bringing an element of humour to their performance that stood out.
Rivers of Nihil kicked off their explosive set with ‘Death is Real’; mostly playing tracks from their latest album they also dipped into some of their back catalogue with albums Monarchy and The Conscious Seed of Light. While the whole unit displayed a stellar performance, bassist Adam Biggs was the definite stand out of the band, wielding a six string bass upon which he effortlessly showed a wide array of technique, namely tapping the fretboard with multiple fingers on both hands which was mesmerising to watch in person, all the while delivering killer vocals with both clean singing and distorted screams, low and high.
Vocalist Jacob Dieffenbach seamlessly connected with the crowd and immediately got them moving as soon as they started playing and kept the fans pumped throughout. Towards the close of the set, they played two songs with saxophone parts, which is one of the exceptional features of their latest album. Unfortunately, the parts in question had to be pre-recorded tracks played digitally which was a slight let down but understandable considering the logistics of having to bring along a saxophone player on a brief tour. ‘The Silent Life’, their first single from their latest album, brought their set to a satisfying close.
Not too long after Rivers of Nihil had wrapped up, Beyond Creation stepped onto the stage with the pre-recorded orchestral instrumental song ‘Disenthrall’, the first track off 2018’s Algorythm; they then proceeded to play through the entirety of the album. Witnessing the signature style of Beyond Creation’s approach to arranging guitar parts, in which both guitarists Simon Girard and Kevin Chartré as well as the fretless bassist Hugo Doyon-Karout often use tapping instead of playing in the traditional way was spell-binding, not to mention the tasteful solos from all three members, especially from bassist Doyon-Karout, as solos from a fretless bass player in an extreme metal band is not something you come across often in your average everyday music.
However, as a consequence of this unique way of playing and Beyond Creation’s style of a more free-form and fusion based approach to metal, I felt that they sounded thin and not strong enough in the mix at some points when compared to Rivers of Nihil who had a far grittier style. Throughout the first half of Beyond Creation’s set I was beginning to think how Rivers of Nihil was able to better engage the crowd with their music, because not only did Beyond Creation sound weaker, they also did not address the crowd as much as Rivers of Nihil did while they were playing.
This minor criticism I had of Beyond Creation quickly disappeared towards the final part of their set though, which consisted of ‘Omnipresent Perception’ and ‘Fundamental Process’, two key tracks from each of their previous albums Earthborn Evolution and The Aura respectively. As the band powered through the songs the crowd moshed harder than they did during Rivers of Nihil.
Adding on to this positive note, towards the end of Beyond Creation’s set, Rivers of Nihil cheekily pranked their tour mates by dancing their way onto the stage and goofing around them while they played, both bands then joined by a number of girls from the crowd as well. This brilliantly showed the camaraderie the two bands have developed through touring together extensively, something that resonated perfectly with the Auckland crowd.
The most memorable element of the night for me definitely were the bassists, both of them establishing their own distinctive territory amongst each of their band members, instead of just simply being a second rhythm guitarist turned one octave down, as is the case with most modern metal bass players.
To bring the splendid night to a close, members from both Rivers of Nihil and Beyond Creation spent time with their fans after the house lights came up, which brought out the quintessential spirit of a place such as Whammy! Bar, one that will always beat out more high-profile gigs and venues in their ability to establish such a close sense of intimacy and connection between a band and their audience.
Were you there at Whammy! Bar for this brutal extreme metal gig? Or have you seen Rivers of Nihil or Beyond Creation perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!
Beyond Creation Setlist:
- Disenthrall
- Entre Suffrage Et Mirage
- Surfaces Echoes
- Ethereal Kingdom
- Algorythm
- À Travers Le Temps Et L’Oubli
- In Adversity
- The Inversion
- Binomial Structures
- The Afterlife
- Omnipresent Perception
- Fundamental Process [encore]
Rivers of Nihil Setlist:
- Death Is Real
- A Home
- Sand Baptism
- Old Nothing
- Rain Eater
- Where Owls Know My Name
- Soil & Seed
- The Silent Life
Silent Torture Setlist:
- Biblically Bastardised
- Mutilator
- Your Creation
- Skinned Incinerated Carcasses
- Torn To Pieces
- Sacrilegious Instinct
- Bodies In The Sewers
- Bloodbath
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