20 Best Hard Rock & Heavy Metal Albums Of 2018 (So Far)
6. Rivers Of Nihil – Where Owls Know My Name
As an experience, Where Owls Know My Name is an hour-long opus that boasts every single detail that great rock ‘n’ roll should possess. Over the course of ten amazing songs, Rivers of Nihil craft an inalienable masterpiece. It’s epic, it’s exciting, it’s atmospheric, it’s progressive, it’s guttural, it’s diverse, it’s magnificently paced, it’s mathematically wondrous, it’s unique… it’s every positive adjective you can think of.
Where Owls Know My Name is the best Rivers of Nihil release by a monumental margin, far outweighing its predecessors The Conscious Seed of Light and Monarchy on basically every front, especially with regard to virtuosity and experimentation. And anyone that has heard these Pennsylvanian progressives’ first two albums knows just how hard a feat improving upon that sensational duology would be.
Yet – through sheer might and intelligence, and a bloody tonne of saxophone solos – these five connoisseurs forge a true career highlight. One that, finally, lets them fulfil their potential and earn the right to join the ranks of lauded metal geniuses like Opeth, Gojira and Ne Obliviscaris.