| | Full Review | Ratings (283) |
Give your Rating |
| 3.0 good | xenochrist15 | September 24th 21 |
Sputnik staff (Robert Garland) saying this album is Parkway Drive b-side demos is just
embarrassing for this site. Album is not as good as the last but solid.
20 Bumps | Bump |
| 2.0 poor | metalphil | September 24th 21 |
Most disappointing release of 2021 for me. Hope they bounce hard off this new style of theirs cause it’s not good.
7 Bumps | Bump |
| 1.0 awful | Wayfaerer | September 24th 21 |
Where Owls Know My Name was bland mallcore with sax and a huge advertising budget, and this album manages to be even worse. You should all be embarrassed for buying into the hype.
7 Bumps | Bump |
| 0.0 | Panzerchrist | September 24th 21 |
ffo: bands other than rivers of nihil
6 Bumps | Bump |
| 4.5 superb | GeneralRaam | September 26th 21 |
Like others have positively stated above, subsequent listens to this have made me really love what they've done here. Sure, if you listen to it expecting it to be another WOKMN then you may be disappointed. The Work however is a conceptually brilliant piece of progressive music, where the band has aimed for and successfully pulled off a more atmospheric body of music that sounds much better when listened to in its entirety from start to finish. The songs on their own can seem a little hollow, but in context they all flow beautifully into each other with seamless transition. I fell the album perfectly encapsulates the concept it is aiming for, which is to highlight the grind of life and how it ebbs and flows. This can be felt through the highs and lows of the tracks, where it switches between heaviness and weightlessness but continues to emphasise that in life work is required to thrive and grow despite it ultimately wearing you down. The band has not betrayed their signature style with this release, but rather expanded it. It needs time to grow on you, but once I got my head around it I have absolutely loved it.
5 Bumps | Bump |
| 1.5 very poor | Nifkin | September 24th 21 |
Idk what?s more disappointing, this or Fallujah?s last album. Big sad.
5 Bumps | Bump |
| 1.5 very poor | vacantPlanet | September 25th 21 |
every lethargic and overindulgent impulse from "Owls" x10
4 Bumps | Bump |
| 2.0 poor | Comatorium. | September 25th 21 |
This album is lazy and dumb. Saying this sounds like parkway drive is really fuckin lazy and dumb
4 Bumps | Bump |
| 2.5 average | Ectier | September 24th 21 |
Its alright, i think it will be a grower. One of the
issues is that this is a follow up to a very good album.
Which means expectations are high. Edit update:this is
not a grower. Its worse then i remembered
4 Bumps | Bump |
| 5.0 classic | terriblekonrad | September 25th 21 |
Where is your comment Robert Garland about PD demos? Pathetic
3 Bumps | Bump |
| 2.0 poor | Brendan Schroer STAFF | September 25th 21 |
About as bland and boring as the previous album. Every time an interesting idea is presented, it gets lost in the sea of generic chugs and brickwalled production... so much potential being utterly wasted
3 Bumps | Bump |
| 1.5 very poor | grandfather | September 24th 21 |
Last record was cool but overrated. This one is pure fucking dogshit. Like, I'm almost embarrassed for them
3 Bumps | Bump |
| 0.0 | kneepel | September 25th 21 |
The Work, more like needs work am I right hahahha xdxd
2 Bumps | Bump |
| 5.0 classic | Stormy Smiley Face | August 2nd 21 |
The Work rm/m/m/m/m/m/m/m/m/m/m/m/m/m/m/m/m/m/m/m/m/m/m/m/m/m/m/m/m/m/m/m/m/m/m/m/m/m/m/m/m/m/m/m/ rm/en Work
2 Bumps | Bump |
| 2.1 poor | Robert Garland STAFF | September 28th 21 |
So yeah, these guys had a world of potential, squandered away for cheap gimmicks, lazy song-writing and quasi PwD-esque vocals (intro track, dreaming back clockwork etc) which makes parts of this sound like lazy demos. When we couple this with a terrible attempt at cohesive writing, an over the top production and weird mixing it's no wonder Rivers of Nihil are dividing with this release.
1 Bumps | Bump |
| 3.0 good | ZoddHand | September 25th 21 |
I don't know why people are suprised a band with a tech death fanbase is getting shlonged for essentially going full prog. I don't know what they were thinking when they decided they would butcher the ending of Black Clockwork.
1 Bumps | Bump |
| 2.5 average | DarkNoctus | September 25th 21 |
the progression to this album makes sense. there's a lot of great elements in this album but i think it bites off more than it can chew in some aspects, and structurally it could have used more work. it feels like it has several endings rather than flowing, some of the experimentation doesn't work ('wait' is horrendous) and it's just a bit all over the place. when it's good, it's great. this feels more like a transitional record where they throw everything at the wall and see what sticks. most does - just hoping for something a touch more consistent next time.
1 Bumps | Bump |
| 4.0 excellent | WattPheasant | September 25th 21 |
Any album that is released after a band's most critically acclaimed work is almost bound to disappoint people. But why is this? It is because people let their contingent perception of what they think an album should be, unrealistically high, and impossibly appeasable expectations take away from their experience of an otherwise solid release. This happens time and time again. And in my opinion, people need to learn to judge albums based on what they are, not on what our subjective expectations dictate.rBut how is The Work? The Work is definitely a step in a different direction than WOKMN, they focus more on minimalism, atmospheric guitar textures, and progressive rock interludes. This is not new for the band, but the band is taking these elements to wider extremes. Which is something that can be applauded. This exceeds the standards of your average progressive technical death metal album, and shows that the band is still growing, and changing up their sound in a way that doesn't betray their core style. People in other soundoffs are saying "It's bad, it's boring.", but music can almost never force you to like it if you don't want to. I think people should give this more of a chance.
1 Bumps | Bump |
| 2.5 average | Jared Wegenast | September 25th 21 |
Production is alright, but everything feels really overtired and the run time (64 mins) doesn't mitigate the feeling. I appreciated their last LP (first time I had given them a listen), but I'm not overly invested as a fan.
1 Bumps | Bump |
| 1.5 very poor | MikeyPalmice | September 24th 21 |
Owls was serviceable, this is bad. Pretentious too.
1 Bumps | Bump |
| 3.0 good | monocaust | September 24th 21 |
I think the fact that my favourite single was an instrumental version should have tempered my expectations slightly
1 Bumps | Bump |
| 3.0 good | Chino smoking it up! | September 24th 21 |
The Work feels more like a work in progress?...unlike prev album, this flows quite bad, very disjointed and kinda riffless. Meshuggaish track Dreaming Black Clockwork (clockwork lol), MORE? and maybe the closer are prob the best ones here. I get they are trying to make a more dynamic sound to a stiff genre, it's just not the way to do it. If its a grower shout back to me. tks
1 Bumps | Bump |
| 3.5 great | ISeeDarkly | August 21st 22 |
Staff is just so off the mark. This album may not be as cohesive as WOKMN but it continues to expand their sonic diversity and features some incredibly visceral moments.
Bump |
| 2.0 poor | TheTripP | September 26th 21 |
Wish this was more than a good album, while it has it's moments it quickly fades into a borefest in between
Bump |
| 3.0 good | GhostShelter | September 25th 21 |
I refuse to rate this album yet. It?s going to take time. Pretty disappointed upon first couple of listens though. It?s just rsuch a stray from Owls which was my #1 from 2018 and one of the very best albums that I?ve enjoyed within the past rdecade. I will say the ?the void from which no sound escapes? is a killer track though (and definitely the most reminiscent rof Owls). Anyone slamming Owls needs to get a check up from the neck up.
Bump |
| 4.0 excellent | Bro has djent in his pie | September 24th 21 |
Loved this on subsequent listens. Serves well as a companion piece to Owls imo. Has similar ideas to Owls, but this time they went all out on the atmospherics, Owls also had a fair bit of this but I digress. There is also a lot of technical portions to the album as well, equally as well done as the atmospheric portions.
Bump |
| 4.5 superb | Matthias812 | September 24th 21 |
Owls was overrated af of mindless chugging and random sax. The Work is absolutely incredible- structured like an ambitious 70's prog album transcending beyond the metal genre.
Bump |
| 4.0 excellent | ariich | November 29th 23 |
| 1.5 very poor | Verdr | November 25th 23 |
| 1.5 very poor | Hawks | October 11th 23 |
| 3.5 great | TeeDeeM | September 7th 23 |
| 4.0 excellent | Sasaboy | June 23rd 23 |
| 2.5 average | JWT155 | June 16th 23 |
| 3.5 great | Dustx85 | February 21st 23 |
| 4.0 excellent | Timmy | January 23rd 23 |
| 2.0 poor | Shwany | January 13th 23 |
| 3.0 good | Rausku | December 30th 22 |
| 4.5 superb | Bridge4 | October 30th 22 |
| 2.5 average | brunch | October 4th 22 |
| 4.0 excellent | UrukHai | August 25th 22 |
| 4.5 superb | Matty CONTRIBUTOR | June 17th 22 |
| 2.5 average | s0nicx | January 11th 22 |
| 1.5 very poor | Vasilis S. CONTRIBUTOR | December 23rd 21 |
| 4.0 excellent | ARDCWE | December 20th 21 |
| 3.0 good | Brabiz | December 15th 21 |
| 2.5 average | JoneHK | December 6th 21 |
| 4.0 excellent | VigorRos | November 22nd 21 |
| 4.5 superb | HybridF | November 17th 21 |
| 4.0 excellent | arf | November 8th 21 |
| 4.5 superb | tekth | November 8th 21 |
| 2.5 average | latpac | October 31st 21 |
| 3.5 great | YUJOS | October 27th 21 |
| 3.0 good | em17ah | October 23rd 21 |
| 4.0 excellent | Coast | October 17th 21 |
| 4.0 excellent | Majkl | October 9th 21 |
| 2.5 average | solrage | October 6th 21 |
| 4.0 excellent | martalf | October 6th 21 |
| 4.0 excellent | mrfixit | October 6th 21 |
| 2.5 average | MAB | October 5th 21 |
| 1.5 very poor | Elynna | October 2nd 21 |
| 3.5 great | tellah | September 30th 21 |
| 3.5 great | urainus | September 30th 21 |
| 3.0 good | jmh886 | September 29th 21 |
| 3.0 good | madtwoo | September 29th 21 |
| 4.0 excellent | Melodeth | September 29th 21 |
| 2.5 average | Oobaloo | September 28th 21 |
| 4.5 superb | motyli | September 28th 21 |
| 2.5 average | Kruppe | September 28th 21 |
| 2.0 poor | trilo | September 28th 21 |
| 2.5 average | Lopan | September 27th 21 |
| 2.5 average | Zac124 | September 27th 21 |
| 4.0 excellent | coopj | September 27th 21 |
| 2.5 average | morry | September 27th 21 |
| 3.0 good | Risodo | September 27th 21 |
| 3.0 good | Adam | September 27th 21 |
| 3.4 great | Trey STAFF | September 27th 21 |
| 3.5 great | wulolu | September 27th 21 |
| 3.0 good | MonkMan | September 27th 21 |
| 4.0 excellent | Gbhill | September 27th 21 |
| 2.5 average | zuzek | September 25th 21 |
| 4.0 excellent | snakesc | September 25th 21 |
| 4.5 superb | Rollage | September 25th 21 |
| 4.0 excellent | MaddinD | September 25th 21 |
| 2.5 average | Dmax28 | September 25th 21 |
| 3.0 good | iGuter | September 25th 21 |
| 4.0 excellent | nash1311 | September 24th 21 |
| 4.5 superb | shanks | September 24th 21 |
| 3.5 great | Nisraak | September 24th 21 |
| 3.0 good | Zakusz | September 24th 21 |
| 3.0 good | mikep87 | September 24th 21 |
| 3.0 good | Jeejee | September 24th 21 |
| 5.0 classic | GhostK | September 24th 21 |
| 3.0 good | JKoppe | September 24th 21 |
| 3.0 good | Suyan | September 24th 21 |
| 4.5 superb | Thor | July 31st 21 |
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