The Moshville Times - Obscura / Revocation / Beyond Creation / Rivers of Nihil

On a cold Sunday evening, The Dome played host to what was a rather special concert. With it being both Rivers of Nihil and Beyond Creation’s first times outside of the United States, fans were eagerly lineing up and the door ready to witness what would turn out to be a rather good evening of technical metal.

With their unique take on death metal, Rivers of Nihil(7) set work warming up the rapidly growing crowd that come out early to see them. Having a set primarily compromised of songs from their latest full-length, Monarchy, the band set about showing the early comers exactly what they were about. Whilst they did look a little cramped on stage, they seemed to pay it no notice and delivered what was one of the best sets I’ve ever seen from an opening band. The crowd certainly seemed to be enjoying them as well, with almost everyone either head-banging or, at the very least, nodding along in time to the music. I look forward to hearing and potentially seeing more from this band in the future.

Canadian tech-death metallers Beyond creation(9) were next to hit the stage at the now 3/4’s full Dome. Coming on-stage to “Omnipresent Perception” from 2011’s The Aura, the band was intially marred ever so slightly by some minor sound issues. These were rectified by the time the second song had ended and as a reuslt, the crowd seemed to respond with even more gusto. Finishing their set with “Fundamental process” from 2014’s Earthborn Evolution, the band delivered a superb set and set the bar very high for whoever was next on the stage.

Whilst waiting for Revocation(7) to come on stage at The Dome, frontman Dave decided to entertain the crowd a bit with various guitar licks and riffs to pass the time whilst his bandmates were linechecking. After a relatively uneventful changeover, the band proceeded to bring their tech death/thrash metal to the eager fans that had gathered that evening. Opening with the first track off their latest full-length Great Is Our Sin, the band weren’t shy about mixing up their set with deep cuts such as “Dismantle the Dictator” and more modern tracks such as “Madness Opus”. Whilst they did deliver a good set, as with Beyond Creation, they were initially marred by a few sound issues. The crowd that were there though didn’t seem to care and the first real mosh-pits of the night appeared alongside the swathes of headbangers. There was still something slightly off with it though, which was a shame as I was really looking forward to seeing them.

Ending the evening were German tech-death giants Obscura(8) with their rather large drumkit and multiple strobe lights. Opening with the second single from their latest LP Akróasis, the crowd responded with great delight and were the liveliest they had been all night. Whilst frontman Steffen and bassist Linus looked to be having the time of their lives, lead guitarist Rafael looked a little uncomfortable. Whether that was due to the incredibly technical nusic that Obscura is known for, or the fact that he was nervous is hard to define. That being said, their set compromised of songs from their latest album and also classics such as “The Anticosmic Overload” and “Ocean Gateways”, left many there hungry for more and eagerly awaiting the next time the quartet grace our shores.