Friday night, June 6th, the walls of Goldfield Trading Post in Roseville were practically sweating from the weight of one of the heaviest, most mind-melting metal lineups the venue’s seen all year. Originally set to include Holy Fawn, who unfortunately had to drop from the bill, the night still packed a sledgehammer punch from start to finish with Between Realms, Glacial Tomb, Inter Arma, and the mighty Rivers of Nihil headlining the madness.
BETWEEN REALMS
First up, from the misty pine shadows of Hangtown, CA, Between Realms kicked things off with a set that felt like a seance gone electric. Their take on death metal is anything but stale—a tasteful blend of deathcore ferocity, blackened thrash edges, and glorious 80s-style solos that screamed through the fog like a banshee on a motorcycle.
Their sound is a riff avalanche meets rhythm bulldozer—blastbeats, breakdowns, and fretboard fireworks galore. Between Realms doesn’t just dip into subgenres, they dive headfirst and come up swinging. A hell of a way to start the night.
GLACIAL TOMB
Following up the chaos, Glacial Tomb stormed the stage like an avalanche of despair and controlled fury. Hailing from Denver, Colorado, this relentless trio has built their sound atop the scorched earth of blackened death and sludge metal, layered with sharpened technical skill and a keen sense for crafting songs that hit with both precision and weight.
Despite a name that suggests frozen stillness, their live performance was a molten eruption of anguish and sonic brutality. Thunderous drums, cavernous vocals, and grinding riffs created a relentless atmosphere of darkness. Themes of mortality, suffering, and existential dread coursed through every moment—delivered with chilling authenticity and a craftsman’s attention to dynamic detail.
The band masterfully wove together the struggles of the human condition—from mental torment and isolation to unresolved grief and spiritual emptiness—and framed them within a vast, almost cosmic scale. Their music felt like an apocalyptic sermon, where unfathomable terrors take form through seismic breakdowns and eerie dissonance. The result was a devastating mix of oppressive heaviness and bleak beauty, threaded with the epic scope of black metal’s grandeur.
Glacial Tomb don’t just perform—they pull you into their abyss. Every riff lands like tectonic pressure, leaving your chest hollow and your soul rattled.
INTER ARMA
Then came Inter Arma, Richmond, Virginia’s genre-bending harbingers of heaviness. Known for seamlessly weaving together elements of doom, sludge, black metal, psychedelia, and progressive rhythms, their live set was less of a concert and more of a metaphysical journey.
Their performance felt like falling through dimensions—one minute you’re suspended in a meditative drone, the next you’re being whipped around by violent storm riffs and seismic polyrhythms. Inter Arma doesn’t just play extreme metal; they dismantle and reconstruct it in real time, layering it with the emotional nuance of a band that’s just as comfortable exploring hope as they are despair.
Despite the bleakness and weight in their sound, you could feel moments of uplift—fleeting sparks of light amid the murk, hinting at the complex emotional landscape they’re navigating. Rage, sorrow, wonder, even cautious optimism—they’re all in there, twisting and turning beneath the surface.
Technically staggering but never mechanical, the band’s ability to maintain steady pulse while shifting through warped time signatures created an almost trance-like effect. They weren’t just keeping time; they were bending it.
Inter Arma doesn’t deliver a setlist—they summon a storm. Their show was a transformative experience, proof that in the darkest sonic realms, there’s still room for catharsis… and maybe even hope.
RIVERS OF NIHIL
Finally, the night crescendoed with Rivers of Nihil, who took the stage dressed like professors of progressive metal destruction, button-downs and all. Touring behind their self-titled fifth album, the tech-death juggernauts proved once again that they’re on another level—surgical precision wrapped in raw power.
But the real curveball? Patrick Corona’s saxophone—not as a novelty, but as a weapon of emotional devastation. Floating above the chaos, the sax lines brought a surreal beauty to the carnage, making their set feel like the score to a sci-fi apocalypse where you headbang and cry at the same time.
The crowd, already battered from three sonic beatdowns, found a second wind as Shadows in Time and The Void from Which No Sound Escapes rolled through like metal sermons from the edge of the galaxy.
Final Thoughts:
Even with Holy Fawn missing in action, the night was a non-stop assault of riffs, rhythms, and raw emotion. The variety of styles—from Hangtown’s deathcore alchemists to Rivers of Nihil’s genre-defying madness—showcased just how vast and vibrant the metal scene is in 2025.
If you left with your ears intact, your soul likely wasn’t
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Words and pictures by Christopher Crone
Catch Rivers of Nihil on tour and stream wherever you get your music
Categories: Concert Photography, rivers of nihil
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