Rivers of Nihil Post Early Demo of “Terrestria II: Thrive”

Rivers of Nihil are getting set to reissue their 2015 album Monarchy this Friday, October 16, in celebration of its fifth anniversary, with some super-special, ultra-nifty-looking vinyl variants (available here) and, for the first time, a tablature book of the full album. In anticipation of that release, the band have unveiled an early pre-production demo of the album track “Terrestria II: Thrive” that has a drastically different ending than the final version and several more subtle differences throughout.

I always enjoy hearing old pre-pro demos as an exercise in how songs evolve throughout the writing process, and while I obviously have heard this version already — as Official Rivers of Nihil Historian (aka band manager), I have hundreds of files like this one from throughout the years — revisiting it now still provides that same thrill.

Give it a spin below, along with the original, and pick up your Monarchy special edition vinyl reissues here.