Sioux Falls band Rivorium opened for Caster Volor at Bigs Bar on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, with a set that quickly separated itself from the usual wall of heaviness. There is heavy music that simply keeps adding weight until every song starts resembling the previous one. Rivorium avoided that problem almost immediately.
Mariah Skye handled bass and lead vocals while Matt Rorge worked guitar and contributed screamed vocals, leaving drummer Dave Gacke behind the kit. Rivorium describes its sound as progressive melodic metal, with an intricate mythos rooted in elemental, medieval and sci-fi lore.
Skye could push into the harsher parts of the material without sacrificing the clean vocal passages surrounding them. Rorge’s screams gave her another texture to work against rather than simply doubling the aggression. There were moments when the high, cutting metal phrasing brought Judas Priest to mind, only with a woman at the center of it. Not imitation. More the same taste for a vocal line capable of cutting straight through distorted guitar.
