Rivers Of Nihil have canceled their planned Japanese tour dates this August due to visa issues.
The band had been set to take part in a four-date run with Psycroptic, The Zenith Passage, and more. The cancellation has since become a point of contention following a post from the tour’s promoter, Soundworks Direct Japan stating the following (translated):
We are truly sorry to announce that Rivers of Nihil has canceled their Japan tour in August.
Working with a band that fails to fulfill contractual obligations and comply with Japanese law is untenable.
We are deeply grateful for your unwavering support. To everyone who was looking forward to the performance, we extend our sincerest apologies. Psycroptic and The Zenith Passage will proceed with their Japan visit as planned. We would be delighted if you could come to the venue and show your support. If you would like a refund, please contact e+; those who purchased tickets through Square should email bastien@swdjapan.com.
We also announce this to promoters around the world. We must report that contracting with Rivers of Nihil carries significant risks. We would greatly appreciate it if you could share this post to help promote the event.
Thank you for your continued support.
誠に残念ではございますが、Rivers of Nihilは8月の来日をキャンセルしました。
契約履行義務と日本国の法律を遵守しないバンドとの仕事は困難です。
我々は皆様の変わらぬご支援に対し、大変感謝しています。公演を楽しみにしていた皆様には、心よりお詫び申し上げます。PsycropticとThe Zenith… pic.twitter.com/qCk0tOnc4g
— Soundworks Direct Japan (@SoundworksJ) July 2, 2026
The band shared the following statement:
It is with extreme regret we must announce that we will be unable to make our planned tour of Japan in August. We were unable to obtain the necessary Japanese visas in time for the tour. While the promoter shared a post painting us as some kind of law-dodging criminals, the truth is that the process of applying for Japanese visas is extremely unruly and difficult, which was not clearly communicated to us until it was far too late, and our many other international touring commitments this year made it impossible to complete the process in time. We were forced to drop off the tour specifically BECAUSE we wanted to make sure we followed all applicable Japanese laws, not because we attempted to dodge them.
To our Japanese fans, we are very sorry, as we were greatly looking forward to this tour! We will make it to Japan one day, we promise. On a final note, please go see our friends in The Zenith Passage and Psycroptic, as they are still able to play these shows.
The following post prompted California technical death metal group Fallujah to respond in the post’s comment section with the following:
Just saw the post. If this promoter wants to slam you guys for breaking contracts, then maybe we can talk about the fact that he refused to pay us our contracted guarantees for the shows we did there in June
Said the ‘flights were too expensive’, but didn’t mention anything about voiding our payouts when the flights were being booked back in April. Instead he waited until a month after the tour to reply and tell us we’re not getting paid.
We weren’t going to say anything publicly, but if they’re ‘announcing warnings to promoters around the world’ or whatever, then I guess we’ve got one for the bands too
AloJapan.com