Nile : "The Underworld Awaits Us All"

 

Nile has always struck me as the Egyptian take on Morbid Angel. This album finds them lashing violently away from such comparisons with an almost grind core-like attack. There are still the acrobatic guitar solos, which have embraced chaos in the past, here it just consumes their identity as songwriters making for something with a renewed feral intensity. This is ten albums into their career so I did not expect them to explode out of the pyramids like this.  They blast into the second song with a relentless and mean-spirited momentum. This did not catch me by surprise since after the first song I was expecting anything. The blasting works here but it could get old if they go to that well too many times. 

"To Strike With Secret Fang" strikes with the thrashing speed of a cobra, but the more deliberate moments of "Naqada" are more effective and make the faster moments make more sense. Otherwise, it becomes a blinding blur of riffs racing past. This leaves you a little torn as it's impressive they are bringing it with more youthful speed than it seemed they still had ten years ago much less reaching back to their earlier 90s work, but this is met with the expectations that since they are one of the more revered death metal legends they should write more memorable songs. They have not forgotten the acoustic interludes to set the mood. 

"Overlords of the Black Earth" is supported by riffs that have more purpose though the rapid-fire double bass of the drummer is still trying to rush things. A few sung vocals are whisked in, to help things with a hook.  "Under the Curse of the One God" largely speeds by me with a few riffs making me take notice, and the vocals snarling something that made sense for a second. "Doctrine of Last Things' has all the energy but none of the riffs really hook me in. Though they do slow the crunch of the guitar down in the song's last minutes. "True Gods of the Desert" is more melancholy in its stomp which works for me, since this brings them closer to a "Where the Slime Live" like groove. It might even be the album's song. 

The title track takes some dynamic shifts, with the thump of the bass anchoring the drums as it should. At eight and a half minutes it's the album's longest song. There is a lot to unpack with it. One thing is sure the drummer is going all out and solidifying his place as one of death metal's best, and that is being the best in a genre that is already full of metal monsters. The last song carries more melancholy in the gloom and doom they cast here. I will give this album a 9, they prove they are still good at what they do, and their fans will love it. It drops August 23rd on Napalm Records. 

  

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Nile : At the Gates of Sethu

Breaking the trend of either reviewing albums I have been into or know my friends will be into, I'm doing one that is just of general interest to the metal community and I have seen suspicious little about aside over at angry metal guy. I'm not a Nile fan, those whom the gods detest , I flirted with the idea of Nile as Epstein mythology plays into a certain element of my personal spirituality, but I didn't, last long on my iPod. It did last longer than "at the Gates of Sethu".

The first thing i noticed about the recording is it ws oddly recorded some of it had a very claustrophobic feel, like it was recorded in a crawlspace under some ones pyramid. That first impression was much more interesting than what I would take away from sitting down to give this album my undivided ttention. Just like Jeff Loomis' playing could never carry an entire Nevermore album from solo to solo, Sanders seems to have a similar problem, an excellent shredder there's the pesky little thing called songs that tends to book end solos. There are riffs taped to together by his solos but the awkwardness of their lack of intent.

The drummer tries to help he knows his way around the kit,but who ev produced this did not do him any favors s the drums sound paper thin, especially theclickingof the double boss's, varied pattern would be in orders he seems to window only one way to attempt
this. Like most straight forward death metal from the 90's the bass it lost under the guitar , which is a feat here as nothing is really thick enough to hide behind so maybe they forgot to track bass at all.

Like morbid angle thee vocals are more barked than growled as enunciating the lyrics, David Vincent has more ball and personality in his voice so works better in their case.
Toward the end off the album things come together more anew epic riffs merge but it is too little to late, just when I though production was the problem a haunting bit of ambience floats I under the mix those moments as well as sanders solos bring this up to. For Nile to be right behind Cannibal Corpse these days in terms of commercial success when it comes to brutal old school death metal, these guys need to rein in the song writing and this albums shows chops alone are not enough. 3.5