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October 12, 2008 |
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01. Dusk Falls Upon The Temple Of The Serpent On The Mount Of Sunrise
02. Cast Down The Heretic
03. Sacrifice Unto Sebek
04. User-Maat-Re
05. The Burning Pits Of The Duat
06. Chapter Of Obeisance Before Giving Breath To The Inert One In The Presence Of The Crescent Shaped Horns
07. Lashed To The Slave Stick
08. Spawn Of Uamenti
09. Annihilation Of The Wicked
10. Von Unaussprechlichen Kulten
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It's no secret around these parts that yours truly considers U.S. Tech Death Metal/Grind juggernaut NILE (Karl Sanders/vocals, guitars & keyboards, Dallas Toller-Wade/guitars & vocals, Jon Vesano/bass & vocals, and George Kollias/drums) to be nothing less than the gleaming spearhead at the vanguard of their chosen subgenre. The jewel in the crown of Death. The cat's pyjamas of Grind. Sure, DM and Grind purists - who, like say GWAR fanatics...are legion - will doubtless take me to considerable task on the ol' 'Comment Board' for failing to heap equal or greater amounts of praise upon the 'superior technical ablities' or what-have-you of whatever comparably more underground, less 'mainstream'(!?!?!?!) act they happen to be championing at the moment...no doubt about that. And yeah, there doubtless are bands who are heavier; more brutal; in possession of more cutting-edge technical chops. Sure. But so what?
The fact is that none of those acts possess the crucial COMBINATION of attributes which thus far have afforded NILE the well-deserved position of 'Top Technical Death Metal/Grindcore Wardogs' in the echelons of the extreme. Face it...there's a reason why these guys are #1 on the Death/Grind lists of most Metal scribes.
'Okay then smart guy...what is it that makes NILE so original?' Glad you asked. Let's examine: Well, for starters, on a purely thematic level the band stand heads and shoulders above their peers by way of their very scholarly interpretation of ancient Egyptian history, culture, and mythological lore. Vocalist/guitarist Karl Sanders is well-known in the Metal community as something of an expert Egyptophile, delving into what would by all accounts appear to be a bottomless well of knowledge that is never short on ideas when writing new NILE material. I mean, this isn't the sort of high-school-level, attack-of-the-mummy-type schlock many would snidely expect from a 'Metal' band! Sanders obviously has a working knowledge of obscure ancient Egyptian esoterica that would put more than a few university history professors in their place, and the results shine through admirably in the songwriting throughout NILE's catalogue to date.
I mean, come on...it certainly beats say, yet another ode to disemboweling some luckless female hitchhiker and eating her lungs, don'tcha think, guys? This is the sort of writing Death/Grind needs right now if it is ever to be taken as a serious musical form. Add to this thoughtful thematic base an awe-inspiring level of technical proficiency and musical dexterity with a studied ear ever bent towards the construct of extremely HEAVY yet very listenable and engrossing music c/o the band as a whole and the end result is a very forward-thinking strain of Technical Death Metal outside of the usual tired, trite, mindlessly bludgeoning norm. Your parent's Death Metal this ain't!
Picking up where the devastating 'In Their Darkened Shrines' (2002 - Wow! A long wait for new NILE!) left off, NILE's latest sarcophagus of sonic delights marks another triumphant notch in the band's collective bullet belt. Built in glorious, sphinx-like fashion from the signature NILE sonic architecture of uber-downtuned, technically-monstrous riffing and polyrhythmic, dual-harmonic leadwork invested with subtly hook-laden spires of traditional instrumentation and melody laid overtop of a serpentine underbelly of relentlessly undulating percussive battery and guttural vocal phrasings, 'Annihilation Of The Wicked' is definitely the sort of masterful followup that diehard NILEites have been waiting to hear.As on previous works, Sanders has spared no metaphorical expense in the writing dept., here offering nine slabs of occult desert lore (with detailed liner notes to boot!) doubtless gleaned from long, Budweiser-soaked evenings spent poring through obscure texts and scriptures.
Musically, the band continue to shred and pummel in typically fine form. Nothing here is so radically different from previous works so as to cause astonishment, although there is an arguable improvement in terms of tighter song constructs and an economy of riff not previously heard along the crimson-sunset-splashed waters of the NILE up until now. An excellent Neil Kernon production job likewise injects a welcome clarity and crunch to the mix which allows the complexity of the instrumentation to shine to its full potentia and powerl. I mean, you can catch every nuance of each individual performance; Sanders/Toler-Wade's impressive leadwork and the controlled rhythmic chaos of Kollias/Vesano throughout - a must for full appreciation of such a technically adept piece of work as this album.
Faves would include the moody ambience of opening intro 'Dusk Falls...' which borrows a page or two from Sanders atmospheric acoustic side-project 'Saurian Meditations' with its sultry, acoustic interpretation of traditional Middle Eastern (apparently Greek???) guitar phrases to create images of windswept desert sands and crumbling temple archways. From here it's a full-on Tech Death/Grind assault with the rumbling tumult of 'Cast Down The Heretic' and 'Sacrifice Unto Sebek' through to epic monument 'User-Maat-Re' (very reminiscentof the tone and mood of 'Unas Slayer Of the Gods' from 'In Their Darkened Shrines), swirling riff-maelstrom 'The Burning Pits Of The Duat', and the relentless, venomous 'Lashed To The Slave Stick' and the title track. This is all classic, memorable NILE. A sonic monument to serpent-haunted tombs, darkly occult, chthonic desert sorcery and the shadowy gods of the underworld. It's just a massive, surging, crushing piece of work.
In conclusion, it's obvious to me at least that NILE have managed to maintain a firm seating upon their throne as the current reigning overlords of the world of Tech Death/Grind. Far beyond extreme, this is a band that still manage to invest their work with enough complexity, thoughtful arrangement, and intelligent construct to ensure repeated plays time and time again. Like the pyramids themselves, unmoving and impenetrable, this is a band who are here to stay for the long haul. Prepare for wicked annihilation! Hails!
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