Nile – “Amongst the Catacombs of Nephren-Ka”
You know, I’ve been strongly encouraged lately with the emergence of some of the younger bands these days. Granted, a lot of them suck beyond suck, like some of that worthless crap like “noise”. Then again, thankfully, most of the new crop of the music I have heard lately expand on groundwork laid out by bands that were once the ultimate figureheads in their unique vision, namely some of the Florida regulars. Sadly, most of them have altered their sound in one way or another, and although some of the die-hard fans like them since they might seem essentially the same, some more of the radical changes, like vocalists, change a band’s sound too much so that they are pale comparisons. Now I haven’t heard any at all of the new Morbid Angel material, so I can’t fairly state my opinion on them. I do know that I will have a hard time adjusting to the absence of one David V., who is probably my favorite death metal vocalist on an admittedly short list. Then I heard Nile’s new release. Never let it be said that a band cannot be able to be brutal and paint sounds capes of epic grandeur and ancient glory at the same time. The first thing that came to my mind was a sound similar to Morbid A., although to be honest, Nile is a band unto itself, and even comparing them to such an awesome band, might not even fully do them justice. They draw influences from ancient Egyptian and Sumerian cultures in their music, flawlessly blending thousands of years old musical styles with more modern smashingly brutal death metal. These guys are so good at what they do, you don’t even have to close your eyes to envision endless seas of blowing sand dunes and clashing armies spilling each other’s blood in the name of the gods. You can just picture the red water of life soaking into the ever-shifting substance of the deserts, covering the bodies of the mortally slain. I never thought that I would hear the ultimate detah metal band come from South Carolina, yet it has come to pass. I could go into depth more about how they successfully merge blast beats and punishing riffs with ancient culture and music, but I’d really rather just go and listen to this album again. The torch has been passed to a new Pharaoh, all kneel and praise Ra!