TRACKLISTING

 

 

   I've read some reviews about Nile, and I've found that a lot of people got impressed by the originality of Amongst The Catacombs Of Nephren-Ka. And let me tell you, it is really impressing, if not surprising, for they already had written the previous material, which got stuck within the underground. But Amongst... represented a lot of pure force, I mean, brute force. There was the strenght, but it was chaotic, randomly spread out. The solos were rapid, but they seemed not all that technical. Nile looked further than that. Nile, I dare to say, reach perfection with this album. If technic is what the Death Metal fan is looking for, look nowhere else. More important, if he wants brutality, Black Seeds Of Vengeance is unmissable. Nile is one hell of a band, because they managed to blend brutaliy (not monotonous brutality but original, with different scales and all that Egyptian stuff) with technical perfection. None of their material sound like anything else.

 

   Probably by now you think I am biased, but even though Nile is one of my favorite bands ever, I should tell you that they're no common band. Of course they thread old Death Metal paths, but with an unmistakable trademark. For example, I should put forth "Defiling The Gates Of Ishtar" or "The Black Flame". Death Metal has been left within the traditional margin, but Nile expanded it by using keyboards as atmosphere, by adding a new level of technique without sounding boring. And they prove it well. So, the vicious riffs are there, but there is melody. An astonishing example is "Masturbating The War God", a song that will never get enough praises. After a few minutes of grinding guitars we get solos and a primitive interlude, melodic and full of that Egyptian feel. And in this same line, perhaps should I suggest "Chapter For Transforming Into A Snake"?

 

   Unfortunately, this album didn't go unmarked. There are noisy outros that are useless, when not irritating. These outros remind us what they did in a track from the previous album, "Die Rache Krieg Lied Der Assyriche" but "To Dream Of Ur" was already an excellent closing, sort of epic.

  

All in all, we cannot deny the pounding force that threatens the old school. Beware Nu-Metalers, there are still really menacing bands. Among them is Nile.

 

93 OUT OF 100