ITP REVIEW: NILE: THOSE WHOM THE GODS DETEST

BAND: NILE (SOUTH CAROLINA, USA) GENRE: DEATH METAL LABEL: NUCLEAR BLAST RELEASE DATE: 11/3/09
PREVIOUS RELEASES (CATALOG) : AMONGST THE CATACOMBS OF NEPHREN-KA (1998-RELAPSE RECORDS), BLACK SEEDS OF VENGEANCE (2000-RELAPSE RECORDS), IN THEIR DARKENED SHRINES (2002-RELAPSE RECORDS), ANNIHILATION OF THE
WICKED (2005-RELAPSE RECORDS), ITYPHALLIC (2007-NUCLEAR BLAST)
ALSO: FESTIVALS OF ATONEMENT (1995-ANUBIS RECORDS), RAMSES BRINGER OF WAR (DEMO-1997-ANUBIS RECORDS), IN THE BEGINNING (RE- ISSUE OF FESTIVALS OF ATONEMENT and RAMSES BRINGER OF WAR-2000-RELAPSE RECORDS), LEGACY OF THE CATACOMBS (2007-RELAPSE RECORDS CD/DVD COMPILATION)

BEST RELEASE (S): AMONGST THE CATACOMBS OF NEPHREN- KA (1998), BLACK SEEDS OF VENGEANCE(2000), IN THEIR DARKENED SHRINES (2002)

TRACKLISTING : NILE: THOSE WHOM THE GODS DETEST:
1. Kafir!
2. Hittite Dung Incantation
3. Utterances of the Crawling Dead
4. Those Whom the Gods Detest
5. 4th Arra of Dagon
6. Permitting the Noble Dead to Descend to the Underworld
7. Yezd Desert Ghul Ritual in the Abandoned Towers of Silence
8. Kem Khefa Kheshef
9. The Eye of Ra
10. Iskander D’hul Karnon

ITP RATING: ****

PRODUCTION: ****

SONGWRITING: *** 1/2

PERFORMANCE: ****
Had to borrow this from the SMNNEWS.COM forum, soo funny. I have a sense of humor about the lyrical content and wonderful middle eastern history featured on NILE releases with extensive liner notes ect. What if NILE's lyrical content was about, all things yummy, in the darkened shrines of your fridge. I love NILE:
Those Whom Serve Chicken Breast Track Listing:

1. Keefir!
2. Chicken Drum Incantation
3. Utterances of the Craving Cornbread
4. Those Whom Serve Chicken Breast
5. 4th Ear of Corn
6. Permitting the Noble Bread to Descend into the Fondu Swirl
7. Yesterday's Desserts Gone from the Abandoned Cupboards of Snickers
8. "Nom Nomma NomNom"
9. The Pie of Ham
10. Sander's B'rrel o' Bacon
2009 is a quality year for death metal as each death metal release pushed the musical boundaries and raised the bar for the death metal elite as the veterans have some competition and can't rest on their laurels.
South Carolina, USA's NILE (yes, they are from the USA's South, not from the Middle East) have taken the brutal, death metal genre to new levels with Egyptian lyrical concepts,
Middle Eastern musical atmospheres, and a monopoly of great drummers.
NILE expand the lyrical aesthetic of MORBID ANGEL, into Middle Eastern musical diversity deep into the musical dynamics of the Catacombs, with enough speed and brutality to make the Pharaohs proud.
I must say, NILE are a local favorites here in the Hudson Valley Area of New York, always seeing them live as those guys are the coolest guys you could ever meet (cheers to DALLAS)..
The first three NILE releases were a revelation in death metal, unique and refreshing with an
Egyptian lyrical theme in contrast to cookie cutter gore death metal, good use of Middle Eastern musical samples, shredding solos and variety in instrumentation and dynamics.
Have you ever walked into a friends room without knowing exactly wich band or release is being blasted through the stereo, and it dawns on you, "Hey that's Nile", as the band has that unique of a musical identity.
NILE's "Those Whom the Gods Detest" is a return to form of sorts, a return to the bands roots of brutal, shredding death metal and atmospheric middle eastern samples.
NILE's "Those Whom The Gods Detest" opens with the track "Kafir!", and brutal it is, trademark NILE. "Kaaaaffir" screams Dallas as Karl Sanders chants "There is No God" as George Kollias's drumming propels NILE into the Middle Eastern desert. At 2:44 into "Kafir" NILE invoke sludgy/death/thrash breakdowns, with Middle Eastern sung vocals, (yeeeeh) over a momentous segue of brutal extreme metal, upping the ante, as you ALL we be slamming and headbanging to this. NILE's "Kafir" ends with the trademark NILE gong, and beautifully sung middle eastern melodies..
"Hittite Dung Incantation" segues perfectly from the previous track with a middle eastern rhythm into Kolias's amazing drumming, hence that many of NILE's riffs feel recycled and formula from previous releases, sounding similar in feel, the track is still brutal.
"Utterances of the Crawling Dead" enters in with technical and middle eastern riffs, typical NILE, brutal, great musicianship.
The title track of "Those Whom the Gods Detest" (8:06), is one of the releases best."Those Whom The Gods Detest" enters in with acoustic middle eastern instrumentation and blasts off into brutal death metal, deep into the Catacombs. At 2:24 of "Those Whom The Gods Detest" the track slows down to a mid tempo for well placed thrash riffs
(at 2:44 ) for your headbanging pleasure. From there, the mummies crawl into the catacombs for a middle eastern acoustic break, (4:25) shifting tempos into brutal, tight, death metal chaos, and good death metal vocal phrasings.
"4th Arra of Dagon" is NILE's longest track on this release (8:40) entering in with ambient noise
and a majestic, slower, crushing tempo. At 5:30 into "4th Arra of Dagon", NILE gain momentum
with chugging riffage and the catchy chant “Arra, Arra, Arra, Dagon, Dagon, Dagon”, as"4th Arra of Dagon" closes with the trademark NILE gong, and an beautiful acoustic passage.
"Permitting the Noble Dead to Descend to the Underworld" is classic NILE, brutal, intense, with awesome drumming, good vocal phrasing, and quality solos, "I know you and I know your name".
"Yezd Desert Ghul Ritual in the Abandoned Towers of Silence" is an instrumental track (of sorts) with a distinct, somber middle eastern rhythm, sung middle eastern vocals and a bluesy acoustic ambiance enough to get your hips swiveling , to belly dance to and awaken the mummies in the catacombs.
"Kem Khefa Kheshef" blasts off into utter extreme brutality, as NILE play tight enough to scare the camels in the middle eastern desert in an epic slugfest as the Pharaohs now walk amongst us, escaping from the Catacombs.
"The Eye of Ra" is more epic NILE brutality, as the VOCALS have been turned up a notch on "Those Whom The Gods Detest", one octave up on the vocal phrasing, audible, as always, good job via DALLAS TOLER WADE and KARL SANDERS.
NILE's "Those Whom The Gods Detest" closes with "Iskander D’hul Karnon" invoking the ambiance of the middle east and it's scalding desert sands, as the tune ups the ante to progressive technical elements as at :37, the song invokes some tasty thrash riffs and progresses with tech noodling at a mid pace. At 3:00 into "Iskander D’hul Karnon", NILE show off some progressive tendencies, scattered through out the tune, as this indeed adds diversity and variety to NILE's trademark dynamics. "Iskander D’hul Karnon" ends in epic ambiance, for yet another quality NILE release.
NILE had dropped the unique Middle Eastern samples featured on the bands first three releases under criticism of "gimmick mummy metal". However, NILE's "Annihilation of The Wicked" turned balls out brutal, even without the middle eastern sampled ambiance, chock full of shredding riffage, making fools out of any naysayers.
However, NILE almost lost me with the release of 2007's "ITYPHALLIC" as the offering tended
to tread musical waters.
NILE haven't had a permanent bass player (studio) since the mighty Jon Vesano and Chief Spires, reducing the band to a three piece in the studio, and session bass players live. DALLAS TOLER WADE (guitarist) stepped up into the front mans role for NILE's live shows for a two vocalist onslaught instead of three.
NILE's "Those Whom The Gods Detest" is a return to form, tweeking the bands production (Erik Rutan of HATE ETERNAL/ EX MORBID ANGEL and NEIL KERNON) with
good, catchy, audible vocals, quality mastering and enough variety of all that make the mighty NILE's metal flow.
In a year of excellent death metal releases, veteran bands in said genre are keeping up with innovative youngins, rediscovering themselves, stepping it up a notch, keeping up with the competition.
While NILE's "Those Whom The Gods Detest" isn't the orgasmic classic that "BLACK SEEDS OF VENGEANCE" and "IN THEIR DARKENED SHRINES" were. However, NILE's "Those Whom The Gods Detest" is a worthy successor to 2005's "ANNIHILATION OF THE WICKED", after the rather disappointing "ITYPHALLIC" (2007).. NILE's "Those Whom The Gods Detest" is a solid release, enough to get the die hard extreme metal fans respect, and new converts interested in NILE's Egyptology.
Nice to hear that the metal gods have awoken from their slumber.
:Wipes Sand from Face, hits GONG:

ITP RATING: ****

PRODUCTION: ****

SONGWRITING: *** 1/2

PERFORMANCE: ****
Thanks-Stay Metal, Stay Brutal-\m/ -l-
(VIDEOS BELOW: SAM LAMMING DRUM COVER-NILE-CAST DOWN THE HERETIC, DESPISED ICONS drummer ALEX drum cover of NILE's CHURNING THE MAELSTROM, DANNY MORISS drum cover of NILE's DEFILING THE GATES OF ISHTAR):