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I’m not sure you listen to Nile as much as absorb them.
Nile’s brand of technical death metal is a bit different
than the type practiced by, say, Dying Fetus. While Fetus
has a lot of wild soloing, drumming and vocal styles, it always
sort of fits in a pattern. Nile, on the other hand, is moving
in three places at once. While Fetus goes off on the state
of world affairs, Nile howls to the moon about ancient Egyptians,
demon incantations and heathen gods.
The opener on Those Whom the Gods Detest, “Kafir!,”
gives a pretty good clue where the band is going as musical
ideas fly all over the place. Vocals, drums and guitars hurtle
from one extreme to another. “Hittite Dung Incantation”
keeps things up, while “Utterances of the Crawling Dead”
goes from slow dirge to Mach 5 in each half of the five-minute
track.
The title track is a rollercoaster ride that starts with
a world music-y acoustic guitar before Satan himself seems
to turn the volume up to 11. The song then goes into a heavy,
keyboard-aided death march before an insane guitar freak-out
and huge chorus closes things out. “4th Arra of Dagon”
is as doom metal as it gets, only without the melancholy,
as the band attempts to summon some sort of Egyptian god.
The band doesn’t let things get too slow, though, not
with the short and sweet thrasher “Permitting the Noble
Dead to Descend to the Underworld.” Think that’s
a mouthful of a title? Try the next track, “Yezd Desert
Ghul Ritual in the Abandoned Towers of Silence.” Two
more technical death metal exhibitions pay homage to ancient
Egypt, “Kem Khefa Kheshef” and “The Eye
of Ra,” before the album closes with the warp speed
“Iskander D’hul Karnon.”
The star of Nile is clearly singer/guitarist/songwriter Karl
Sanders. The Egyptian theme is original, and Sanders and the
band do a good job of never making it seem silly. Sanders’
partner-in-crime is guitarist and vocalist Dallas Toler-Wade,
and combined the two make Those Whom the Gods Detest
a showcase for their guitar shredding.
I prefer the more experimental vibe on the first half of
the record than the slightly more conventional (for Nile,
at least) second half. This is the kind of album you can’t
ignore no matter how hard you try. You either really like
it or you really don’t, and sometimes it takes more
than one listen to appreciate it. Those Whom the Gods
Detest is an insane, bizarre, over-the-top experience.
And you know what? I like it.
®2010 Live-Metal.net
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