 |
| (amazing album cover, right?) |
If one is in need of music that is merciless enough to damn
your enemies into the darkest depths of the underworld (or possibly intense
enough to bring back those who have already crossed over) then look no further
than the extreme metal that is brought forth every couple of years by the kind
South Carolinan boys in Nile. Torturous to listen to of one’s favorite music
falls under the “Taylor Swift” category, Nile are the curators of some of the
most extreme music ever created on this planet thus far. They are truly brutal,
but they don’t place that quality above everything else like many modern
deathcore bands, for example, that whip out their “br00tality” and wave it all
over the place when, in all actuality, their music sounds a bit silly, even
laughable. Nile is no-nonsense and there’s absolutely nothing funny about them,
and while many will roll their eyes at their strong emphasis on ancient Egypt
(the exclusive topic of their lyrics), no one should deny their tremendous
level of musical integrity. At this point, Nile have become death metal Deities
and dauntless defenders of the metal faith, and the world is a heavier place
with them on it.
At the Gates of Sethu - an album that this reviewer bypassed
when it came out in 2012 for whatever reason - is yet another display of Nile’s
valiant efforts to make the most brutal technical death metal around and uphold
their status as the genre’s finest, however, their commitment to their
signature sound has led to something a little negative: predictability. A lot
of the material on here, while it is satisfying death metal, just sounds like
standard issue Nile; the same Middle Eastern riffs, the same drum fills, and
the same slow, doomy breaks in the same places are all being thrown at the
listener once again, creating a sense of having seen something many times
before which may give the band’s detractors some ammo. “Tribunal of the Dead”,
for example, could literally be any Nile song because of how utterly
interchangeable the various riffs and other parts of the song sound, which might
leave you longing for the band to be more spontaneous and throw something your
way that’s actually unexpected or unorthodox for the band to do. While many
fans could certainly be content with how unwavering Nile has proven to be,
others may shrug their shoulders in apathy and be left headbanging in a
different direction.
This isn’t to say that Nile hasn’t made any changes
whatsoever on this new release. There may not be anything “new” in sight on At
the Gates of Sethu, but there are some minor tweaks to their existing sound
worth noting. The most obvious change made over their previous album – the
excellent Those Whom the Gods Detest – is a much more crude and earthy
production style. In an interview with Decibel magazine, Nile mastermind Karl
Sanders stated that he wants the listeners to “be able to hear our fingers on
the strings” with this new record, and this album’s more organic sound allows
for that. While the mixing is admittedly a little shoddy with different instruments
set at peculiar levels, the production harkens back to their classic album In
Their Darkened Shrines, albeit a little more clear and detailed and less
compressed. There’s also (gasp!) slightly less emphasis on technical wizardry
this time around. The emphasis has shifted away from dizzying and knotty lead
lines and more towards riffs that are catchier and more and contained, allowing for
violent headbanging to take place. This, and the fact that the production has
been reduced to an unrefined form, leaves the band sounding less finessed while
also sounding more aggressive, urgent, and forthright.
Keeping with the band’s predictability trend, albeit a
positive aspect of it, the performances here are exactly what you would expect
from Nile. Dallas Toller-Wade and Karl Sanders’ combined technique is
inscrutable, leaving many extreme metal guitarists in the dust gasping for a
breath of clean air. The duo’s guitar soloing is better than it’s ever been;
their solos are executed more fluidly and precisely than on past Nile albums
and should put a grin on many shredder’s faces. Drummer George Kollias is a
beast as usual with his seemingly demon-inspired approach to smashing and
bashing. His blast beats are rhythmically astute to the point of sounding like
a machine; in short, this guy has chops to burn. However, the vocals have unfortunately taken a hit. They tend to be all over the place and
oftentimes are sung with no rhythm, leaving things sounding a bit messy. Dallas
also experiments with a higher register scream that comes across a little
undercooked, even ill-conceived, but It’s a minor quibble considering how
primal and hungry Nile sounds on this album overall.
Nile are quickly joining the ranks of bands like Cannibal
Corpse as an “Old Faithful” of death metal, spewing out a furious geyser of
brutality every couple of years to show other extreme metal musicians how to
play with conviction without sacrificing technicality, and to show fans how
death metal is supposed to be done in a scene rife with bland imitators. While
this is a little step down from Those Whom the Gods Detest, At the Gates of
Sethu is by no means a disappointment, at least to me, although it might be in the
eyes of some fans. If Nile continues to play this style to death on their next
album, some points will surely be knocked off, but for now, we should all be
happy that we have yet another Nile album in our hands as a soundtrack to
passionately worship Osiris with.
8.0/10
No comments:
Post a Comment