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Bacteria13 Hatross Overlord
Joined: 30 Jan 2003 Posts: 2465
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Posted: Wed Jul 21, 2010 5:37 pm Post subject: NILE – THOSE WHOM THE GODS DETEST |
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NILE – THOSE WHOM THE GODS DETEST
(Nuclear Blast Records)
South Carolina’s Nile should need no introduction, despite the ‘Are-they-aren’t-they Morbid Angel clones?’ disagreement between Yuri and me on this very forum. Two year after the disappointing Ithyphallic, studio album # 6 is upon us, Those Whom the Gods Detest, and quite an improvement it is, too. Whilst not their greatest work, it stands head and shoulders over the lacklustre Ithyphallic, yet fails to match 2005’s outstanding Annihilation of the Wicked – however, in my opinion 99% of all death metal does.
Like previous Nile albums Those Whom … is hardly immediate; it’s a multi-layered, buried tomb of a record that slowly reveals its secrets after many repeated listens. Kicking off with the blasphemous Kafir! (blasphemous if you’re a practising Muslim, that is) this is a heads-down-off-we-go blastbeat metal fest, boasting a horns held aloft, sing-along chorus. Immediately evident is the musicianship; naturally, it’s second-to-none, Karl Sanders, Dallas Toler-Wade and drummer George Kollias simply dazzles on this album.
Second track up, Hittite Dung Incantation is monstrous, whilst the title track is an 8-minute epic of Egyptian defiance – I am the murderous Seth/I disrupt the continuity of the sublime/and defy the words spoken from the mouth of Ra.
Elsewhere, Kem Khefa Khesef rips along, reminding me of Cast Down the Heretic from Annihilation …, complete with blistering solo work. And album closer, Iskander Dhul Kharnon boasts an amazing opening riff in a song chock full of superb riffs; this is the aural equivalent of being caught in a sand storm.
Once again Nile has harnessed the producing talents of Neil Kernon, also drafting in Erik Rutan for drum production. The result is a crisp, crystal-clear, immense death metal album that will make many Top 10 lists come the end of the year.
Amazing stuff.
Bacteria13.
http://www.myspace.com/16993157 |
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