In a few short years time NILE has established itself
as a potent musical entity so vital and massive
that they live up to the stature of the river from
which they take their name. With just one record,
a few EP's and one world tour under their belt,
NILE has raised the bar for death metal bands
musically, lyrically and conceptually. Couple this
with their precedent-setting live performances,
and you have one of the genre's brightest hopes
for the new millennium. Now, with Black Seeds of
Vengeance, NILE stand poised to cement their place
in the pantheon of metal's elite.
Formed in 1993 by Karl Sanders (guitar/vocals),
Chief Spires (bass/vocals), and Pete Hammoura
(drums), NILE wasted little time combining
their interest in Egyptian history, culture and
lore with the ferocity of modern death metal and a
symphonic approach to songwriting and arrangement.
They hammered out a balanced attack that fused
unique, technical death metal with Middle Eastern
tones and a lyrical approach inspired by Sanders'
interpretation of ancient Egyptian inscriptions,
temple carvings, papyri, hieroglyphics and tomb
paintings depicting ancient battles, rituals and
religious ceremonies. Each following year brought
a new recording, each of which marked a large step
forward in their musical evolution, and enabled
NILE to further entrench themselves in an
underground that received them with open arms.
Things really began to gel in 1996 when, after
recording and shopping three new songs, they
landed a deal with upstart label Visceral
Productions and began recording their debut full-
length in addition to adding second guitarist
Dallas Toler-Wade.
However, the deal would not last as Visceral
folded in late 1997. Relapse Records swiftly
stepped into the picture and, after hearing the
record and witnessing the band's live show, a deal
was struck and the two prepared for the release of
NILE's debut full-length Amongst the Catacombs of
Nephren-Ka.
Amongst The Catacombs of Nephren-Ka was a
monumental testimony of power that took the metal
world by storm. Vicious guitar riffs lashed out
among tremendous drum blasts, frenzied guitar
solos and a powerful three-vocalist onslaught. The
savage attack was adorned with exotic
instrumentation and symphonic Middle Eastern
passages and chants to form an all-out assault of
the likes not heard before. Amongst... was an
adventurous and awesome piece of work and praise
for their accomplishment was quick to follow.
NILE commenced a grueling eighteen-month world
tour shortly upon the records release: one that
would see them crisscross the states numerous
times before being invited to accompany Morbid
Angel on their world tour. The band, excited by
the prospect of reaching new people, seeing new
places and simply playing their music, unleashed
an incredible live show on an unsuspecting public.
So driven by passion and hell bent to deliver on
Sanders' promise to "play every single note as if
it were going to be our last [and] give every bit
of strength we have within us every time we play,"
NILE converted thousands of new fans to their
distinctive sound with what has become one of the
most celebrated live performances the metal world
has seen in years. By the time the tour ended with
their jaw-dropping European debut at Dynamo '99
and subsequent European Tour, NILE were already
being touted as one of metal 's most ambitious and
fastest rising stars.
Upon their return home in August '99, Sanders and
co. began work assembling and arranging the pieces
and ideas that had been brewing since '97 (when
the band completed recording Nephren-Ka).
Encouraged by the enthusiastic worldwide reception
that the band's exploration of Egyptian and Middle
Eastern culture and exotic sounds received, and
driven by the need, in Sanders' words "...to
create a massive record, a kind of masterpiece,"
they began laying the groundwork for an epic
sophomore effort.
The writing didn't come easy. So ambitious and
lofty were their ideas that it became an obsession
that took up all their waking moments. Sanders
spent every night composing, arranging, re-
arranging and piecing together all the movements
like a symphony orchestra. The lyrics alone took
him almost a year as he sought to integrate them
seamlessly with the music "making the combination
of both form one unified piece, with each serving
the other and working together to achieve the same
thing." The wildly technical composition Multitude
of Foes also took Toler-Wade a year to work out.
The band entered their second home--Columbia, SC's
Soundlab Studios-once again in May with longtime
producer Bob Moore to attempt to capture its most
sprawling, ambitious work to date. Black Seeds of
Vengeance not only sidesteps the dreaded sophomore
slump, but it realizes the fruits of their intense
and arduous songwriting labors and places them in
the upper echelon of metal rank and file.
Black Seeds of Vengeance is a relentless, scathing
death metal assault that builds off the energy and
atmosphere of Amongst... and presents NILE's sound
and fury in a slightly streamlined, yet even more
epic and colorful light. Violent passages of hyper-
grinding fury explode from ominous, deathly
tranquility as the words and music paint vivid
tales of battle, conquest, domination,
subjugation, war and religious ritual. Intricate
symphonic passages comprised of African choirs and
such diverse instrumentation as tablas, tempuras,
sitars, gongs, kettle drums, Tibetan Doom horns
and acoustic guitars wind their way through the
muscular compositions, giving the songs an almost
cinematic feel.
Arguably the perfect combination of the old and
new school of metal, NILE blends ferocious power
and astounding technical prowess with mesmerizing
dynamics and resounding songs, offering conclusive
proof that there is life in death metal yet. On
their long-awaited new full-length In Their
Darkened Shrines, NILE has taken their synthesis
of astute songwriting and invention to dizzying
new heights. In Their Darkened Shrines fuses the
band's trademark Middle Eastern trappings,
grandiose symphonic bent, speed and intensity with
its most epic, ambitious work to date. Volatile
passages burst into beautiful regal arrangements
and weighty riffs segue into majestic acoustic
passages as the record embodies burning rage,
triumph and every emotion in between. In Their
Darkened Shrines is, unquestionably, a tour-de-
force and with it NILE have built the genre of
metal a new cornerstone.
With NILE's In Their Darkened Shrines scheduled
for release in August, 2002, and with months of
rehearsal under their belt, the NILE touring
machine is set to embark upon another staggering
worldwide offensive.