Nile - At The Gate Of Sethu

I will always hold a special spot for Nile as they were the first band that really opened the world of death metal to me with their album 'In Their Darkened Shrines' 10 years ago. To this day, that album is a sentimental favourite of mine due to its dark atmosphere, brutality and technical musicianship and it still remains the ultimate Nile album for me. 'Those Whom The Gods Detest' did relive some of that past glory for me so I was really keen to get my hands on the new album, 'At The Gate Of Sethu'.

If you know the drill with Nile, it is your usual showcase of heavy and brutal technical musicianship. The hints of tribal flavour still appear ('Slaves Of Xul' and 'Ethno- Musicological Cannibalisms') in the album but overall, it is what you expect. I can't help but always be blown away by those technical spinning riffs that transcend, slow down to dirge and crush. A lot of catchy riffs too, sometimes more memorable than previous albums. There is even the odd moment where the technicality transcends to lift, like a lifeless body being raised to ancient gods in sacrifice. The middle of 'The Gods Who Light Up The Sky At The Gate Of Sethu' is just... 'Wow!'. 

Vocally, I have found them to be more brazen here. The deep brutality still arrives from time to time but I am liking the more barbaric yell. Even some singing/chanting manages to find its way onto this album in the song 'The Fiends Who Come to Steal The Magick of the Deceased'. 'Sing along' moment much? Hehe. It is cool though.

Like the swift changes in the riffing, the drumming also changes gear many times, from the blistering kicks that switch to the blistering fills that sweep through the songs like twisters sweeping through the open deserts and ripping the pyramids apart with them. As usual, Nile make Ancient Egypt seem like the most devastating period of Earth's existence. Were things ever peaceful back then?

Production wise, I am a little unsure. I have always been use to that dark, condensed sound from this band. Dark and condense but so powerful and heavy that you understand why things seemed condensed in the first place. Well on ATGOS, things seem a little flat. Well, I don't think flat is the right word, but it doesn't feel as dark. It is not as condensed either and there for I am not feeling that powerfully brutal atmosphere I found on previous albums.

It is like you sat outside that pyramid for years waiting for that beast to escape from the dark tombs inside that had been on a brutal rampage only for when it does escape outside, you realize it wasn't a rampaging beast, but a crazy mummy. Doesn't seem as evil after all, right? I am not saying this is a bad thing though. Perhaps this 'lighter' atmosphere I find here is Nile trying to show that the violence is now taking to the desert rather than inside the tombs. Perhaps the pyramids have crumbled to the ground meaning the mummys and beasts can only run wild in the open now..

In the end, this is not a bad album at all. It is very good and it is growing on me a lot. It wont be one of my favourite Nile albums, but it is another worthy addition to their ever impressive catalogue. Just how far it may go to being one of my favourite albums this year? Who knows, time may tell. 

Ikil