Karl Sanders: Guitars, Vocals, Instrumentals
Dallas Toler-Wade: Guitars, Vocals
George Kollias: Drums
Brad Parris: Bass, Vocals
1: Call to Destruction
This song starts out with a small block of blast beats and a long drawn out vocalization. The beginning riff is a killer fast paced assault on the senses. The words “Call to Destruction” growling on the vocals, set up the first verse. This has a great death metal feel so far. The deep low guttural vocals bring that classic Nile tone that we all know. This song is pretty impressive in how it is brutal while keeping the fast pace. The few moments when the song does slow down it has a punchy and heavy feeling to it maintaining that brutal feel. George Kollias is a very impressive drummer and this song broadcasts that well.
2: Negating The Abominable Coils of Apep
This one starts out with a featureless yet heavy and low death metal guitar riff. It has a decent mid paced groove to it that picks up in tempo after a few bars. It does slow down a bit and go into an unfortunate sludgy feel at times. This song does not keep my energy level where I would want it to be.
3: Liber Stellae Rubeae
This has a good solid groove to make up the introduction of this track. The verse has a preaching feel to it that leaves me feeling divided on how I feel about this track. On one hand it has a solid groove. On the other hand, the vocals are pretty bland for the verses. For the most part I have been just enjoying the drums. If there is one thing I can say, it’s that George Kollias is the reason I enjoyed this song.
4: In the Name Of Amun
This song starts out with Egyptian wind chimes. A melodic and eerie sound to start the song off, that goes on for almost a minute until George hits us with a drum roll out to kick things off into high gear. With some solid blast beats and drum fills the song is not too shabby. Right around the half-way point of the song we get a fast shredding guitar solo. However after that solo the song seems to drag out a little bit too long for my liking.
5: What should not be unearthed?
This starts out with a wailing guitar riff and a mean drum intro. The song begins with a slow and sludgy feel to it. The song has a few bars or fast paced blast beats and guitar riffing but goes right back into that slow feel. I am not a fan of the slow sludgy feel to death metal songs. After listening to the entire song I must admit, I was very disappointed in this song.
6: Evil to Cast out Evil
This starts out with a malevolent and threatening guitar riff that is absolutely bad ass. When the verse comes in we see the song pick up slightly in tempo and give us a solid beat we can move to. The second verse is also a nice solid feel, and then goes into a blast beat up-tempo section. I am enjoying this as it reminds me of older Nile. The chorus is solid, “evil to cast out evil” and rolls out nicely back into the intro riff I enjoy. This song may be my favorite off this album. It has more to offer with the complexity of the guitar solo, the catchy riffs, and the solid chorus. Let’s not forget the drums either, as on this track they are very appropriate.
7: Age of Famine
This song has a slow and sludgy feel to it for almost the entirety of the song and to be honest, I just plain and simple did not enjoy it. The highlight of this song is listening to George on the drums for me.
8: Ushtabi Reanimator
I have always been a fan of Nile when it comes to the Egyptian ambiance, it does add a little flavor to the style metal. This turns out to be a mellow instrumental that was not too long. In fact the length was spot on as it was pretty straight to the point.
9: Rape Of The Black Earth
The song has a hearty beginning; it has blast beats and a chugging riff to introduce us to the verse. This may not be a very eventful track but there is something about it that I like. Half way in to the song and this song upholds its mission of a direct and persistent attack of blast beats and relentless guitar riffs. This song is one of the better ones on the album without a doubt.
10: To Walk Forth From Flames Unscathed
This song has a cool feel to it, and Georges drumming is top notch. This song hits us with killer guitar riffs, they just have this evil feel to them. While this song may not be a rapid fire blast beat filled, high energy song. It has about the right tempo to get some bodies moving, with sections that are straight up low and slow with a punch. The guitar solo is just mean, melodic, and menacing. I’m absolutely loving the guitar solo of this song due to the intricacies and emotion behind it.
After listening to this album a few times I must say, there is no equal to Nile. They bring more than just death metal to the table with the whole Egyptian vibe. However, I would find myself wanting to skip to the next song. If it wasn’t for George on the drums I would not rate this well at all. In fact I would go as far as to say George Kollias is the reason the guys are still putting out good music. This album was not a disappointment but I found myself wanting to skip to the next song every now and again.
-Badger \m/
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The Metal Breakdown 