Kev Rowland This 2015 album was the fourth in eight years with the same line-up of Karl Sanders (guitars, bass, vocals) , Dallas Toler-Wade (guitars, bass, v) and George Kollias (drums). Unlike many metal bands, drummer Kollias is a key songwriter, contributing the music to most of the tracks on the album. At this point it was 20 years since their debut EP, and although only Sanders was still there from those early days, the band had really matured and were (and are) at the pinnacle of technical death metal. Is there another band within the genre who are so instantly recognisable and who consistently deliver albums of such high calibre?

Some people try to make the argument that if you’ve got a Nile album in your collection then you really don’t need any more, but could you just have one album by Sabbath, or just one by Mk II Deep Purple? In each case they have a style they have made very much their own, yet each album is very different in its own right yet conforming to a certain style. I have always loved the technical virtuosity combined with brutal heaviness which is typical of Nile, combined with vocals which sound as if they are being dragged out from a demonic plane. 20 years in the game and the band are only getting heavier and more powerful with age – this is not a sign of a band going gently into the good night, but is going to be kicking and screaming and devil take the hindmost. Brutal and fast with incredible note density combined with dynamics and different shades of dark to provide contrast, this is yet another incredibly strong example of the very best in the genre.

Warthur Nile's style is so consistent that it takes a pretty good Nile release to stand out from the pack as far as their discography is concerned. What Should Not Be Unearthed is a mature release from the band, which finds their customary style given its most technically polished and finely produced presentation yet. Does it offer any major surprises or departures from Nile's business as usual? Not really - but Nile's house style is good enough that for most technical death metal fans that isn't really a downside. I am not sure how many Nile albums I really need in my life, but I can make space for this one.

Unitron Nile - What Should Not be Unearthed

"What Should Not be Unearthed" is the eighth studio album by death metal band Nile. Since their beginning in 1993, Nile has proved themselves as one of the most consistent death metal acts with no bad albums in my book. This album comes as no exception, perhaps actually my favorite from the band to-date.

"What Should Not be Unearthed" continues with some of the elements brought in with their previous album "At the Gates of Sethu". Many fans of the band seem to feel that "At the Gates of Sethu" is their weakest album, but before this album it was probably my favorite. One of the things that the previous album had brought in were semi-clean vocals, which I found to be excellent and a great addition to their sound. I thought it brought a bit more variety to the music. However, this album focuses a lot more on incredibly catchy riffing.

Like Meshuggah, this particular album from Nile makes me zone out and completely get lost in the music. This is because there are some incredibly catchy and powerful riffs, which you're immediately blasted with in the opener 'Call to Destruction'. This may seem strange, as when you think of Nile you don't exactly think of 'catchy', but there's no other way to describe the overall sound. It's as crushing and heavy as ever, but certainly more emphasis on creating a sound to instantly get into. It's hard to pick favorites, as the whole album is a very enjoyable listen, but the songs that stand out to me other then the aforementioned opener are: 'In the Name of Amun', 'Evil to Cast Out Evil', and the closing track 'To Walk Forth From Flames Unscathed'. 'In the Name of Amun' begins with nice atmospheric middle-eastern sounds before becoming a crushing track with excellent low growls. If I had to pick a favorite, it would probably be 'To Walk Forth From Flames Unscathed' with its crushing riffs and dark, slow, and monstrous grooves. Also, there is some very melodic beautiful guitar work that comes in around the two-minute mark.

Overall, it's another killer album from Nile. While I really enjoy or love all of Nile's albums, this one was an instant beast of an album. It's so easy to get lost in the great mix of crunch, groove, atmosphere, and melody. If you're a fan of Nile you probably have already listened, but if you're just a fan of crushing death metal, this is not an album you will want to miss. Hope you found this review helpful.

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UMUR "What Should Not be Unearthed" is the 8th full-length studio album by US death metal act Nile. The album was released through Nuclear Blast Records in August 2015. "What Should Not be Unearthed" was recorded by the core trio of Karl Sanders (Guitars, Bass, Keyboards, Vocals), Dallas Toler-Wade (Guitars, Bass, Vocals), and George Kollias (Drums, Percussion), so even though bassist Todd Ellis was added to the lineup in 2012 and played several tours with Nile, he doesn´t play on this album. In fact he is out of the band and has since been replaced by Brad Parris (who doesn´t play on the album either).

It´s generally been a busy couple of years since the release of "At the Gate of Sethu (2012)". In addition to touring in support of the album, and writing and recording new material for "What Should Not be Unearthed", both Dallas Toler-Wade and George Kollias have recorded and released material with other projects. Dallas Toler-Wade released the "Narcotic Wasteland" album in 2014 (under the Narcotic Wasteland monicker), and George Kollias released the "Invictus" album in 2015 under his own name, played drums on "Cosmic Enigma (2013)" by Cerebrum, and on the "Predestined (2014)" EP by Contrarian.

But it´s no surprise the guys in Nile have kept busy. You don´t get to have as much success as Nile has had over the last many years if you don´t have a strong work ethic, and they more than deserve their place among the absolute elite of death metal acts today. "What Should Not be Unearthed" is yet another demonstration of power by the band. Just listening to the opening track "Call to Destruction" should blow most death metal listeners away. It´s actually a rather immedate track which opens with a couple of minutes of fast blasting drums and riffs, but then in usual Nile style, changes completely to a really heavy pace. And that´s what you get with Nile. Just when you think a track has settled, something surprising always happens, or some little detail will throw you off your feet.

The material on the album is generally more catchy and instantly memorable than usual for Nile though, which to my ears is an upgrade from the more inaccessible material of the past. Not that preceeding releases by the band aren´t exceptionally strong (because they certainly are), but I enjoy the fact that Nile has developed their sound in a sligthly more accessible direction with more focus on hooks (I don´t recall Nile producing anything this hookladen since "Lashed to the Slave Stick" from "Annihilation of the Wicked (2005)"). This is by no means a simple death metal album though, and you can still expect to be bludgeoned by intense technical playing on a very high level. Highlights include "Call to Destruction", "In the Name of Amun", and "Evil to Cast Out Evil", but all material on the 10 track, 50:03 minutes long album is of a high quality.

The sound production is raw and powerful. The guitars at times feature an almost too abrasive tone, but overall the production suits the music well. So "What Should Not be Unearthed" is through and through a high quality release featuring a well sounding production, outstanding musicianship, and clever and adventurous songwriting. Nile perfectly tread the fine line between being raw and brutal and being progressive/technical. The rawness and intensity of their performances always ensure death metal authenticity even though they are sometimes more technical and sophisticated than your standard progressive metal act. A 4.5 star (90%) rating is fully deserved.

Nightfly What Should Not Be Unearthed is the first album from USA technical death metal band Nile since 2012’s At The Gate Of Sethu. Guitarist/vocalist Karl Sanders said on the band website before release that on the new album the goal was for sheer epic brutality with an emphasis on the riffing. Well I’d say that pretty much any Nile album is sheer epic brutality but I can see where he’s coming from as they’ve come up with some of the best riffs of their career.

Fans of the band need not worry – perhaps there is an emphasis on writing strong songs over technique for techniques sake but What Should Not Be Unearthed is clearly another album in the great Nile tradition with shredding a plenty, the Egyptian themes, complex arrangements with awesome musicianship with incredible speed and dexterity from all. George Kollias’s drumming is as jaw dropping as ever, clearly evident from the off as opener Call To Destruction kicks in with typical Nile speed and brutality. This man is the finest death metal drummer ever in my opinion and he’s up against some pretty stiff competition. Equally impressive is the guitar work of Karl Sanders and Dallas Toler-Wade who hold true to the promise of strong riffs without sacrificing anything of the technique they’re famous for. It’s difficult to imagine that Nile could get any heavier but these songs suggest they’ve excelled themselves in this area, perhaps due to riffs being more memorable and getting under the skin easier than At The Gate Of Sethu, which fine album that it was suffered from a thin production with a bit of style over substance at times – certainly in comparison to Those Whom The Gods Detest, their previous album.

Like all great albums the strength lies in overall consistency making it difficult to pick out favourites but it doesn’t get any better than the incredible title track for sheer speed, heaviness and incendiary riffing. It always good to hear them slow down at times, which they do now and again, which only helps to emphasize the heaviness.

Those Whom The Gods detest was my favourite Nile album which for me encapsulated everything great about Nile. It’s early days and I don’t want to jump the gun but What Should Not Be Unearthed may even overtake it being a flawless piece of work. I said in a recent review of the new Sulphur Aeon album that the only death metal album I thought could surpass it this year was this one. Seems I may be right.