NILE — Amongst the Catacombs of Nephren-Ka (review)

NILE — Amongst the Catacombs of Nephren-Ka album cover Album · 1998 · Brutal Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
topofsm
While not a classic in any sense of the word, Nile's debut, "Amongst the Catacombs of Nephren-Ka" is still a testament to the greatness of Nile. It doesn't have any of their more epic styled songs, and the production has yet to be bumped up a notch, but that hardly makes it less enjoyable for a Nile record. In fact, it will probably appeal more to straight-up death metal lovers, rather than those who dislike overtly technical and excessive attributes in their metal.

The first thing to notice is the songs are rather short, a stark contrast to what the band would become one day. It gives a sort of grind feel in that sense, in that a lot of the tracks go by at a rapid speed and leave as soon as they arrive. It is indeed harder to pick out tracks even after a few listens, but that's ok. There are also more sections with pure Middle Eastern ambience, such as the track "Kudurru Maqlu", and the complete march piece, "Die Rache Krieg Lied Der Assyriche". Apart from that, there isn't really much different from what we know from Nile.

That being said, the more creative and progressive elements are a bit more noticeably absent. Many of the songs are straight up death metal, like "Barra Edinazzu". There are some great snipppets of what would come eventually, most notably the highlight of the album "Ramses, Bringer of War", which lifts Holst's "Mars, Bringer of War" and incorporates it wonderful into an Egyptian styled death metal piece, definitely a great adaptation. The closing track "Beneath Eternal Oceans Of Sand" is also great, transitioning from dark ambience to tech death in a snap.

As always it seems that Karl Sanders does well leading the team to construct some great metal. His guitar is noticeably present and throughout the album there are lots of those blistering solos that buzz through, giving more harsh oppression to the Egyptian slave-driving mood. The drums lack a bit of personality, and seem to be rather standard fare though. That seems fine, because the song structures still speak for themselves.

As a Nile album, it is easy to see why this one isn't brought up as much as other releases. It isn't bad at all, it just lacks quite a few elements that makes Nile great. That doesn't mean Amongst the Catacombs of Nephren-Ka isn't great. On the contrary, it stands on its own as a good collection of Egyptian death metal at a rapid pace with plenty of its own merit
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
UMUR wrote:
more than 2 years ago
I really enjoy reading your Nile reviews. I´m pretty new to Nile´s music (I´ve known about them since their first release, but just never gave them a chance), so your reviews are great inspiration to me.

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Hin helga kvöl Atmospheric Sludge Metal
SÓLSTAFIR
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Cycles of Suffering Black Metal
BURIAL OATH
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Suns of Perdition - Chapter IV: To Shadow Zion Black Metal
PANZERFAUST
Buy this album from MMA partners
Facilis Descensus Averno Death Metal
SAEVUS FINIS
Buy this album from MMA partners
Merciless Crossover Thrash
BODY COUNT
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

DAWN OF REVENGE - Sanctuary [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 5 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Farewell [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 5 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Curtain of Death - [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 5 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Vengeance [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 5 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - I Need You [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 5 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed