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

NILE — Amongst the Catacombs of Nephren-Ka album cover

Album · 1998 · Brutal Death Metal

3/5 · 2015-07-13
Unitron

Nile - Amongst the Catacombs of Nephren-Ka

'Amongst the Catacombs of Nephren-Ka' is the debut studio album by death metal band Nile. I love it when bands include historical settings in their lyrics and sometimes even music, especially when that history is ancient. So it makes sense that I love bands like Nile and Melechech, both including ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian subject matter and middle-eastern sounds in their music.

The music here is primarily brutal in-your-face death metal, with deep growls and skull-crushing drums almost akin to Grindcore. This is immediately heard in the opening track 'Smashing the Antiu', with a mixture of the aforementioned sound and guitars switching from crushing to melodic. While many of the songs follow this style, there are songs that have a bit of a slower pace such as 'Serpent Headed Mask'. It starts out with the crushing guitar and drums, but about a minute through it has a marching beat with choir-like sounds in the background. 'Stones of Sorrow' is another slower-paced song, it still has crushing guitars but the drums have a much slower beat.

Unlike their later releases, most of the songs are very short. The longest song on the album, 'Ramses Bringer of War', clocks in at 4:45. So this makes the album pretty short, which I find to be perfect with how the album sounds. Most of the songs have a similar feel, so they never outstay their welcome with the short running time. One complaint I've seen is about the production. I don't find it to be a problem, but it is kind of muffled.

Overall, while not matching the quality of some of their later releases, this is still a great start for a great band. If you want some brutal death metal, or if you want some historical-twinged lyrics, this would certainly not be a bad start. Hope you found this review helpful.

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more than 2 years ago
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powermetal2000 wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Not an overly interesting album from them for me, but Ramses Bringer of War is one of my favourite Nile songs. I love the way they borrow from Holst's Mars, Bringer of War.

666sharon666 wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Nile are one of my favourite death metal bands. They have a couple of albums I don't like as much, this being one of them (the other being At the Gate of Sethu) but I find everything released between 2002 - 2009 to be excellent, with Black Seeds of Vengeance only slightly behind. I have high hopes for their new one.

siLLy puPPy wrote:

more than 2 years ago

It can't be said enough that every Nile album is essential even Ithyphallic! One of my favorite extreme metal bands turns out

adg211288 wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Most seem to say that Ithyphallic is a lesser Nile album but I've always loved that album. It was my first from them as well as well as a gateway album to extremer forms of metal. Before Ithyphallic I think the only death metal albums I actually owned was Death's Leprosy and some Arch Enemy stuff.

Unitron wrote:

more than 2 years ago

'Black Seeds' and 'Annihilation' are my two favorites so far.

siLLy puPPy wrote:

more than 2 years ago

I actually find Ithyphallic one of my lesser favorites. I really love "Black Seeds," "In Their Darkened," and "Annhilation.." The rest are all very good though. Just a matter of taste and these are marginal IMHO :)

adg211288 wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Ithyphallic and Those Whom the Gods Detest are easily my favourites by Nile. Thought At the Gate of Sethu was a step back though, but still good (and better than most seem to think it is).

siLLy puPPy wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Do check them all out. They are one of the most consistent death metal bands around

Unitron wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Thanks! I'm not sure where I'd place this one, I actually haven't heard their most recent albums yet.

siLLy puPPy wrote:

more than 2 years ago

THis album was my last Nile holdout that i only got a few months ago, while i like pretty much every album after better, this one is still a really good one. Great review!

Unitron wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Yeah, I agree they were still finding their sound. I love the album after this.

adg211288 wrote:

more than 2 years ago

I like this one, but I do think Nile were still finding their sound somewhat.