NILE — What Should Not be Unearthed (review)

NILE — What Should Not be Unearthed album cover

Album · 2015 · Technical Death Metal

4.5/5 · 2015-10-24
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 In fact he is out of the band and has since been replaced by Brad Parris (who doesn´t play on the album either).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.