Bryan Reesman recently caught up with Karl Sanders of South Carolinian death metal veterans NILE, where they discussed the working environment with producer Neil Kernon, metal's evolution, and the financial hardships facing the band today. An excerpt follows:

Q: Is it true that you guys recently played in Africa?

?Karl: "Actually, we were scheduled for three shows, and the money was pretty good. But then they decided to cut it down to one big show, and of course correspondingly cut down our money to next to nothing. So by the time it was over we were maybe going to lose a couple hundred bucks, and we’re not in the business of losing money. We’re in the business of playing music and earning a living. So the African shows did not happen, much to our dismay."

Q: Given how tough everything is for bands nowadays, how is Nile holding up?

?Karl: "Taking a beating. In the age of downloading, everyone thinks that all the money will be made on tour. Dude, that’s also where we’re getting hit really hard. Just the rising cost of transportation - the bus and the cost of diesel fuel - is our biggest fucking expense. That stuff has skyrocketed, yet we don’t see an increase in the amount of money from the promoters. They might be charging higher ticket prices to kids, but that money is not really trickling down to us. We’re getting it on all sides, man. Some of the larger cities are imposing higher and higher fees for selling your merch. Concert t-shirts are at a stupid[ly high] price now because you get taxed 40 to 45% right out of the gate, off the top. The band has to buy the shirts to start off with, and somebody is taking 40% of the gross in every city. It’s no picnic out there."

Q: How do you feel he helped Nile improve their studio sound on this record?

?Karl: "This time around Neil was a Nazi. He demanded perfection on every take. There is stuff where we did 100 takes before he was happy. It got to be a running joke. We would do a spectacular take, and Neil would say, 'That’s great! That’s awesome! That’s perfect! Now do it again.' There was no room for anything less than perfection on this record. Everything’s in tune and everything’s in time. It’s what you’ve actually got to do. We figured out that to be able to hear everything clearly and cleanly takes a level of precision for music this fast and this dense. If you’re going to hear it, then it needs to be done right, just so that you can hear it. Otherwise if there are little bits that aren’t dead on, they add up. Even if it’s so imperceptible that you can’t even tell, that little bit still adds up. On this record every instrument was meticulously done. Christ, we spent from June to mid-September tracking and mixing this thing."

Head to this location to read the interview in its entirety.

As previously reported, Nile will embark on their North American headlining tour with legendary label mates IMMOLATION, the Brazilian death metal kings KRISIUN, ABIGAIL WILLIAMS and female fronted blackened/deathsters DREAMING DEAD.

Confirmed date are as follows:

January

15 - Sonar - Baltimore, MD
16 - The Palladium - Worcester, MA
17 - The Trocadero - Philadelphia, PA
18 - The Blender Theater at Gramercy - New York, NY
20 - Peabody’s - Cleveland, OH
21 - Metro / Smart Bar - Chicago, IL
22 - Rave - Milwaukee, WI
23 - Station 4 - St. Paul, MN
24 - The Beaumont Club - Kansas City, MO
25 - Bluebird Theater - Denver, CO
27 - El Corazon - Seattle, WA
28 - Hawthorne Theater - Portland, OR
29 - The Boardwalk - Orangevale, CA
30 - Slim’s - San Francisco, CA
31 - House of Blues - San Diego, CA

February

2 - House of Blues - Hollywood, CA
3 - House of Blues - Las Vegas, NV
4 - U.B.’s Bar - Mesa, AZ
5 - The Rock - Tucson, AZ
6 - Gator’s - Farmington, NM
8 - House of Rock - Corpus Christi, TX
9 - Scout Bar - San Antonio, TX
10 - Scout Bar - Houston, TX
11 - Trees - Dallas, TX
12 - Marquee - Tulsa, OK
13 - Headliner’s Music Hall - Louisville, KY
14 - Jaxx - W. Springfield, VA
16 - Gil’s Bar & Grill - Virginia Beach, VA
17 - The Masquerade - Atlanta, GA
18 - Amos Southend - Charlotte, NC
19 - Volume 11 - Raleigh, NC
20 - Music Farm - Charleston, SC