NILE's Karl Sanders recently spoke with Dan Marsicano at About.com Heavy Metal about the band's new album, At The Gate Of Sethu. An excerpt from the interview is available below:

Dan Marsicano: Where do you see At The Gate Of Sethu fitting into the band’s catalog?

Karl Sanders: "That’s probably a pretty good question. I’ve noticed a lot of people ask similar things. In other words, everybody needs a frame of reference. I see so many reviews where people try to put in the context of, ‘This Nile album is like this other Nile album.’ I get that people need a frame of reference, because that’s how we talk about things. Trying to compare it to past Nile records is an avenue that doesn’t bear a lot of fruit. In other words, this album is really different from other Nile records. I think it needs to be judged on its own merits.

If you try and say, 'Where’s 'Unas Slayer Of The Gods',' or 'Where’s 'Cast Down The Heretic?',' and you think in those sort of terms, it leads one to not hear the record as its own vital identity. I think this record has a life of its own. We did a lot of different things. There’s a lot of musical progression that we wanted to cleanly capture on this record. A lot of different ideas; a lot of different places we’re going with things. I think trying too hard to compare it to past Nile records does it a disservice to listeners’ enjoyment."

Dan Marsicano: When you guys sit down to write a new record, do you start with a clean slate? Do you not think about things the band has done in previous years?

Karl Sanders: "We try not to. The temptation is always there to, 'Oh, let’s do something like this,' or 'Let’s not do something like that,' from both sides of the yin-yang equation. With this one, I did not want to do a record that was exactly like any of the previous records, other than the fact that if you were ever a Nile fan at any point in the band’s history, there’s something you probably like on this record, and probably some stuff you will hate. There’s a lot of stuff that goes all the way back to the early days of the band. Listening to this record, it’s best to approach it with a clean slate. As a listener, if you pile too many expectations on it, you’re going to walk away going, ‘I don’t understand what they’re doing.’ The truth of the matter is, we’re sticking to our own identity, but trying to reach outward creatively within the context of the death metal idiom."

Click here for the complete interview.

Nile released At The Gate Of Sethu on July 3rd via Nuclear Blast. The album has now achieved the following chart positions:

US - #2 Heatseekers Billboard

US - #131 Billboard

Germany - #27

Austria - #61

Switzerland - #61

Finland - #37

Canada - #109

Karl Sanders (guitars, vocals, instrumentals) previously posted the following message: "Just received word from Nuclear Blast Europe that At The Gate Of Sethu hit the charts in Germany at #27. Wow. Recognition and thanks to all the German metal fans – who are CLEARLY metal as fuck. This makes me twice as anxious to come to Germany this fall as part of the KREATOR tour."

Check out BraveWords.com's review of At The Gate Of Sethu at this location. The album is now streaming in its entirety at this location.

Bravewords scribe Greg Pratt recently conducted an interview with Nile mainman Karl Sanders. Check the interview out at this location.

The band recently released the second track-by-track video for the new album. Check out both below:

World Management has announced festival and tour dates for Nile, as well as some first-time special shows in the Ukraine, and two shows in the Russian Federation.

Current dates include:

August

2 - Metal Heads Mission Festival - Yevpatoriya, Crimea, Ukraine
4 - Zal Ozhidaniya - St. Petersburg, Russian Federation
5 - Milk - Moscow, Russian Federation
8 - Metal Camp Festival - Tolmin, Slovenia
9 - Brutal Assault Festival - Jaromer, Czech Republic
10 - Party.San Open Air - Schlotheim, Germany
12 - Bloodstock Festival - Walton On Trent, England
16 - Dynamo - Zurich, Switzerland
17 - Summer Breeze Open Air - Dinkelsbuehl, Germany
18 - Metal Mean Festival - Mean Belgium