Metal Wani recently conducted an interview with Karl Sanders of Nile. He discussed the band’s new album What Should Not Be Unearthed, songwriting, musical direction, why At The Gates Of Sethu suffered a lot,  why they planned to write an album with hooks and less technical, the concept behind the artwork, lyrical approach, vocals, George Kollias beast mode, his opinions on why cellphones are a curse to mankind, upcoming tour with Suffocation and much more.

Listen below:

Nile recently revealed the tracklisting for the upcoming What Should Not Be Unearthed album. Produced by Nile and mixed by Neil Kernon, the album will be released August 28th via Nuclear Blast Records. Pre-order your copy here.

Mastermind Karl Sanders states: ““The goal for the new record was sheer epic brutality. The focus this time around is on brutal heavy metal riffing and songwriting; kind of like of an Annihilation Of The Wicked approach but very streamlined to achieve maximum destructive impact. So we believe that we have a truly crushing disc to bring to metal fans. Although Unearthed is still full of the kind of undeniable musicianship people have come to expect from us over the years, it’s the songs themselves that will hit listeners over the head this time around.”

The artwork was handled this time by Michal 'Xaay' Loranc.

Xaay states about the artwork: “At first, I would like to express that it was great experience to work on another Nile cover / artwork again. I'm really grateful having been a big fan of the band for all these years.

The Story behind the title goes deeply beneath everything we have already known, and we may not be ready to face.  With the art I excavated the theories of an elder ancient civilization which could give the origin to ancient Egypt. That's why you can find a new ingredient in the band imagery, pointing at some higher obscure intelligence, eroding and covered with time. That trace of a dismal legacy is resembled in the outer structure which radiates from the block, sealing the unknown, and it's only an adumbration of what we will meet, once it is removed.

The pyramid-shaped seal in the center doesn't contain a recipe for some Camel Stew or a Pharaoh's dining menu. An experienced eye will notice hieroglyphs taken from the "Book of the Dead", or the Seven Islands of Amentet glyph - depicting the ancient Underworld, and describing the elder reign of God-kings, which had ended circa. 9850 B.C. (perhaps some similarity with that of Atlantis?). But the main thing we should not miss here is a winged scarab sign in the exact center. We all know this most common Egyptian artifact giving protection... so the message is pretty clear... I hope it may become another fine element in band's repository for the Nile themed tattoos.

To sum it up: this album is definitely not a box of candies. Keep in mind that opening the package means you will deal with the deadliest essence...

However, it will be a hard task to hold on to your curiosity. Well... it's a new Nile!”

Tracklisting:

“Call To Destruction”
“Negating The Abominable Coils Of Apep”
“Liber Stellae Rubeae”
“In The Name Of Amun”
“What Should Not Be Unearthed”
“Evil To Cast Out Evil”
“Age Of Famine”
“Ushabti Reanimator”
“Rape Of The Black Earth”
“To Walk Forth From Flames Unscathed”

Nile will hit the road together with their label mates Suffocation as special guests, to support their upcoming masterpiece What Should Not Be Unearthed.

Tour dates:

August
29 - Warszawa, Poland - Progresja Music Zone /Massivefest
30 - Wrocław, Poland - Alibi
31 - Berlin, Germany - K17    

September
1 - Bremen, Germany - Tivoli  
2 - Saarbrucken, Germany - Garage
3 - Munich, Germany - Backstage
4 - Huttikon, Switzerland - Meh Stuff! Metal Festival
5 - Torcy, France - Fall Of Summer
6 - Plymouth, UK - The Hub
7 - Manchester, UK - Sound Control
8 - London, UK -  The Dome
9 - Bristol, UK -  The Marble Factory
10 - Nijmegen, Holland - Doornroosje
11 - Andernach, Germany - Death Feast Open Air
13 - Toulouse, France - Connexion Live           
15 - Bilbao, Spain - Santana 27
16 - Porto, Portugal - Hard Club
17 - Lisbon, Portugal - RCA Club
18 - Madrid, Spain - Arena
19 - Barcelona, Spain - Razzamataz 2
20 - Marseille, France - Moulin    
21 - La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland - Bikini Test
23 - Brescia, Italy - Circolo Colony
24 - Ljubljana, Slovenia - Kino Siska
25 - Budapest, Hungary - A38
26 - Wien, Austria - Szene
27 - Kosice, Slovakia - Collosseum