NILE - The Underworld Awaits Us All
August 19, 2024, 3 months ago
(Napalm)
Well, look at that, it's Nile as a five-piece here on their 10th full-length, The Underworld Awaits Us All. And all I can think is it just adds to the chaos, opener “Stelae Of Vultures” sounding like a total wall of noise, the band actually sounding more alive than they have in a while here, the song just a steamroller of technicality and forward momentum.
Follow-up (deep breath) “Chapter For Not Being Hung Upside Down On A Stake In The Underworld And Made To Eat Feces By The Four Apes” continues the vibe but streamlines it down to 3:50 compared to the opener's 6:20 (which, I must say, races past); we're going back to Nephren-Ka here in that these songs aren't oppressive and overwhelming, they're full of energy.
And so is George Kollias' drumming, the man on an absolute tear here, mastermind Karl Sanders looking on with a sagely nod before laying down absurd riff after absurd riff, “Naqada II Enter The Golden Age” being almost catchy, “Under The Curse Of The One God” featuring riffs flying faster than they should at this point in Nile's career, “True Gods Of The Desert” absolutely destroying with a pair of Crowbar-worthy sludge/death opening riffs.
Nile is one of the very few DM bands who can lay down a 53-minute album and I'm not really complaining, even if I did always very much appreciate the brevity of Nephren-Ka. But this record rules, total death metal spirit and energy, production sounding good, Nile as a quintet in 2024 sounding alarmingly vital and youthful.
