Metal Reviews

You and Kayla agree on something! I was considering getting my username changed, to add the 'ok', but can't really be bothered pestering Mike.



What reasons? I like Nile because they make music I enjoy listening to. I dislike Dope et al because they make music I don't like listening to.

I like them because they're uncomplicated, hook-laden, pseudo-aggressive, pandering, corporate bullshit marketed to appeal to my demographic.

Gotta fall for some of them marketing schemes.

I love it when you do sarcasm.

One thing is for sure, DM - you rarely overrate albums.

I listened to it again, and you're mad, Aaron. The title track alone is worth the price.

AOTW is the only Nile album thats succesfuly puts me to sleep every time I play it. I definitely agreee with Dead Machine on this one. Except Lashed To The Slave Stick is pretty good.

Agreed :twisted:

I pretty much agree with Zad. I love this album and there are some damn good tracks on here.

i finialy picked this up a week ago. I've had In Their Darkened Shrines for about a year, and Katacombs for a couple of months. I was suprised to hear another "epic" Nile track on this disc "User-Maat-Re" because i recalled reading a Karl Sanders essay on how he's not gonna write another Unas Slayer of the Gods just for the sake of writing another long tune.

Read the booklet, he explains there.

I discovered Nile a month or two ago and I listen to either Tombs or Shrines nearly once a day at work. I like to imagine evil Egyptian Gods crawling up from the ground and consuming the souls of every soccer mom and shit kicking red neck I get stuck behind in traffic. After the review I held off on getting the new one because I was worried it would be a let down from the previous albums, and I couldn't bear to go on living if Nile dissapointed me. However, judging from these posts quite a few Nile fans have liked it. Something I should definately pick up then?

Its a great album, but it's the only Nile that I pwn, so I may end up agreeing with Aaron after hearing the rest of their catalogue (but I doubt it).

Well I can easily vouch for Amongst "The Catacombs Of Nephren-Ka" and "In Their Darkened Shrines." At first I could not get into Nile, but then after hearing some more brutal death metal like Decapitated, Vital Remains, and Behemoth I went back to those Nile albums and they really clicked. Definately my favorite death band so far, Nile embodies the sound of ancient evil that most others merely strive for.

Nile clicked right away for me. Im glad i started listening to them chronologicaly, in other words i don't think i would apreciate the new album. I really like Anihilation of the Wicked.

Annihilation IS the new album...

i started listening to nile when annihilation was already out. the first cd i picked up was catacombs "i read the begining of the review, and i didn't want to go against it" then i bought black seeds, then i bought in their darkened shrines, then i bought annihiliation, so i can apreciate Annihiliation more because i started listening to them chronologicaly, unless chronologic is totaly the wrong word do you see what im trying to say?

I have been a huge nile fan for some time now(a couple a years).I did not like the review,partly because of my love for Nile though I do my best to view all things in a neutral manner.Nay,I feel that AotW is not only deserving of a higher score but much praise as well.

I find it disheartening to hear people ramble on about how bands are supposed to change.Screw that.Granted we are all entitled to our own opinion but damn that is a close minded one.People bitch and whine about how their bands have changed their sound,then when a band actually enjoys its unique sound and pleasing its fans while often times growing as musicians people bring them down with the slightest of whims.

I so wish I was a reviewer so as to give this album a fairer chance.As I stated before I am a Nile fanboy.However like all things we are subject to our tastes and I totally differ from some of the reviewers here.It seems apparent that Aaron does not treat death metal as its own genre that can indeed grow but enjoys itself in all of its expected indulgences.It is more of a chore than a fun hobby and artform.I enjoy just about every metal genre(with the exception of metalcore etc.)and death,particularly tech death is my favorite.

Where Aaron(and others of course,he is not alone)prefers In their darkened shrines,I actually do not like that album very much and though I own every Nile cd and ep,I do not often listen to it.Then he considers AotW to be uninspired and been there done that.I beg to completely differ!In my band I have going that is ameteur at best right now,one thing that I can appreciate is artistic growth while managing to stay true to ones artistic goals.For me,I can tell the difference in just about every single song Nile has created,they manage to write continuously different songs while staying on topic.

That takes an incredible amount of skill,and I admire them for that.But I can see how they have matured in their songwriting and musicianship.I love every other cd they have released,particularly BSoV.Hell,even Karl Sander's Saurian Meditation is one of my favorite cd's.I love the ancient world,history,fantasy and the middle east.This is one of the few ways I can listen to this type of inspired music,and it is a shame that no other band offers a similar approach to death metal.Sure behemoth is great but they do not play the same style though I still enjoy them alot.Hell the song Xul on Demigod is amazing with Karl Sander's guest solo at the end(the whole cd slays though).

Clearly it is a matter of preference,but I would have rated this cd much higher and given it an album of the month award.It may not be perfect to some,but for me this cd was an amazing suprise coming off of ITDS,as well as an amazing display of musicianship.I feel that those who claim that Nile is bordering parody are the same type to accuse Power Metal of being corny and cliche as opposed to actually enjoying the message behind these bands.

Nile has note only grown as artists but managed to stay true to the Egyptian myths and history,not something many can claim.If this means accurately transcribing an ancient dialect that happens to translate into lengthy passages and titles,then so be it.They have balls and then some to stand up to such scrutiny.They even said the truth when interviewed by that thing(she is one scary woman)on FUSE about their occasionally long song titles.The are trying to uphold the original meaning as opposed to butcher it,and it is not done as a means to create wacky track names and guiness records.Other bands out there have done far worse I assure you.

When I play my Xbox and 360 I love to listen to Nile when I play some Unreal Championship 2.When I am working on my rpg and am drawing I love to put on something I love and that fits the setting and atmosphere.Nile accomplishes this and then some.While I own hundreds of cd's,Nile has remained in my current stack for years now,and I love it.Some may not "get it",but to those who do,this cd is another masterpiece by Nile,and I believe it deserves a far better review than the one posted.And George Kolias is not only a great addition to the band,but is one amazing drummer.I love how the bandmates get along and look after each other.Inspiring stuff.

Xinen: I only expect bands to change when they make a career out of CHANGING.

I've been defending this review since it's inception. The point remains that all of the songs on this full-length could have easily been tracks on their other full-lengths. Aside from one or two standouts, I tnink it sounds like an album of B-sides. I would score it much lower if I reviewed it nowadays.

Funnily enough, I don't fit any of your accusations which are not only baseless, but also rather silly. I listen to and enjoy power metal now, and find the cheesiness funny.

I enjoy death metal as a genre. I listen to throwback bands like God Among Insects because I love death metal, I love the riffing and the growls and the malevolence and technicality, or the groove. Fuck, I barely know what you're even saying there.

So... can you shed some light on that, brah?

Alright look,I wasn't trying to attack you personally.We each differ in opinion and that's not a bad thing.

I personally view this album as the band growing,with their best production yet.I find it great to see how Dallas is a large part of the creative process as well.

My "accusations"(apparently I should have choosen the name Inquisitor eh?)were partially spawned from the frustrations of a hard week,so please forgive me.However,our views are different.Powermetal to you is apparently funny while my sister and I admire the music for actually singing about honor,respect etc.To us it is serious,not a joke or silly theme.

In the review you say "Admittedly, death metal itself is largely filled with crocks of boring, regressive shit, but the best death metal bands know that this doesn’t matter and write killer songs to make us forget about it. Nile has few killer songs on this record, and so it fails unlike any album they’ve ever done before".I don't care how old-school you are,I care whether or not you are a reasonable fan of the genre and with statements like this I can't help but feel like your bored of it all,which is entirely fine,but maybe someone else should have handled the review then?

Overall our tastes are different.You consider ItDS to be their second best and creative peak,while I do not.AotW is not only a return to form in my eyes,but a natural progression for the band.In the end,I love it and you don't.I'm sorry to have come off as some random asshole,I was just stressed out that week and after reading the review it seemed like we were worlds apart hearing totally different albums.Either way,I can't change the score but I can rest easy knowing I love the album and that's all that matters.