Nile aren't tech death. Tech death is very robotic, and mostly blast beat sections, and it's not nearly as heavy, especially with the guitars. Nile is straight death metal.
Definitely understand the fatigue. When you listen to enough of this you adapt to it and kind of get a new baseline for what's overwhelming or not. After years of it, I can put this stuff on to go to sleep to.
Kafir is probably my favourite Nile album opener ever. I remember hearing it for the first time in highschool after I went to my local HMV to pick up the record. My late friend and I sat in his room smoking weed and making the stank face at each other for a few hours. Great memory.
If you feel the itch to jam Nile again, the record 'Annihilation of the Wicked' is objectively their most popular. It's not drastically less chaotic but the songs tend to be catchier and have simpler arrangements.
Both of the guitarists usually share the majority of the vocal work. In this album it seems that Karl decided to give more of the vocals to Dallas here. 😅 In live sessions the bassist also does vocals
This is an insane album and a wonderful ride full of great visuals. If you're not used to it, you're bound to be overwhelmed. The best experience you'll get with this album is after the 10th listen. Once you get used to the dynamics of Nile, you'll start hearing the groove riding the aggression, and then you are in for it.
wow props to you for sticking it out. Nile is extreme at its finest. 2 albums you should try is winters gate by insomnium and or none so vile by cryptopsy. 2 of some of the greatest albums i have ever heard.
I second "Winter's Gate" by Insomnium. It's a concept album, based on a short story, with only one (album-filling) song. It's Melodic Death Metal, and there is downtime here and there, so you get to catch your breath in between the heavy bits.
Hats off to you for having the patience of going through an album of the best tech death band out there. And yes the dual vocals complement each other perfectly!
About the lyrics, most of Nile's albums have liner notes explaining the background/ lyrical themes. I think it's fair to say many lyrics don't have much of a deeper meaning, rather they're simply inspired by their fascination with Egyptian mythology and history, and the general mythology of the ancient Middle East. A lot of their songs are based on HP Lovecraft's stories as well, 4th Arra of Dagon for instance. In fact, one of their albums (Ithyphallic) based so many songs off Lovecraft that they decided to skip the liner notes entirely, because they thought fans wouldn't be interested in reading "this song is inspired by Lovecraft" over and over. Of course, there are songs where they will lean more towards expressing opinions on things like religion, like Kafir. And a song about Egyptian burial practices can obviously also be a metaphor for something else. Karl Sanders has stated that he always writes the lyrics first, and bases the music around the lyrics, instead of the other way around. The lyrics are important to the band, no doubt about it. But I think a lot of them, if not most, are simply meant to evoke an atmosphere, rather than expressing emotion or opinions.
Those mechanical bass kicks are performed by a real human fueled by beer and cigarettes and his name is George Kollias. He also recorded this with an ankle injury. Don't ask me how.
You should’ve went with Black Seeds Of Vengeance. It’s 43 minutes and not a second is wasted and it gives you a range of everything this band is about. Annihilation Of The Wicked is often cited as their best album though.
Awesome. This is my favorite Nile album. The songs are so carefully constructed and intricate, and the vocals of Dallas are some of the most intimidating in all of music.
Ulcerate Everything is fire or the destroyers of all....either album is a must listen for any one Who claims to know what extreme/foward thinking music is capable off
23 years Nile fan here but listening to a whole album isn't even something I like to do. It's too much the same thing over and over, particularly the hyper speed. I love it but not for 40-60 minutes straight. I need more variation in tempos, heaviness, some groove, atmosphere and character. Black Seeds of Vengeance is their best album. Was lucky to have seen them on that tour - the OG lineup, the best lineup. I highly recommend A Succubus in Rapture by the legendary symphonic black metal band Dimmu Borgir.
Dagon isn't just Lovecrafts invention but a "real" god, god fertility and father of Baal, who was worshipped quite widely in ancient middle east. For example in Bible the god who Philistines worshipped was said to be Dagon. In some sources Dagon was also described to be a half-fish which is probably where Lovecraft got the idea of his Dagon from.
Also this is pretty much what Nile is about. Sure there may be more doomier, less technical songs in the mix of their early albums and bit more of those atmospheric tracks too that you seemed to enjoy but over all this lovely relentless assault is still Nile's bread and butter, it was back then and it still is. 🤘
I think I remember when this album came out, especially the song "Kafir", was the time when ISIS was on the rise and went on destroying Egyptian artifacts and monuments/sites etc. which was Nile's thing with their theme and lyrics
So I'm currently in the middle of your analysis of 4th Arra of Dagon, but I wanted to pass on that if you liked the "insanity" theme, you might check out the song "The Elder God Shrine" by Karl Sanders (solo project by the band lead). His solo stuff is pretty much entirely atmospheric tracks played on some of the Lutes he uses in Nile tracks.
I commend this guy to take on such an extreme album. Had he gained a conditioned sensibility by getting Into thrash, old school death metal for years prior to a band as over the top heavy as Nile...it would be a lot easier to chill out and get into.
Ok, not much to add here, just skimming through your reaction and from the first two tracks, and how you reacted, I see you have the same reaction to them as I described in that other song. To me, this is a band who unlocks their full potential when they utilise the full breadth of their compositional range. Their slower sections will always shine for me for their rich atmospheres. The longer songs are a great example of that. They don't forego the speed, but they let the compositions breathe A note on the vocals, they' sound dstinctive to you because they actually use vocals in a manner somewhat distinctive to other death metal bands. Both guitarists and the bassist sing, for starters, and this in and of itself generates a lot of call and response that's not usually the norm. It's a ritualistic cadence, which is very lyrically fitting, and it takes more than a fair bit of inspiration from various forms of world music, namely throat singing, which I would say is a definite influence in how textural they sound. Also, lyrically, many of their lyrics are either translations of, or structured around, ancient texts, prayers and incantations. "Kafir", for example, is an arabic pejorative for nonbelievers in the religions of the book (Islam, christianity and judaism), and is a mixture of own words and an ancient muslim text. Karl Sanders, the main composer, used to say there's nothing more metal than those ancient texts, which can be very gruesome indeed. You are correct on the overal theme of the album, just thought this tidbit might give you context. As someone with a masters in History, it's also one of the things that fascinates me the most about them.
Great context! Helps to put into perspective why some of this works for me moreso than other DM bands. The lyrical aspect is quite interesting and certainly sets the band faaaar apart from most other lyricists, metal or otherwise..
This is honestly not a bad introduction to extreme metal full albums because Nile is usually a bit more palatable than most to newcomers: Because they lean so much on phrygian they tend to be quite a bit more melodic than other bands that are pretty much this fast, this distorted but always jumping between being fully dissonant or highly chromatic so not much to grab on to and Nile also really likes their breakdowns which again makes it more accessible to people not used to this kind of thing than bands that just keep the speed and don't even slow down to mid tempos for the full 40 minutes of the album or so. On the downside well I will admit there's only so much that you can do with phrygian to keep me around for a full album and after a point the interest is maintained because of the technical proficency specially on the drums since just knowing what it takes to do what George Kollias does on these albums can keep me interested but well, aside from musicians that are also very acclimated to extreme music, most folk will probably not stick around.
Nice review. I think you should check out the album "Here in After" by Immolation. It's a smorgasbord of dark, atonal riffing coupled with great songwriting.
Catching your reaction to track 1, I’m reminded of how smart a decision Archspire and Behold! The Arctopis made to put out ~30 minute albums. They’ve got unrelenting, abrasive sounds leading to a rewarding but exhausting half hour. Doubling that is… a lot. I enjoy Nile a lot… rarely. They scratch a particular itch better than about anyone else, but they’re also a lot.
Really interesting to see someone do a full album listen like this, and doing it so well. Not surprised at all that you are a bit overwhelmed, it's intense music with a lot happening pretty much all the time and it's definitely an acquired taste. If you are not used to the genre it's kind of like listening to a completely foreign language. Extreme metal fans are usually very enthusiastic about their music so I am guessing you are getting a lot of recommendations in the comments. Being one myself, and also being a death metal musician, here's another one. Try the first three songs of the album 'Promulgation of the fall' by 'Dead congregation'. My main gripe with the tech death genre, modern and US style death metal in general, is the lack of atmosphere and feeling of darkness. Not so with 'Promulgation...'.
Arra is part of the sigil of the Necronomicon. It is 3 symbols combined into 1, the Arra being the pentagram in the symbol. Within the concept of the Necronomicon it is the Sigil of the Covenant of the Elder Gods. Karl Sanders, the mastermind behind Nile, has always been very interested in the mythology of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. There's no looking down on it, which you'd see if you read the extensive liner notes. His love for ancient mythology inspires the lyrics of Nile. The Hittites were the people of the kingdom of Hattussa in Anatolia, sometime around the 17th century BCE. The lyrics are basically a description of the ritual and its purpose, once again without personal interpretation. It fits in because it deals with a ritual and the myths of an ancient Middle Eastern people. Rosetjau means "the entrance of subterranean passages", which basically stands for entrance into the netherworld. I don't have the liner notes at my disposal right now but the lyrics read like a pharaoh's plea for his place in the Underworld, calling upon the power of gods to become a god in the afterlife. Seth is Set. Seth is the way the Greeks wrote it. Rerek is another name for Apep or Apop(h)is, the serpent of the Underworld. The personification of chaos and darkness, Re/Ra fought Apep. Kafir isn't about Christianity but Islam. Kafir is the term used for non-Muslims (unbelievers). There's nothing about Judeo-Christianity on this album. The tone of the language can be explained as translations of spells from the Egyptian Book of the Dead and other sources. That's why it doesn't sound colloquial. Read a translation of the Egyptian Book of the Dead and you'll understand. You are right, though. Understanding Nile's lyrics requires knowledge of the mythology of Ancient Egypt and the other Mesopotamian cultures they refer to in their lyrics.
I cannot say that I've heard this band although they might have come up during auto-play after I've listened to other tech death bands, like The Faceless (my first introduction to tech death), which I could listen to for hours on end usually while cleaning, working a puzzle, working out or playing a game. I think I've built up my brain to handle quite a bit of this style of music. I can see how it can be exhausting for some. I think my baseline is pretty high energy. Anyway, I truly enjoyed your reaction and always appreciate your honesty and openness. I can't say that anything stood out for me with this album but then again it's a lot to take in on a first listen. I was here for the entire album. 😁
Cheers for reaction to such a heavy album. Karl adds liner notes to most of the albums to understand the lyrics, I think they are online if you use Genius. The notes really help understand and appreciate their art much better
Great analysis! I'm glad that you appreciate their work although it's not your type of music. Could you please do an album reaction on "Karl Sanders - Saurian Meditation". It's a side project of Nile's band leader. No death metal, something completely different instead but well worth it. Thanks in advance!
Haha during the first 1 songs I thought to myself "man this is just exhausting stuff." I can get down with some techdeath (love Obscura) but yeah this seems a little excessive. It reminds me of Necrophagist (really brutal, relentless, dark) but I think this might go even further. At least the first 2 tracks. Also Necrophagists classic 'The Epitaph' is a little over 30minutes so that helps. That album is a tech death classic and worthy of checking out :p Nile has been the band that has always kinda lurked there but I never got around to checking out. This video will be a nice way to experience it even though I share your worries abour being drained after all this is done. Cheers!
One of my fav Nile albums. I recommend you their album " In Their Darkened Shrines". Have you ever reacted to Imperial Triumphant band? I recommend it too. Cheers. 🤘🏼
Quite courageous of you Brian to do this long album considering what you say usually & said here....(I am not listening often myself a whole album of them each time). Also this album (or band) sets the bar quite high imho for the Death Metal week coming in...George Kollias the drummer is indeed phenomenal (check out when you can the drum playthrough video of his solo album's famous song "Shall Rise, Shall be Dead") but I also like the guitars & the singing...I agree on many points said there (too long to come back to it, and yes I watched it all, divided in 3 times) even if I complain less (main criticism by me here would be the too evident "out of tune" collage of arabic singing for me, It doesn't work & could have entered the music differently...) & it is only because you reviewed the last song that i didn't add this band to my suggestion of Death Metal songs list, mind you, otherwise I would probably have suggested a song from another album of them such as "Ithyphallic" (an album title track, in which I love the "dramatic harmonic chord progression" if I may say) or "User-Maat-Re", or the groovy (another album title track) "Annihilation of the Wicked", but to be honest I am not sure they'll bring anything new to you after listening this whole album already. Looking forward to that D.M. week, hoping you'll not "suffer" too much, lol...
Is it Brutal Technical Death Metal or Technical Brutal Death Metal? (Ha!) I can see your pain. It's too much all the time, isn't it? I wish some of these bands would ease up with the "machine-gun" "typewriter" drumming, at least. That said, I quite like Cryptopsy and Necrophagist and Gorguts. Good for working out.
Their earlier albums have a lot more breaks from the non stop brutality. Some of their earlier, slower songs are some of the best of their whole discography. In each new album there have been less and less of these and more of the non stop aggression. I haven't checked but if these haven't been done yet songs like: To Dream of Ur Sarcophagus Ruins are really good picks and really sound like if death metal existed back when the ancient egyptians were in their prime.
On their albums they sound like created purely by software. And then you see these guys play it live. btw, this is imo one of their softers albums and less atmospheric ones at the same time. So, still a great technical death metal piece but there would have been some more interesting pieces for an analysis.
On Hittite Dung Incantation, it is written with the idea that the wise woman knows it is all false and does nothing, and is getting a fantastic laugh at the ignorance of the person seeking her help.
Death Metal is relentless. Death in itself is relentless - and the genre was not named after the band Death. Personally I find it, and as a musician quite relaxing.
I know what you've been wondering. Is it possible to play a Nile song on clarinet? Well, yes, yes it is possible: ruclips.net/video/JDtwWMAW1Jw/видео.html
You might have already reacted to them, but i think you'd like beyond creation. Technical, awesome, progressive. But their sound is not as in your face as nile.
I did but it was 3 years ago, quite early in my metal journey. It looks like I enjoyed it, though I don't remember much of the music even rewatching my reaction 😅 Sounds like a good reason to give them another shot!
@CriticalReactions I can't imagine being bombarded with requests for brutal stuff with virgin metal ears lmao 😂 I'm enjoying your breakdown of this album. I'm gonna have to check out some other videos later
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Never thought I'd see someone react to a full Nile album. They are a classic tech death band.
Yes I agree! But the album Annihilation of the Wicked is the best one they felt most inspired and that all stars where aligned on this album
I would say they are death metal.
i love it man
Nile aren't tech death. Tech death is very robotic, and mostly blast beat sections, and it's not nearly as heavy, especially with the guitars. Nile is straight death metal.
@@donavonhoward114 Nile is old school tech death, what you described is modern tech death
Full Nile album in one sitting? That is probably going to be overwhelming.
But some of us can listen to this and chill and go to sleep with no problem 😄
Idk I go through 4-5 albums a day
How, not much range to Nile lol.
It will prepare him for a full Origin review.
dont judge by own standards
Definitely understand the fatigue. When you listen to enough of this you adapt to it and kind of get a new baseline for what's overwhelming or not. After years of it, I can put this stuff on to go to sleep to.
real
Me too bro.
exactly. and you also remember the parts by heart and can hum the riffs without needing to play the music.
Kafir is probably my favourite Nile album opener ever. I remember hearing it for the first time in highschool after I went to my local HMV to pick up the record. My late friend and I sat in his room smoking weed and making the stank face at each other for a few hours. Great memory.
Having the stank face stuck is a common side effect of listening to Nile. To quote Karl Sanders: "Yeah! Hnnnnngh!"
Heretiiiic!! Thou art cast.. doooown is my fav
If you feel the itch to jam Nile again, the record 'Annihilation of the Wicked' is objectively their most popular. It's not drastically less chaotic but the songs tend to be catchier and have simpler arrangements.
This is fun because its like listening to nile with a friend
The vocalist is also one of the guitarists which is crazy considering the speed and technicality.
all 3 are vocalists, 2 guitarists and bass
Both of the guitarists usually share the majority of the vocal work. In this album it seems that Karl decided to give more of the vocals to Dallas here. 😅 In live sessions the bassist also does vocals
If you see Nile shows from around that time, you could see how much work Dallas put in...it's insane
Nile was just like 'is anyone doing an always-on Egyptian theme in death metal? Okay no then we call dibs on that motherfucker'.
This is an insane album and a wonderful ride full of great visuals. If you're not used to it, you're bound to be overwhelmed. The best experience you'll get with this album is after the 10th listen. Once you get used to the dynamics of Nile, you'll start hearing the groove riding the aggression, and then you are in for it.
wow props to you for sticking it out. Nile is extreme at its finest. 2 albums you should try is winters gate by insomnium and or none so vile by cryptopsy. 2 of some of the greatest albums i have ever heard.
I second "Winter's Gate" by Insomnium. It's a concept album, based on a short story, with only one (album-filling) song. It's Melodic Death Metal, and there is downtime here and there, so you get to catch your breath in between the heavy bits.
Hats off to you for having the patience of going through an album of the best tech death band out there. And yes the dual vocals complement each other perfectly!
2:37 I had to look these lyrics up because I was literally hearing “the real snoop dogg” and I couldn’t stop laughing for a moment.
That's now going to be how I remember those lyrics 🤣
About the lyrics, most of Nile's albums have liner notes explaining the background/ lyrical themes. I think it's fair to say many lyrics don't have much of a deeper meaning, rather they're simply inspired by their fascination with Egyptian mythology and history, and the general mythology of the ancient Middle East. A lot of their songs are based on HP Lovecraft's stories as well, 4th Arra of Dagon for instance. In fact, one of their albums (Ithyphallic) based so many songs off Lovecraft that they decided to skip the liner notes entirely, because they thought fans wouldn't be interested in reading "this song is inspired by Lovecraft" over and over. Of course, there are songs where they will lean more towards expressing opinions on things like religion, like Kafir. And a song about Egyptian burial practices can obviously also be a metaphor for something else. Karl Sanders has stated that he always writes the lyrics first, and bases the music around the lyrics, instead of the other way around. The lyrics are important to the band, no doubt about it. But I think a lot of them, if not most, are simply meant to evoke an atmosphere, rather than expressing emotion or opinions.
Ah, ok. I've heard some really tight drummers so I tend to start from the idea it's a human and get corrected :)
Karl Sanders of Nile has solo albums that might be interesting to you. Saurian meditation, Saurian Excorcism, and Saurian Apocalypse
Every nile album slaps soo hard. This is probably my second favorite after annihilation
Those mechanical bass kicks are performed by a real human fueled by beer and cigarettes and his name is George Kollias. He also recorded this with an ankle injury. Don't ask me how.
In my old band the lead vocalist and I would listen to Nile and write down what we thought they were saying (very wrong) to get ideas for our songs.
Keeper of the unicycle.....become a pizza pie.......
You should’ve went with Black Seeds Of Vengeance. It’s 43 minutes and not a second is wasted and it gives you a range of everything this band is about. Annihilation Of The Wicked is often cited as their best album though.
Awesome. This is my favorite Nile album. The songs are so carefully constructed and intricate, and the vocals of Dallas are some of the most intimidating in all of music.
Ulcerate Everything is fire or the destroyers of all....either album is a must listen for any one Who claims to know what extreme/foward thinking music is capable off
Yes
To answer your question around 1:29:15
Yes ancient Egypt was obsessed with death and the afterlife. You could also say terrified
Oh wow, well this is exactly why your channel is so much more interesting and surprising amongst the other ones. 🔥
this album is a total blast, my fav nile album, every song is great, the whole album is brutal AF
23 years Nile fan here but listening to a whole album isn't even something I like to do. It's too much the same thing over and over, particularly the hyper speed. I love it but not for 40-60 minutes straight. I need more variation in tempos, heaviness, some groove, atmosphere and character. Black Seeds of Vengeance is their best album. Was lucky to have seen them on that tour - the OG lineup, the best lineup. I highly recommend A Succubus in Rapture by the legendary symphonic black metal band Dimmu Borgir.
Kafir is one of my all-time favorite album openers
This is my fav death metal album of all time! Glad you picked this one
Dagon isn't just Lovecrafts invention but a "real" god, god fertility and father of Baal, who was worshipped quite widely in ancient middle east. For example in Bible the god who Philistines worshipped was said to be Dagon. In some sources Dagon was also described to be a half-fish which is probably where Lovecraft got the idea of his Dagon from.
Also this is pretty much what Nile is about. Sure there may be more doomier, less technical songs in the mix of their early albums and bit more of those atmospheric tracks too that you seemed to enjoy but over all this lovely relentless assault is still Nile's bread and butter, it was back then and it still is. 🤘
Thanks for that info, I had no idea.
Really cool to see a full detailed reaction to this
I think I remember when this album came out, especially the song "Kafir", was the time when ISIS was on the rise and went on destroying Egyptian artifacts and monuments/sites etc. which was Nile's thing with their theme and lyrics
So I'm currently in the middle of your analysis of 4th Arra of Dagon, but I wanted to pass on that if you liked the "insanity" theme, you might check out the song "The Elder God Shrine" by Karl Sanders (solo project by the band lead).
His solo stuff is pretty much entirely atmospheric tracks played on some of the Lutes he uses in Nile tracks.
I commend this guy to take on such an extreme album. Had he gained a conditioned sensibility by getting Into thrash, old school death metal for years prior to a band as over the top heavy as Nile...it would be a lot easier to chill out and get into.
Ok, not much to add here, just skimming through your reaction and from the first two tracks, and how you reacted, I see you have the same reaction to them as I described in that other song. To me, this is a band who unlocks their full potential when they utilise the full breadth of their compositional range. Their slower sections will always shine for me for their rich atmospheres. The longer songs are a great example of that. They don't forego the speed, but they let the compositions breathe
A note on the vocals, they' sound dstinctive to you because they actually use vocals in a manner somewhat distinctive to other death metal bands. Both guitarists and the bassist sing, for starters, and this in and of itself generates a lot of call and response that's not usually the norm. It's a ritualistic cadence, which is very lyrically fitting, and it takes more than a fair bit of inspiration from various forms of world music, namely throat singing, which I would say is a definite influence in how textural they sound.
Also, lyrically, many of their lyrics are either translations of, or structured around, ancient texts, prayers and incantations. "Kafir", for example, is an arabic pejorative for nonbelievers in the religions of the book (Islam, christianity and judaism), and is a mixture of own words and an ancient muslim text. Karl Sanders, the main composer, used to say there's nothing more metal than those ancient texts, which can be very gruesome indeed. You are correct on the overal theme of the album, just thought this tidbit might give you context. As someone with a masters in History, it's also one of the things that fascinates me the most about them.
Great context! Helps to put into perspective why some of this works for me moreso than other DM bands. The lyrical aspect is quite interesting and certainly sets the band faaaar apart from most other lyricists, metal or otherwise..
Nile is as intense as they are talented. Your eyes widening at 6:30 made me lol ahahaha!
Consider a "quick and dirty" 30 minute album for the next extreme metal pick! Many classics in that range.
This was one of my favorite albums in high school. Still love it
Nice! One of my fave Nile album (together with it's predecessor Ithyphallic). Got to finally see them live last year. Was amazing.
What do you mean there are no chiller moments?! What do you call those sections at 160bpm instead of 320bpm?! 😝
haha
This is honestly not a bad introduction to extreme metal full albums because Nile is usually a bit more palatable than most to newcomers: Because they lean so much on phrygian they tend to be quite a bit more melodic than other bands that are pretty much this fast, this distorted but always jumping between being fully dissonant or highly chromatic so not much to grab on to and Nile also really likes their breakdowns which again makes it more accessible to people not used to this kind of thing than bands that just keep the speed and don't even slow down to mid tempos for the full 40 minutes of the album or so.
On the downside well I will admit there's only so much that you can do with phrygian to keep me around for a full album and after a point the interest is maintained because of the technical proficency specially on the drums since just knowing what it takes to do what George Kollias does on these albums can keep me interested but well, aside from musicians that are also very acclimated to extreme music, most folk will probably not stick around.
Nice review. I think you should check out the album "Here in After" by Immolation. It's a smorgasbord of dark, atonal riffing coupled with great songwriting.
Catching your reaction to track 1, I’m reminded of how smart a decision Archspire and Behold! The Arctopis made to put out ~30 minute albums. They’ve got unrelenting, abrasive sounds leading to a rewarding but exhausting half hour. Doubling that is… a lot.
I enjoy Nile a lot… rarely. They scratch a particular itch better than about anyone else, but they’re also a lot.
My favorite Nile album!
Really interesting to see someone do a full album listen like this, and doing it so well. Not surprised at all that you are a bit overwhelmed, it's intense music with a lot happening pretty much all the time and it's definitely an acquired taste. If you are not used to the genre it's kind of like listening to a completely foreign language.
Extreme metal fans are usually very enthusiastic about their music so I am guessing you are getting a lot of recommendations in the comments. Being one myself, and also being a death metal musician, here's another one. Try the first three songs of the album 'Promulgation of the fall' by 'Dead congregation'. My main gripe with the tech death genre, modern and US style death metal in general, is the lack of atmosphere and feeling of darkness. Not so with 'Promulgation...'.
When someone reacts to my faves in whole length - subscribed!!!
Arra is part of the sigil of the Necronomicon. It is 3 symbols combined into 1, the Arra being the pentagram in the symbol. Within the concept of the Necronomicon it is the Sigil of the Covenant of the Elder Gods.
Karl Sanders, the mastermind behind Nile, has always been very interested in the mythology of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. There's no looking down on it, which you'd see if you read the extensive liner notes. His love for ancient mythology inspires the lyrics of Nile.
The Hittites were the people of the kingdom of Hattussa in Anatolia, sometime around the 17th century BCE. The lyrics are basically a description of the ritual and its purpose, once again without personal interpretation. It fits in because it deals with a ritual and the myths of an ancient Middle Eastern people.
Rosetjau means "the entrance of subterranean passages", which basically stands for entrance into the netherworld. I don't have the liner notes at my disposal right now but the lyrics read like a pharaoh's plea for his place in the Underworld, calling upon the power of gods to become a god in the afterlife.
Seth is Set. Seth is the way the Greeks wrote it.
Rerek is another name for Apep or Apop(h)is, the serpent of the Underworld. The personification of chaos and darkness, Re/Ra fought Apep.
Kafir isn't about Christianity but Islam. Kafir is the term used for non-Muslims (unbelievers). There's nothing about Judeo-Christianity on this album.
The tone of the language can be explained as translations of spells from the Egyptian Book of the Dead and other sources. That's why it doesn't sound colloquial. Read a translation of the Egyptian Book of the Dead and you'll understand.
You are right, though. Understanding Nile's lyrics requires knowledge of the mythology of Ancient Egypt and the other Mesopotamian cultures they refer to in their lyrics.
I cannot say that I've heard this band although they might have come up during auto-play after I've listened to other tech death bands, like The Faceless (my first introduction to tech death), which I could listen to for hours on end usually while cleaning, working a puzzle, working out or playing a game. I think I've built up my brain to handle quite a bit of this style of music. I can see how it can be exhausting for some. I think my baseline is pretty high energy. Anyway, I truly enjoyed your reaction and always appreciate your honesty and openness. I can't say that anything stood out for me with this album but then again it's a lot to take in on a first listen. I was here for the entire album. 😁
i don't really care for death metal that much, but i love the drums on this. also, it has a slam death metal feeling that i was not expecting.
Cheers for reaction to such a heavy album. Karl adds liner notes to most of the albums to understand the lyrics, I think they are online if you use Genius. The notes really help understand and appreciate their art much better
Nile is just great, their lyrical themes are very interesting.
Great analysis! I'm glad that you appreciate their work although it's not your type of music.
Could you please do an album reaction on "Karl Sanders - Saurian Meditation". It's a side project of Nile's band leader. No death metal, something completely different instead but well worth it. Thanks in advance!
Well shit, this is gonna be intense. Would love to hear your take on tigran hamasyan -drip and wretched - exodus of autonomy
if you want different nile then you should definitely check out in their darkened shrines and black seeds of vengeance
Haha during the first 1 songs I thought to myself "man this is just exhausting stuff." I can get down with some techdeath (love Obscura) but yeah this seems a little excessive. It reminds me of Necrophagist (really brutal, relentless, dark) but I think this might go even further. At least the first 2 tracks. Also Necrophagists classic 'The Epitaph' is a little over 30minutes so that helps. That album is a tech death classic and worthy of checking out :p
Nile has been the band that has always kinda lurked there but I never got around to checking out. This video will be a nice way to experience it even though I share your worries abour being drained after all this is done. Cheers!
One of my fav Nile albums. I recommend you their album " In Their Darkened Shrines".
Have you ever reacted to Imperial Triumphant band? I recommend it too.
Cheers. 🤘🏼
Quite courageous of you Brian to do this long album considering what you say usually & said here....(I am not listening often myself a whole album of them each time). Also this album (or band) sets the bar quite high imho for the Death Metal week coming in...George Kollias the drummer is indeed phenomenal (check out when you can the drum playthrough video of his solo album's famous song "Shall Rise, Shall be Dead") but I also like the guitars & the singing...I agree on many points said there (too long to come back to it, and yes I watched it all, divided in 3 times) even if I complain less (main criticism by me here would be the too evident "out of tune" collage of arabic singing for me, It doesn't work & could have entered the music differently...) & it is only because you reviewed the last song that i didn't add this band to my suggestion of Death Metal songs list, mind you, otherwise I would probably have suggested a song from another album of them such as "Ithyphallic" (an album title track, in which I love the "dramatic harmonic chord progression" if I may say) or "User-Maat-Re", or the groovy (another album title track) "Annihilation of the Wicked", but to be honest I am not sure they'll bring anything new to you after listening this whole album already. Looking forward to that D.M. week, hoping you'll not "suffer" too much, lol...
Wow. This surprised the shit out of me.
ARRA!! ARRA!! ARRA!!
DAGON! DAGON! DAGON!
Annihilation of the wicked next? A very solid album
Good choice, exquisite taste
This was a spectacular album
Is it Brutal Technical Death Metal or Technical Brutal Death Metal? (Ha!) I can see your pain. It's too much all the time, isn't it? I wish some of these bands would ease up with the "machine-gun" "typewriter" drumming, at least. That said, I quite like Cryptopsy and Necrophagist and Gorguts. Good for working out.
damn respect for reviewing the whole album whatever the opinion may be!
Their earlier albums have a lot more breaks from the non stop brutality.
Some of their earlier, slower songs are some of the best of their whole discography. In each new album there have been less and less of these and more of the non stop aggression.
I haven't checked but if these haven't been done yet songs like:
To Dream of Ur
Sarcophagus
Ruins
are really good picks and really sound like if death metal existed back when the ancient egyptians were in their prime.
All of Nile's albums have themes centered around ancient Egypt so a song like Hittite Dung Incantation is in reference to that period
Jesus lol this album is ridiculous (in a good way)
Please react to lynchgate - atavistic hypnosis
On their albums they sound like created purely by software. And then you see these guys play it live. btw, this is imo one of their softers albums and less atmospheric ones at the same time. So, still a great technical death metal piece but there would have been some more interesting pieces for an analysis.
this is the all round best heavy band ever
Do cruelty and the beast full album from cradle of filth. It's a concept album about Elizabeth bathory
12:46 You mean "soothing"... right?
Haha... suuuure 😅
react to Kriegsmaschine - Enemy of Man
can you do burial - untrue album reaction
Yep. George Kollias is a beast drummer
Tech brutal death metal, other bands build entire album from 1 track of Nile's :)
Not very much of Schuldiner's 'Symbolic', yeah? :))
TECHNICAL DEATH METAL+++ NILE
THE BEST!!!! 🤘
ARRA ARRA ARRA DAGON DAGON DAGON!
On Hittite Dung Incantation, it is written with the idea that the wise woman knows it is all false and does nothing, and is getting a fantastic laugh at the ignorance of the person seeking her help.
KAFIR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i love nile
react to Golden Nocturne ( intrsumental) from umineko
George Kollias is a beast of a drummer yes ahahahah full steam ahead
Death Metal is relentless. Death in itself is relentless - and the genre was not named after the band Death. Personally I find it, and as a musician quite relaxing.
I know what you've been wondering. Is it possible to play a Nile song on clarinet? Well, yes, yes it is possible: ruclips.net/video/JDtwWMAW1Jw/видео.html
I'm so glad I watched that :)
Not my favorite album by them but still a solid album with plenty of atmosphere and intensity.
The lyrical analysis are so painfully wrong.
I wish he actually read the album notes
It was not their best and nice anyway.
People hearing Nile for the first time: ruclips.net/video/YcR9k8o4I0w/видео.html
You might have already reacted to them, but i think you'd like beyond creation. Technical, awesome, progressive. But their sound is not as in your face as nile.
I did but it was 3 years ago, quite early in my metal journey. It looks like I enjoyed it, though I don't remember much of the music even rewatching my reaction 😅
Sounds like a good reason to give them another shot!
@CriticalReactions I can't imagine being bombarded with requests for brutal stuff with virgin metal ears lmao 😂 I'm enjoying your breakdown of this album. I'm gonna have to check out some other videos later
Great album exposing the Quranic cult of destruction.