Nile from left to right: Tony Laureano, Karl Sanders, Dallas Toler-Wade, and Jon Vesano.
"Epic death metal" - SPIN
"NILE are death metal's saviours." - KERRANG!
In two short years time NILE has established itself as a potent musical entity so vital and massive that they live up to the stature of the river from which they take their name. With just one record, a few EP's and one world tour under their belt, NILE has raised the bar for death metal bands musically, lyrically and conceptually. Couple this with their precedent-setting live performances, and you have one of the genre's brightest hopes for the new millennium. Now, with Black Seeds of Vengeance, NILE stand poised to cement their place in the pantheon of metal's elite.
Formed in 1993 by Karl Sanders (guitar/vocals), Chief Spires (bass/vocals), and Pete Hammoura (drums), NILE wasted little time combining their interest in Egyptian history, culture and lore with the ferocity of modern death metal and a symphonic approach to songwriting and arrangement. They hammered out a balanced attack that fused unique, technical death metal with Middle Eastern tones and a lyrical approach inspired by Sanders' interpretation of ancient Egyptian inscriptions, temple carvings, papyri, hieroglyphics and tomb paintings depicting ancient battles, rituals and religious ceremonies. Each following year brought a new recording, each of which marked a large step forward in their musical evolution, and enabled NILE to further entrench themselves in an underground that received them with open arms. Things really began to gel in 1996 when, after recording and shopping three new songs, they landed a deal with upstart label Visceral Productions and began recording their debut full-length in addition to adding second guitarist Dallas Toler-Wade.
However, the deal would not last as Visceral folded in late 1997. Relapse Records swiftly stepped into the picture and, after hearing the record and witnessing the band's live show, a deal was struck and the two prepared for the release of NILE's debut full-length Amongst the Catacombs of Nephren-Ka.
Amongst The Catacombs of Nephren-Ka was a monumental testimony of power that took the metal world by storm. Vicious guitar riffs lashed out among tremendous drum blasts, frenzied guitar solos and a powerful three-vocalist onslaught. The savage attack was adorned with exotic instrumentation and symphonic Middle Eastern passages and chants to form an all-out assault of the likes not heard before. Amongst... was an adventurous and awesome piece of work and praise for their accomplishment was quick to follow.
NILE commenced a grueling eighteen-month world tour shortly upon the records release: one that would see them crisscross the states numerous times before being invited to accompany Morbid Angel on their world tour. The band, excited by the prospect of reaching new people, seeing new places and simply playing their music, unleashed an incredible live show on an unsuspecting public. So driven by passion and hell bent to deliver on Sanders' promise to "play every single note as if it were going to be our last [and] give every bit of strength we have within us every time we play," NILE converted thousands of new fans to their distinctive sound with what has become one of the most celebrated live performances the metal world has seen in years. By the time the tour ended with their jaw-dropping European debut at Dynamo '99 and subsequent European Tour, NILE were already being touted as one of metal 's most ambitious and fastest rising stars.
Upon their return home in August '99, Sanders and co. began work assembling and arranging the pieces and ideas that had been brewing since '97 (when the band completed recording Nephren-Ka). Encouraged by the enthusiastic worldwide reception that the band's exploration of Egyptian and Middle Eastern culture and exotic sounds received, and driven by the need, in Sanders' words "...to create a massive record, a kind of masterpiece," they began laying the groundwork for an epic sophomore effort.
The writing didn't come easy. So ambitious and lofty were their ideas that it became an obsession that took up all their waking moments. Sanders spent every night composing, arranging, re-arranging and piecing together all the movements like a symphony orchestra. The lyrics alone took him almost a year as he sought to integrate them seamlessly with the music "making the combination of both form one unified piece, with each serving the other and working together to achieve the same thing." The wildly technical composition Multitude of Foes also took Toler-Wade a year to work out.
The band entered their second home--Columbia, SC's Soundlab Studios-once again in May with longtime producer Bob Moore to attempt to capture its most sprawling, ambitious work to date. Black Seeds of Vengeance not only sidesteps the dreaded sophomore slump, but it realizes the fruits of their intense and arduous songwriting labors and places them in the upper echelon of metal rank and file.
Black Seeds of Vengeance is a relentless, scathing death metal assault that builds off the energy and atmosphere of Amongst... and presents NILE's sound and fury in a slightly streamlined, yet even more epic and colorful light. Violent passages of hyper-grinding fury explode from ominous, deathly tranquility as the words and music paint vivid tales of battle, conquest, domination, subjugation, war and religious ritual. Intricate symphonic passages comprised of African choirs and such diverse instrumentation as tablas, tempuras, sitars, gongs, kettle drums, Tibetan Doom horns and acoustic guitars wind their way through the muscular compositions, giving the songs an almost cinematic feel.
Arguably the perfect combination of the old and new school of metal, NILE blends ferocious power and astounding technical prowess with mesmerizing dynamics and resounding songs, offering conclusive proof that there is life in death metal yet. On their long-awaited new full-length In Their Darkened Shrines, NILE has taken their synthesis of astute songwriting and invention to dizzying new heights. In Their Darkened Shrines fuses the band's trademark Middle Eastern trappings, grandiose symphonic bent, speed and intensity with its most epic, ambitious work to date. Volatile passages burst into beautiful regal arrangements and weighty riffs segue into majestic acoustic passages as the record embodies burning rage, triumph and every emotion in between. In Their Darkened Shrines is, unquestionably, a tour-de-force and with it NILE have built the genre of metal a new cornerstone.
With NILE's In Their Darkened Shrines scheduled for release in August, 2002, and with months of rehearsal under their belt, the NILE touring machine is set to embark upon another staggering worldwide offensive.
Karl Sanders - Guitars, Vocals Dallas Toler-Wade - Guitars, Vocals Jon Vesano - Bass, Vocals Tony Laureano - Drums, Percussion
Source: http://www.nile-catacombs.net/
