Nile's 'The Underworld Awaits Us All' - Album Review

I have alluded to this before, but I have been enjoying my exploration of death metal this year. Extreme metal has certainly not taken the blog over, but it has enjoyed significantly more coverage this year than it has previously. Whilst I have been digging deeper into death metal in particular over the past few years - 2024 has seen that exploration expand, and I have also made a lot more effort to keep up with some of the genre's biggest new releases since the turn of the year. My investigations, though, have only scratched the surface. Perhaps more than any other metal subgenre, extreme metal is likely the largest - with new releases from bands big and small continually dropping. Death metal in particular seems to thrive within something of a DIY aesthetic - so much so that I will never catch up. Despite this, though, what I have been listening to I have largely enjoyed - and today it is the turn of South Carolina's Nile to feature. Far from that DIY aesthetic referenced, I think that it is fair to say that Nile are one of the biggest death metal bands in the world - and since forming back in 1993 they have impressed many around the globe with their technical and brutal riffing, as well as their lyrical themes which generally tackle Egyptian mythology. Not many bands cover such topics or use such imagery on their album artwork in such an overt way - and Nile is a band that I have been interested in from afar for years because of their awesome artwork and lyrical themes. Egyptian mythology seems to be less popular and discussed than Greek or Norse mythology - and a childhood interest in Ancient Egypt certainly made me respect Nile when I was first exposed to them in my teens. I even remember picking up a copy of 2007's Ithyphallic in a charity shop some years later - but at the time I was not ready for such brutality. During the last couple of years, though, I have given the band a bit more of a listen and have sampled albums from both ends of their career - with both 2002's In Their Darkened Shrines and 2019's Vile Nilotic Rites both receiving a few spins. A new album dropping seemed like the perfect time to jump on board the Nile train properly, though, so I picked up the band's tenth studio album The Underworld Awaits Us All when it was released last month. It is their first album in five years, since Vile Nilotic Rites, and it feels like the second album of the band's current era - which started back in 2017 when vocalist and guitarist Brian Kingsland replaced long-time member Dallas Toler-Wade, whom had left the previous year. Kingsland's different vocal style helped Vile Nilotic Rites sound evolve a little whilst the core Nile sound was retained - which was ensured by the presence founding guitarist and vocalist Karl Sanders and long-time drummer George Kollias. Nile have often experienced line-up changes, and The Underworld Awaits Us All debuts the band's current five-man line-up, with Sanders, Kollias, and Kingsland joined by guitarist and vocalist Zach Jeter (Olkoth; Imperium) and bassist Dan Vadim Von (Morbid Angel). Sanders, Kingsland, and Jeter team up here for the band's trademark three-man vocal attack - with the three guitarists also adding plenty of technical riffs and solos to the album's intense sound.

At just under 55 minutes, The Underworld Awaits Us All is a pretty intense listen - but it is an album that does not outstay its welcome despite the furious speeds and riffing found throughout. There is a lot of variety here, as is typical thanks to Nile's progressive approach, with the six minute-plus opener Stelae of Vultures kicking things off. A pretty slow and doomy riff opens the song, but once Kollias launches into one of his trademark lengthy drum fills it is clear that things are going to speed up - and when the vocals kick in the track becomes a fast-paced thrasher, with blast beats sitting side-by-side with thrashy riffs to create a great kinetic feel as the pace chops and changes. The doomy riffs from early on are revisited occasionally, albeit with a much faster drum pattern behind them - so the slower guitars and the fast drums create an unsettling tone, usually whilst Sanders unleashes some of his trademark deep growls. I think that Kingsland handles the majority of the vocals, with Sanders and Jeter chipping in when needed - but the main growls are pretty consistent, albeit with Sanders' low frequency rumbles adding plenty of depth. I love how his voice seems to slow the songs down, even when the drums are still crashing away - and they help to keep the tracks interesting. There are a lot of riffs and tempo changes - but generally the pace is fast. Chaotic riffing characterises this piece, and it is one that showcases the band's more progressive side in a big way. A lengthy solo section sees the guitarists trade fast-paced licks bank and forth later on - and this moment is a great example of the band's overall intensity. There is no real let-up here, although some doomy riffs do kick in again towards the end of the piece - adding a sludgy crawl to brief moments before the pace speeds up once again. The ludicrously titled Chapter for Not Being Hung Upside Down on a Stake in the Underworld and Made to Eat Feces by the Four Apes follows and it acted as the album's lead single. It is shorter than the previous track and perhaps a little more straight ahead arrangement-wise. There is a lot less chopping and changing here riff-wise, and the main verse feels a bit more typically metal with repeated riffing and some relatively hooky vocal melodies. Clearly the pace is still extremely fast, with the track being very intense throughout, but it is an easier track to latch onto than the opener - as it feels less frenetic overall and tends to build on fewer ideas. A lot of the riffs here are pretty memorable, with a thrashy approach taken overall - whilst Kollias impresses as always thanks to his non-stop drumming. The songs here to generally take a few listens to fully appreciate - but this is one of the more immediate pieces thanks to the more straight ahead riffing and the machine-gun vocal hooks during the verses and the chorus.

To Strike with Secret Fang reins it in further - delivering a death metal thrasher in under two minutes. Progressive-sounding duelling guitar leads open the track up, before a much deeper and bass-heavy sound takes over - with growling vocals atop a jackhammer drum pattern and a darker overall guitar tone. Despite the song's short length, there is still quite a lot going on here. The vocal-led sections are pretty straight forward - but an excellent guitar solo section later is extremely melodic, with even Kollias reining it in a little to allow the soaring leads to shine. Naqada II Enter the Golden Age changes things up somewhat, and the song is one of my favourite cuts here thanks to the excellent use of choral vocals - alongside the fact that the arrangement is perhaps a little less frantic than some of the other songs of a comparable length. There are also some comparatively mid-paced sections here, too, which rein in the relentlessness which tends to permeate the rest of the album. There is still a lot of fast-paced riffing here, but the track has a little more light and shade, relatively speaking, than is typical - with mid-paced riffs allowing the drums to rein it in a little during some sections, which makes the extremely fast sections feel all the more powerful. A shredding guitar solo later is packed full of the band's trademark impressive instrumentation - with at least two of the band's guitarists taking lengthy solo spots. The closing moments of the song are my favourites, though, which is when the choir kicks in. They add such an epic edge to the last vocal-led parts of the song - harmonising well with the growls from the rest of the band, whilst mid-paced riffing allows for a different type of heaviness to settle during this section. Following the short instrumental The Pentagrammthion of Nephren-Ka, which is one of Sanders' typical acoustic-based atmospheric pieces, Overlords of the Black Earth returns to the band's core sound - with a frantic blast beat settling in from the off. Unlike some of the songs here which chop and change their riffing style quite a lot as the song progresses, this song is very much a fast-paced chug. There are a couple of big power chords used to accent some of the vocal lines, which helps the song to produce some hooks, but generally the verses are pretty one-note and crunchy - with a gang vocal-led chorus injecting a surprisingly punky attitude into the piece at times, whilst the choir from before are also used to add some gothic drama to a couple of sections which do actually slow the pace somewhat. The epic choirs are used well here and clean vocals are generally not something associated with Nile. They give the song a grandness, though, especially during a mid-section which transitions from the earlier chug to something more doom-influenced - although it does speed up again later.

Under the Curse of the One God is possibly the fastest and most abrasive track on the album up to this point - at least at first. There are some riffs here which sound mushy and grind-inspired - with the track opening in this fashion. The whole song is not like this, but production-wise the song certainly feels very grimy - although some mid-paced sections later break through the gloom to throw in some anthemic riffing and strident vocals. This mid-paced part is pretty lengthy and a strong contrast from how the song opened. The song does return to its roots, and Sanders is generally the principle vocalist during these grinding parts - his really low growls perfectly suited to such a sound. More typical growls are utilised during the more anthemic sections - with the choir once again used occasionally, too, and the song ends with a percussive sound and some acoustic instruments to break up the pace before Doctrine of Last Things kicks in. This next track reins in the pace of the previous track, instead laying more heavily on a doomy and groove-based aesthetic. There are faster sections, but they rarely reach the intensity levels seen elsewhere - and the fast sections are generally used for effect rather than to dominate, with slower riffing and a fatter guitar tone generally used instead. The riffing here is a bit more memorable than it is in some of the other songs and there is a classic heavy metal approach used at times with some of the main riffs - which helps to break up the chaos which generally permeates the album. The song still feels feral, as the slower pace allows for some strange drum arrangements, but the variety is welcome - with the mix of gothic choirs, doomy riffing, and Kollias' usual drum approach slowed down creating an unsettling atmosphere. The two songs which follow are the longest and most progressive pieces here. True Gods of the Desert, at just over seven minutes, builds on some of the doom sounds of the previous song - and really goes for a slower and heavier sound in a big way. There is little of the band's general break-neck pace on show here - with death/doom riffs mixing with Kollias' busy drumming perfectly, whilst the vocal lines are much more drawn out to really inject some anguish into the piece. Aching guitar leads often add to the song's surprisingly atmospheric sound, with subtle keyboards and the choir further deepening the overall sound when needed. Kollias might lay into his double bass drums at times, but the riffing atop his busy playing is slow so that the song retains its doomy vibe perfectly - and it is great that the riffs can really breathe here. Chaotic drum fills and the occasional burst of speed are utilised well to shake things up - but the drawn out vocal lines and the occasional guitar leads are perfect at creating an atmosphere which is unlike anything else here really. The doomy pace and the focus on tight riffing has made the song a real favourite of mine over repeated listens to the album - and the band's more adventurous side is continued on during the eight minute-plus title track.

It picks up the pace following the slower previous song, but it does not return to the album's early chaos - at least early on. The pace still feels a bit slower overall than is usual for Nile, despite a few controlled blast beats, with grinding riffing sitting nicely behind Kollias' busy and fast-paced drumming. The riffing is not as doomy, though, with the song instead feeling more varied - with the multiple guitar players approaching the song's rhythm a little differently to give things an off-kilter feel. The riffing definitely stands out, then, and it creates a grinding feel early on - whilst more space is given to instrumental moments this time, with a few extended guitar-led sections featuring progressive-sounding guitar leads. The bursts of pace are faster than during the previous song and the track is overall much more intense - but it still maintains a more restrained overall feel, despite a pretty chaotic guitar solo crashing in later on. The song generally snakes on at this slower pace, though, with creepy choral vocals becoming more and more prevalent as it progresses. The album then comes to a close with Lament for the Destruction of Time - another instrumental. This is more of a fully-formed piece, though, rather than one of the band's acoustic interludes, and it picks up on some of the doomier vibes of earlier to deliver a lot of slow-paced riffing and some melodic guitar breaks. In terms of Nile's usual busy sound, though, this song is much more straight ahead. The arrangement is much simpler and this works nicely to allow the riffing to really kick through the speakers - and the solos to soar. Being an instrumental, there is a lot of lead guitar playing here - but there are also moments which focus on Kollias' big drum fills. Following the chaos of elsewhere, the song does wind the album down nicely despite the fact that it is still heavy - and it feels like a fitting closer following the two previous lengthy songs. Overall, then, The Underworld Awaits Us All is another very strong and intense album from Nile. I cannot compare it to all of their previous work, but their core sound is very much present - and the choir which has been used throughout adds a bit of an edge. There is a lot of great riffing and some very interesting arrangements here for those of a more progressive persuasion - and I am looking forward to feeling more at home with the band's heralded discography moving forward.

The album was released on 23rd August 2024 via Napalm Records. Below is the band's promotional video for Chapter for Not Being Hung Upside Down on a Stake in the Underworld and Made to Eat Feces by the Four Apes.