Album Review: Nile - The Underworld Awaits Us All
Reviewed by Daniel Phipps
There are a number of bands within the death metal genre who really need no introduction and one of those bands is certainly Nile. Thirty years since the iconic South Carolina bands debut demo Karl Sanders, George Kollias and crew who are now armed with a third guitar player in the ranks, embark on the release of the bands 10th full length release The Underworld Awaits us All.
Irrelevant to the band's line up, Nile’s formula does not alter. Armed with nothing but the most ferocious and technical riffs which are backed up by one of the most legendary drummers in the scene they know what they are doing. This does start to put them into that unwinable situation as now they have so many albums under their belt how do you continue to grow with the same formula and I think at points this does come to the detriment of The Underworld Awaits us All. Now in no way am I saying this is a poor record because it's not but when compared to the bands extensive back catalogue of legendary albums it does not hold up in certain aspects.
Now the guitar playing is still on another level but I don't feel the fury is on the same level as with previous records within the bands catalogue, and that does count for something as what makes a great Nile release is that furious undertone to the craft. I also found the later part of the album quite uninspired with the back to back True Gods of the Desert and the album's title track which takes up fifteen minutes of run length combined really offers little to be overly excited about in that time. However you still get some absolute huge tracks on this release it's two sub-two minute tracks along with it's monstrous opener Stelae of Vultures give you everything you want from Nile tracks but in different ways.
On the whole Nile’s 10th effort is a good but not something that wows you in ways the band have done previously. If truth be told it probably falls into a similar conversation as for example Heretic by Morbid Angel, a good collection of material with some stand out moments but you expect more based on the artist in question. For the diehard fans it's a must but for your more casual Nile fan will most likely be better off sticking with the classics.
