Nile – At the Gate of Sethu (2012)

The everlasting Nile returns to us this 2012 with yeah another dose of extremely brutal Death Metal with hints of Middle Eastern influences. While we loved “Those Whom The Gods Detest”, this release feels too much like a continuation of that album and nothing else. The production of this release makes the guitars sound a bit weird (very thin in a way), the bass guitar is very hard to find, the drums are a bit drowned in the mix, and only highlights the vocals (both growls and clean ones), making for a unique but weird listening experience.

The hyper-fast “Enduring the Eternal Molestation of Flame” opens the musical onslaught with great brutality and crushing riffs (that sound a bit weird). The hellish different vocal layers are pretty demonic sounding, and the overall drumming is actually quite good, but it sometimes gets lost behind the growls. There is no doubt that there are some excellent technical sections in this track, but there is nothing new to show when compared to their previous release.

While we praised Nile for their ability to keep changing and keeping up with times, “At the Gate of Sethu” is in a way a step back since it does not offer much. Tracks two and three feature a hefty amount of ‘riff-cycling’ and they could easily be one song instead of two. The creepy Middle Eastern/’Egyptian’ elements are used here and there, but ultimately dropped in the sense of extreme brutality (track 4 is a good example of this).

The ritualistic “Slaves of Xul” is a nice breather and provides a very deranged vibe, but this is immediately killed by the unimaginative “The Gods Who Light Up The Sky At The Gate of Sethu”. The drumming in this song is indeed very well executed, but the track itself loops around a few riffs and never moves forward. Karl Sanders is a talented musician and song writer, but for this release it seems he took a break and broke out in re-cycle mode. “Ethno-Musicological Cannibalisms” also provides a nice creepy vibe (similarly to “Slaves of Xul”), but it ultimately fails to incorporate any type of Metal elements.

Our ‘favorite’ tracks in this release are the very Nile-esque “Tribunal of the Dead” and “Supreme Humanism of Megalomania”. We particularly like the massive drumming and crushing guitars, that while being a bit thin, they still deliver excellent moshing noise. The overall brutality in these tracks is very solid, but the production taking away from the guitars and allowing the drums to sound a bit clunky in some parts.

We are a bit disappointed since we expected a bit more from Nile and “At the Gate of Sethu”. While this is definitely NOT a bad album, and the music is quite brutal and technically proficient there is just a general lack of originality and direction. The ‘extreme’ levels of brutality allow for things to sound a bit garbled out and sometimes a little bit over the top.

Release: July 3rd, 2012

Genre: Brutal Death Metal

Country: USA