Nile - What Should Not Be Unearthed

Published September 14 2015

*=Staff's pick	Call To Destruction Negating The Abominable Coils Of Apep Liber Stellae Rubeae In The Name Of Amun* What Should Not Be Unearthed Evil To Cast Out Evil* Age Of Famine Ushabti Reanimator Rape Of The Black Earth To Walk Forth From Flames Unscathed*

Genre	Death Metal	Karl Sanders	Vocals
Tracks	10	Dallas Toler-Wade	Vocals
Running time	50 Min.	Karl Sanders	Guitar
Label	Nuclear Blast	Dallas Toler-Wade	Guitar
Release	August 28, 2015	Karl Sanders	Bass
Country	USA	Dallas Toler-Wade	Bass
Producer	Neil Kernon	George Kollias	Drums
Similar artists	Suffocation, Immolation, Morbid Angel

For anyone who has followed the death metal scene the last 15 years, Nile is a household name. Releasing a string of successful albums, their brand of brutal and technical death metal spiced with oriental lines and interludes is instantly recognizable. The bands 2012 effort 'At the Gates of Sethu' therefore came as a surprise to almost every old fan with its stripped down barren sound. Some, like yours truly, believed it was a fresh take on the Nile sound revealing the very core of its soul, whereas the majority deemed it as a bare boned failure. Voices were quickly raised for a return to the Nile of old.

Spelling 2015 Nile seem to have duly heeded those voices. Listening to 'What Should No Be Unearthed' it is like 'At the Gates of Sethu' never happened as the sound and style firmly set with 'Annihilation of the Wicked' is back once more. Truth be told the voices speaking against 'At the Gates of Sethu' might have been a little too loud given that 'What Should Not Be Unearthed' is the most ferocious and aggressive Nile album since 'Black Seeds of Vengeance'.

Due to this harsh atmosphere the up-tempo sections of this album are the most accessible ones, or maybe the atmosphere is set due to them. The epic mid-tempo sections that have been the most solid part of the Nile sound since 'In Their Darkened Shrines' does not however reach the same immediate monumental quality we have grown used to. The use of oriental lines within the songs are as abundant as ever, but the interludes does not seem to have the same natural place on this album as on 'Those Whom the Gods Detest' for instance.

A trend that unfortunately continues on 'What Should Not Be Unearthed' is the less frequent use of Sanders' vocals in favour of those of Toler-Wade's. Admittedly, the latter is the better growler of the two, but the combination of both axemen's voices gave a nice dynamic that has been partly abandoned since Toler-Wade made his entrance in the band.

Despite this seemingly harsh critique the songs found on 'What Should Not Be Unearthed' are overall solid; after all it is Nile we are talking about here. Some of them are even more then solid, like the epic 'In the Name of Amun' and 'To Walk Forth from Flames Unscathed'; both of them direct descendants to the grandeur of 'In Their Darkened Shrines'. 'Evil to Cast out Evil' and 'Call to Destruction' on the other hand are well-composed neck-breaking aggro pieces. The former is probably the most accessible Nile song since 'Lashed to the Slave Stick'.

'What Should Not Be Unearthed' is Nile as solid as ever, albeit not as massively ahead of the competition as on 'Annihilation of the Wicked' and 'Those Whom the Gods Detest'. Even though I did enjoy 'At the Gates of Sethu' and thought it was the right move at the time, I do feel a return to the bands comfort zone is the right step at the moment.

Some will cherish this even more than I, but I am utter convinced that without 'At the Gates of Sethu' we would now be looking upon 'What Should Not Be Unearthed' as an uninspired low in the Nile discography rather than a worthy addition to the catalogue of one of the all time premier death metal bands.

See also review of: Those Whom The Gods Detest , Annihilation Of The Wicked

Performance	Originality	Production	Vocals	Songwriting
8	8	7	7	7

Summary
7 chalices of 10 - Tengan