Relapse Records - 1998
8.5/10
As the first wave of death metal bands that took the entire community by storm began to wane, so emerged a style derived from the likes of Atheist and Suffocation that aimed to evolve the genre into its brutal and/or technical subparts. South Carolina's Nile would come in right about here, working all of this into its identity as early as their first couple of demos. It would become quite obvious that they'd bake this emerging style into Egyptian and general African/West-Asian history/mythology, evolving in its own right throughout the band's career. While I may prefer several albums that would come within the next decade or so, I truly think Nile's debut Amongst The Catacombs Of Nephren-Ka retains an immaculate feel that they've never quite duplicated.
And that's a good thing, as ultimately this serves as a rough and crushing template that tightens up the demos but doesn't feel quite as technical as the band would become. Airing more on the brutal side, this ferocious debut is covered in some of the most coarse and incomprehensible gutturals that front-man Karl Sanders has ever served up, almost honing into a drone that might be off-putting if not for the sweeping riff-style and ancient Egyptian toppings that help it fit. "Barra Edinazzu" is one of the finest examples of this early on, hitting like a ton of bricks as it showers the listener with borderline machine-like drum pummels and explosive leads. Others take this in a more literal sense, looping that brutality and disgusting delivery with sound effects and vocal howls, like that brooding "The Howling Of The Jinn." Hell, "Stones Of Sorrow" borders on doom/death territory for much of its crawl, before unleashing chant-screams to work as a bridge into the rare melodic lick.
This is just looking at the areas that mesh so much together at once. Some of the magic is also found in the tunes that project one clear idea. "Ramses Bringer Of War" is a classic, being the record's longest tune with its chopping up of a ceremonious and pharaonic intro into a more concise bulk with tighter leads, feeling like one of the most technical tunes. Opener "Smashing The Antiu" on the other hand is a sharp and brutal blast that steps on the gas immediately, honing in on a monotone and straightforward swing without needing those intricacies. A similar approach hits in "Pestilence And Iniquity," focusing more on the incredible drum work that bounces around what nears slam territory. There's even a song that cuts out any sense of death metal in exchange for a full chant-driven ritualistic number in "Die Rache Krieg Lied der Assyriche," somewhat acting as an interlude that if nothing else adds to the ancient and rustic feel that this debut has. My younger self never could have appreciated the significance of such a move.
Don't read me wrong, Nile would take this raw but concise approach and create some of the best music in the death metal genre, but Amongst The Catacombs Of Nephren-Ka holds a feeling unmatched by the others. Listening to this captures the closest idea of what I imagine ancient Egypt would have been like in heavy metal form, long before the Arab Conquest. It may feel monotonous at times, and the transitions a bit rocky here and there, but its shorter runtime (a theme that wasn't to remain for long) and unique toppings make this all too easy to overlook.
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