Year: 2024
Total Time: 53:39
Label: Napalm Records

The summer of 2024 is coming to its end and the legendary “Death Metallers” NILE are returning with their tenth album entitled “The Underworld Awaits Us All” to take us again on a trip to ancient Egypt. Five years after the release of “Vile Nilotic Rites”, the band proves that not only they were not inactive but during all this time and in between personal projects and tours, they were working on something magnificent even for the (already too high) standards of NILE. The first sample of what we should have expected from the new album came with the release of the furious single “Chapter for Not Being Hung Upside Down on a Stake in the Underworld and Made to Eat Feces by the Four Apes” (link in the end of the article). To begin with, if you know the band you will not be surprised by the long title, but you will definitely be amazed by the quality, the intensity and, mainly, how fresh the band sounds after more than 30 years in the scene.

In “The Underworld Awaits Us All”, NILE manage to introduce new elements to their music while still following the well-known recipe of “Brutal Technical Death Metal with Egyptian and Lovecraftian Themes”, as themselves claim in their official website. The first thing that got my attention is how clean the production is. I mean, I am not a musician but in this album I can easily follow all the basslines in every song, something that is not that easy considering that there are three guitars, three vocals (or more with the epic female vocals in some tracks), and of course George Kollias giving another masterclass on extreme Death Metal drumming. An excellent example of the bass sound comes in the track “Overlords of the Black Earth” in which the bass clearly has its own part. I am not sure how to explain this characteristic of this album. Perhaps it is the addition of Dan Vadim Von as the band’s main bassist, since the album has been recorded and mixed at the same studios as for previous releases of the band. In the clarity of the sound I will take into consideration the sound of the drums and especially the cymbals. NILE’s drums have always been one their key elements and they have always had great drummers, but in “The Underworld Awaits Us All” Kollias’ sound is just amazing to its last detail!

Speaking of drums, it is impossible not to mention George Kollias, not only because of his amazing work but because he is Greek as well. A musician that is considered to be one of the best (if not THE best) drummers in the genre for more than two decades and during all this time he just keeps on pushing the boundaries of extreme drumming and proving again and again that he is worthy of this “title”. A guy that I had the pleasure to meet in person a couple of times and it is amazing how humble and friendly he is even after an one-hour (or more) show, playing at 260 (or more) BPM. I recall talking with him after their show at Uppsala, Sweden a few months before the release of “The Underworld Awaits Us All” and he told me that we should expect his most extreme drumming with NILE in the new record. Back then I felt that this is the classic overstatement from a musician so I joked with him that “I hope you can play the songs live” and he answered me “I would never record something that I will not be able to play live”. A true legend! Of course, after listening to “The Underworld Awaits Us All” it is easy to understand that George was not lying. This is his seventh album with NILE and each one of them is an extreme metal masterclass, however in this one the combination of drumming and production is the most complete he has delivered with the band. Even from a quantity point of view, I feel like “The Underworld Awaits Us All” has the most full-speed songs compared to any other of the band’s album. One of Kollias’ main characteristics is that he does not overdo it to intentionally impress the audience, ending up annoying it. Everything is as it should be. The blastbeats and double bass as fast as they should, the slow parts as epic as they should, the fills as long and technical as they should, and the cymbals as clear and spot-on as they should. Nevertheless, he does manage to impress us simply because of his amazing skills and techniques, especially when he delivers the songs flawlessly at their shows.

Of course, NILE and the band’s talent does not end with George Kollias. The “heart” of the band is, and always has been, the legendary Carl Sanders. The man who founded the band more than 30 years ago and he keeps on loving it as his child. A musician who has own signature sound which is not that easy in such a well-established genre as “Death Metal”. Nonetheless, NILE is one of the bands that even if you listen to one of their songs for the first time, you can instantly recognize them, and this is something important as it shows that they have built their own legacy. Equally important is to release your tenth album and still have something new to deliver to your fans and not give them just one more album. NILE have managed this with Carl’s personal talent but also his ability to choose excellent musicians to work with in different albums (or different periods of the band). Currently, the backbone of the band is Carl and George since the two of them are the only ones participating in the last seven albums. Until now in this review, I have mentioned Dan, George, and Carl but I could not ignore the contribution of Brian Kingsland and Zach Jeter, in guitars and vocals. Especially, Brian who (I believe) acts as main vocalist and is considered a permanent member of the band since the release of “Vile Nilotic Rites” and has given his own unique elements. For instance, in the song “Chapter for not…” where his short screams are quite characteristic and new for NILE. Personally, I cannot wait to see the band live with this line up as Brian could not follow their recent tours due to personal reasons and by now Zach and Dan are considered permanent members as well (since 2024).

To conclude, “The Underworld Awaits Us All” from a theme and sound perspective delivers exactly what the fans expect from a NILE album without missing any detail. Ancient Egypt inspired cover from Michał “Xaay” Loranc, the same artist who created the covers for the last three NILE albums. Ancient Egypt inspired lyrics and melodies. Hyper-speed songs with extreme playing, mainly from Kollias, like “Under the Curse of the One God” (personal favourite of the album), but also epic heavy and slow songs like “True Gods of the Desert” which offer for head banging. Lots of alternations between slow and fast parts within the same song. Numerous technical guitar solos, which do not bore the ear. Heavy and brutal vocals, and generally an album that crabs you from the face with the opening “Stelae of Vultures” and takes you to a trip to ancient Egypt until the concluding instrumental “Lament for the Destruction of Time”. An album that is an instant classic and easily one of the best (if not THE best) in the history of NILE.

Rating: 8.5/10
Editor: Dimitrios Georgouvelas
Related Links: NILE – Official Page