Album Review: Nile - At The Gate Of Sethu

Already one of tech-death's most reliably excellent outfits, At The Gate Of Sethu signals key adjustments to Nile's formula. The US veterans' obsession with Egyptology continues to elicit visions of scarab kings and the Pyramid Of Khafre, but they've freshened things up.

Most notable is the greater variation in vocal phrasings, including added emphasis on thrash-like barks and a few examples of what could almost pass as clean singing off-setting Karl Sanders' doughnut-powered, bowel-loosening growls. Also significant is trimming of the arrangements, the average track length noticeably shorter. Although past epics a la Unas Slayer Of The Gods have been among extreme metal's grandest moments recently, the more compact delivery works. Not that you'd know unless studying the lyric sheet, but there's even a tiny deviation in subject matter as Natural Liberation Of Fear Through The Ritual Deception Of Death draws inspiration from the Tibetan Book Of The Dead. Although some may not approve of the change-ups, otherwise this is the Nile fans have come to embrace, pretentious song titles and all (Supreme Humanism Of Megalomania's another doozey). The frantic blast-beats, Middle Eastern melodies and trademark buzzsaw guitars of opener Enduring The Eternal Molestation Of Flame herald their return; still lethally tight and precise and aided by a production affording the riffs greater clarity. Tribunal Of The Dead's riffage could level buildings, while elsewhere they still ooze ambition; see doom-laden closer The Chaining Of The Iniquitous.

Death metal's scene police may angrily tear Nile patches off their battle jackets at the prospect of long-standing titans going beyond their usual realms, but this record is much the better for it.