{"id":35789,"date":"2015-08-28T00:00:53","date_gmt":"2015-08-28T00:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=35789"},"modified":"2015-10-04T11:58:23","modified_gmt":"2015-10-04T11:58:23","slug":"feature-nile-08-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/feature-nile-08-15\/","title":{"rendered":"NILE – Age Of Feasting (August 2015) | Features \/ Interviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

NILE – Age Of Feasting<\/strong><\/span>
\nAnthony Morgan<\/span>
\nAugust 2015<\/span><\/p>\n

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Nile (l-r): Dallas Toler-Wade, Karl Sanders, Brad Parris and George Kollias<\/b><\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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\nThe penning of compositions for August 2015 outing What Should Not Be Unearthed<\/em> \u2013 the eighth full-length studio album from Greenville, South Carolina-based technical death metal outfit Nile \u2013 mirrored past writing sessions, the band subsequently cutting demos, performing the resultant tracks in the rehearsal space, and finally entering the recording studio.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat much was the same, but I think this time we\u2019re coming from a very different place,\u201d notes Karl Sanders, vocalist, guitarist and founder of Nile. \u201cI think these songs are very much focused on being heavy, catchy, memorable songs and technique be damned, which is kind of a blasphemous thing to say if you play what\u2019s called technical death metal. So many times when I\u2019m listening to this kind of metal, it seems the song gets put last. It\u2019s always about this crazy drum \/ guitar thing, and blast-beats here, and fast guitars there, and often times the song kind of suffers because of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Such comments suggest What Should Not Be Unearthed<\/em> is a more simplistic effort by comparison. \u201cI don\u2019t know if you could call what we do simple, but I would say that the technical aspects are harnessed to serve a higher purpose which is the enjoyment of the listener,\u201d the axeman clarifies. \u201cDefinitely I think there\u2019s a focus on making the songs memorable, and not just a bunch of crazy stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

Karl commented that \u2018At The Gate Of Sethu<\/em> (June 2012) and Ithyphallic<\/em> (July 2007) – while full of incredible musicianship and unique songwriting approaches – were not ever intended to be definitive Nile records.\u2019 \u201cI really don\u2019t think this one is probably meant to be the definitive Nile record, either,\u201d he observes. \u201cWhen I think of the definitive Nile album, I think of Catacombs<\/em> (Amongst The Catacombs Of Nephren-Ka<\/em>, April 1998) or In Their Darkened Shrines<\/em> (August 2002), or Annihilation Of The Wicked<\/em> (May 2005). Those are definitive Nile albums, where you could put them on and say \u2018That\u2019s everything that Nile is about.\u2019 This album though, I don\u2019t think it\u2019s like that. I think it\u2019s a Nile album, but it\u2019s meant to be metal songs that are fun and meant to be enjoyable live.\u201d<\/p>\n

What Should Not Be Unearthed<\/em> will inevitably be critiqued against past Nile offerings, although the singer wouldn\u2019t compare the record to any previous jaunts. \u201cIn terms of sounds, this one is similar to Annihilation<\/em> in that it has a very big, heavy type of sound; a big, huge and crushing guitar sound, and big, thick drums,\u201d he begins. \u201cI think that\u2019s the reference point in terms of what it sounds like \u2013 the function of the mix, and so on. In that respect, yeah, but the writing is very different from Annihilation<\/em>, for sure. As far as its heart and soul, I think this album is its own creature. I think it\u2019s coming from a very different place compared to other Nile records.\u201d<\/p>\n

In crafting What Should Not Be Unearthed<\/em>, there was a focus on \u2018really brutal riffing\u2019. \u201cI think some things on Sethu<\/em> were a little progressive technical musicianship-oriented, and not necessarily fan-friendly or meant to be understood by everybody,\u201d Karl argues. \u201cI think this record is meant to be understood, though. I would say this is a very accessible record. It is brutal and it\u2019s heavy, but the songs are catchy, memorable and fun. You can put this record on and go \u2018Oh, I get it. It\u2019s a fucking metal song\u2019 (laughs). I guarantee you that some of these songs will be live favourites, absolutely.\u201d<\/p>\n

That aforementioned focus was \u201ckind of reactionary,\u201d the axe-slinger reflects. \u201cI think the last album was very much oriented towards the progressive musicianship, technique and playing things super clean, and a super-sterile kind of mix, and we didn\u2019t want to do that again. We wanted to do something that was accessible to fans and was heavy, but people could listen to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those who enjoy performing technically-minded music tend to be less interested when performing less technically-minded material. \u201cI think it would be inaccurate to say that anything on this record is necessarily simpler or easier to play,\u201d Karl cautions. \u201cIt\u2019s more accurate to say that the technique has been harnessed for use by a higher power. The criteria for the riffing and the musicianship on this record was merely that it be heavy and have the metal spirit, whether it was fast or slow or tricky or not tricky. Moreso, it was whether it helped the songs; whether it was a part of contributing towards the greater purpose of the song. By that token, there\u2019s some pretty intelligent stuff on this record. <\/p>\n

\u201cGeorge Kollias calls the title track one of the hardest, most difficult Nile songs he\u2019s ever played. He doesn\u2019t make stuff up, or speak lightly. George is a drummer with a lot of respect, and he takes that aspect seriously. If George says it\u2019s tough to play, then it\u2019s fucking tough to play (laughs). I think the point is there are things on this album that are difficult to play, but it\u2019s harnessed to make catchy and memorable songs.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Inaugurating proceedings is the track \u2018Call To Destruction\u2019. \u201cI guess the first song on the record \u2013 \u2018Call To Destruction\u2019 \u2013 is about a couple of years back when Islamic extremists were calling for the destruction of the pyramids,\u201d the frontman informs. \u201cThey were demanding that since the pyramids were obviously built before the time of Mohammed, they were therefore Pagan and blasphemous and must be destroyed, which of course is completely ridiculous. We wrote a metal song about it. \u2018Let\u2019s tear down the pyramids\u2019. It\u2019s quite ridiculous and fun. \u2018All pyramids must be torn down\u2019 (laughs).<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just approving a radio edit of that as the first single. Yeah, the \u2018Call To Destruction\u2019 song, they wanted it as a single. For this magazine though, it seems they want to chop like a minute of it out, and they\u2019ve got like several different versions of what is to be chopped out \u2013 apparently, there\u2019s a five-minute time restriction on this magazine compilation. I\u2019m supposed to make a decision on that. How do you decide that? It\u2019s like deciding which part of your body you wanna chop off. \u2018Will it be the leg? The hand? The knee? Maybe your head?\u2019 \u2018Yeah, let\u2019s chop off the head and call it the same song. Why not?\u2019 That\u2019s the music business, my friend. It\u2019s all daft. It\u2019s like going out with your girlfriend, and she says \u2018Hey, you can only fit seven inches in here. That other couple… Well, you\u2019ll have to put your hand down there.\u2019 That ain\u2019t no fun. What fun is that?\u201d<\/p>\n

As is customary for Nile, lyrical meanderings occupy the ancient Egyptian and archaeological realm. \u201cThere\u2019s one song called \u2018Evil To Cast Out Evil\u2019, which is about calling upon Pazuzu to protect us from ancient swarms of locusts back in the day,\u201d Karl shares. \u201cThere\u2019s another song called \u2018Age Of Famine\u2019, and that\u2019s about the mega-drought and famine that brought about the demise of the old kingdom. Another one that comes to mind is \u2018To Walk Forth From Flames Unscathed\u2019, which is an Egyptian spell to protect oneself from being burnt up in flames in the afterlife. \u2018What Should Not Be Unearthed\u2019 refers to digging up stuff which should not be dug up, stuff that would be better off if people just left it in the earth.\u201d<\/p>\n

The title track\u2019s lyrical fare recalls The Mummy<\/em> slate of horror movies, most famously adapted by the likes of Universal and Hammer. \u201cYes, absolutely,\u201d the mainman agrees. \u201cYou hit the nail perfectly on the head. That\u2019s exactly what this is like; the old-fashioned movies where it\u2019s better not to disturb the thing that\u2019s been sleeping for a thousand years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wholly entering upon ancient Egyptian as well as archaeologically themed lyrics, some might assume it becomes more and more difficult to pen said lyrics with each subsequent full-length. \u201cNo, it doesn\u2019t,\u201d Karl reckons. \u201cI think every year, it becomes a little bit easier because it\u2019s a learning and a craft process with songwriting. It\u2019s definitely not harder and harder. I think some of the earlier albums were very difficult to write because it was something very new that no-one else had done, and we\u2019re kind of blazing our own path.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ancient Egyptian as well as archaeological themes have been carried through to eight studio records to date. \u201cI had never planned on making eight Nile albums when we started,\u201d the lyricist chuckles. \u201cWhen we started, there was no thought of that. We were living each day one day at a time. When we made Amongst The Catacombs Of Nephren-Ka<\/em>, we figured that that might be the only album that we ever got to make. We\u2019ve always kind of taken the approach \u2018What if this were the last record we got to make?\u2019 Tomorrow\u2019s not promised; fucking Ayatollah Khomeini might declare it\u2019s time for us all to be burnt up in an atomic nuclear holocaust.\u201d<\/p>\n

Recording sessions were mainly handled at Karl\u2019s own Serpent Headed Studios. \u201cI have a typical rack of studio mike pre-amps and compressors, and patchbays and effects units,\u201d he lists. \u201cI\u2019m running some Event Opal monitors, some Tannoy monitors, and I\u2019m running quite a ridiculously expensive computer with a twelve-core processor. It has 64 gigabytes of ram, and just an insane amount of hard drive space. I\u2019m pretty well equipped here; I\u2019ve got a couple of nice microphones. I\u2019ve got a really nice Manley Core preamp, I\u2019ve got an SSL preamp, I\u2019ve got a rack of dbx preamps. It\u2019s quite thorough.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you own your own studio, you\u2019re not constrained by worrying about the clock ticking and how many hours because you can work as many hours as you like, and I for one like to work long hours. The clock ticking is always a concern when you\u2019re recording an album. You\u2019re trying to hurry up and get it done, and often times you make one little compromise after another in order to get it done as quickly as you can because time is money. When you\u2019re recording at your own place though, you don\u2019t have to worry about the clock. You just make music, and however long it takes is how long it takes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Recording there, the musician as well as fellow vocalist and guitarist Dallas Toler-Wade had a specific aim in mind. \u201cI think on this record, you\u2019ll find that there\u2019s a very high standard of musicianship certainly which you\u2019ve come to expect from Nile over the years, but it\u2019s all been harnessed for a higher power, and that\u2019s making memorable and catchy songs,\u201d he reiterates. \u201cIf it\u2019s not fun to listen to, then why should we listen to it. As much amazing technical death metal is out there nowadays, if it\u2019s not enjoyable to listen to then what are we doing? I believe in letting your work speak for itself. Hopefully people will hear this album and enjoy it, and there you go. The circle of metal is complete.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pair additionally oversaw production. \u201cProduction decisions were made by Dallas and I,\u201d Karl tells. \u201cThis time we wanted to make sure it got done the way we wanted it to get done. You can tell somebody all day long what you want them to do with your record. At the end of the day, if you handed your record over to somebody else to mix and produce, then you\u2019re at their mercy. I thought At The Gate Of Sethu<\/em> was too thin for example, especially given how clean it is. It\u2019s surgically clean, so I think it needed a little more warmth to be listenable. It just didn\u2019t have the warmth it needed. This time, we definitely wanted a big, fat, heavy, crushing sound, so we were determined to get it. No-one or anything was getting in our way.<\/p>\n

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George handled the initial tracking of drums at Soundlab in Columbia, South Carolina with Bob Moore, meanwhile. \u201cWe like doing drums with Bob Moore,\u201d the guitarist enthuses. \u201cBob really knows how to mike a drum set, like where to put the drum mikes. He does a really, really good job. We really like working with Bob.\u201d<\/p>\n

In discussing What Should Not Be Unearthed<\/em>, Karl stated: \u2018Overall, though, I can say that this time around the recording\/composing\/rehearsing was a rewarding and enjoyable experience, and the band worked together as a team with a level of consistence and confidence in a way I\u2019ve not seen since the golden early years of working with original Nile drummer Pete Hammoura.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI think this time, there was a spirit of teamwork,\u201d he views. \u201cOften times, when records are difficult records to make, there\u2019s a higher level of stress and relationships get strained. Sometimes the pressure is high and the stress is high, and sometimes it\u2019s soul-destroying. Sometimes it can really do damage to your mental health. With this record though, we had a lot of fun making it. I remember Dallas and I working on this record, and laughing and having fun, and doing the work, and really enjoying it. At one point, we said to each other \u2018This is the most fun we have ever had \u2013 ever \u2013 making a record.\u2019 We\u2019re pretty happy about that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mixing responsibilities were overseen by Neil Kernon. \u201cNeil is a great fucking guy, man,\u201d the vocalist endorses. \u201cHe\u2019s done over 500 records. He\u2019s actually won several Grammys for his work. He\u2019s a great fella to work with. He\u2019s a Londoner. He\u2019s a funny guy too, man. He knows every single Monty Python routine ever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cover artwork duties fell to Michel \u2018Xaay\u2019 Loranc. \u201cYou may remember Xaay from the Those Whom The Gods Detest<\/em> album cover (November 2009),\u201d Karl reminds. \u201cWe really wanted to work with Xaay again this time. He\u2019s a fun guy to work with, and he does amazing stuff. He\u2019s done a website for years. Yeah, absolutely. It\u2019s a very cool album cover. We let him do whatever he wanted. I sent him the lyrics to the song, wrote a few paragraphs about what the song is about, and he took it from there. All the ideas were his.\u201d<\/p>\n

A music video to promote What Should Not Be Unearthed<\/em>\u2019s issue in the works. \u201cI\u2019m sure we\u2019ll make some kind of video for this record,\u201d the axeman confirms. \u201cWe make one for every record, so why not this one? I already know which song I\u2019d like to do. Curiously enough, I got a Facebook message from Nergal of Behemoth the other day, and he suggested the exact same one that I had picked as a single. It\u2019s called \u2018Evil To Cast Out Evil\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

What Should Not Be Unearthed<\/em> was released on August 28th, 2015 via Nuclear Blast Records.<\/p>\n

Interview published in August 2015.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NILE – Age Of Feasting Anthony Morgan August 2015 Nile (l-r): Dallas Toler-Wade, Karl Sanders, Brad Parris and George Kollias The penning of compositions for August 2015 outing What Should Not Be Unearthed \u2013 the eighth full-length studio album from Greenville, South Carolina-based technical death metal outfit Nile \u2013 mirrored past writing sessions, the band […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,281],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","category-nile"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35789"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35789\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35797,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35789\/revisions\/35797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}