NILE: Annihilation of the Wicked

Produced by Neil Kernon

Released: 2005

Three years on from their previous masterpiece and Nile once again showed the way for brutal death metal. The themes are similar to those that have come on Nile albums before, but the approach was a little different. Whereas former effort had attempted to enhance their Ancient Egyptian concepts with bursts of traditional Middle Eastern instrumentation, Annihilation of the Wicked virutally dispenses with them, allowing the band to concentrate solely on creating some of the most elaborately technical death metal of all.

The first thing that became clear was that new drummer George Kollias was a prize find, a fact made all the moreapparent due to the band finally getting the mix they deserve. The secong thing is that Dallas Toler-Wade and Karl Sanders are no slouches in the lead guitar stakes: "Cast Down the Heretic" ends with an enormous solo trade-off that lasts over two minutes! This is indicative of Nile's approach on this album. The songs are still huge epics of wildly complex arrangements that are frankly mind-numbingly contrived at times, but the music has been stripped back to its death metal elements.

The ambient parts are reduced to supporting roles as intros and interludes, allowing the album to flow and creating much a more aggressive Nile to shine through. Annihilation of the Wicked relishes in its own violence, crushing and destroying everything in its path like the giant two-headed serpent from the title track. Sanders and Toler-Wade carve out the kind of riffs Morbid Angel seems to have forgotten and Kollias' drum arsenal is awe-inspiring in its precision.

There isn't too much more need be said about this. Nile delivered yet again, probably even better than before, and this time they had the production to back it up. An amazing album.

1. Dusk Falls Upon the Temple of the Serpent on the Mount of Sunrise
2. Cast Down the Heretic
3. Sacrifice Unto Sebek
4. User-Maat-Re
5. The Burning Pits of the Duat
6. Chapter of Obeisance Before Giving Breath to the Inert One in the Presence of the rescent Shaped Horns
7. Lashed to the Slave Stick
8. Spawn of Uamenti
9. Annihilation of the Wicked
10. Von Unaussprechlichen Kulten

Rating: 95%