With a strong opening, Long Shadows Of Dread is a first class ticket to riff city. It's business as usual for the sarcophagus botherers, with the signature thunderous drums blasting away from Greek God Mr Kollias, while Karl Sanders' wailing guitar leads evoke teary eyed images of the great expanse of sand surrounding the pyramids. True to form, Nile include a myriad of interesting song titles. The next track is the word salad titled Oxford Handbook Of Savage Genocidal Warfare - a ditty as brutal as it is to decipher at first glance. This track dials up the intensity with crushing breaks and tumultuous riffs, crashing against each other like the warfare it describes. As we move to the title track, Vile Nilotic Rites, there's no signs of reprise. Guitarist Brian Kingsland and bassist Brad Parris' vocals complementing Karl's unmistakeable gutturals, just as the pairing of guitars blend perfectly. When Dallas Toler-Wade left the group a few years ago, longstanding Nile fans were concerned that a suitable replacement would be difficult to find, and listening to this release left no questions in my mind - Brian fits perfectly in this group.
Fans of the atmospheric elements of Nile's previous catalogue will not be disappointed with track 4, Severn Horns Of War, which features an orchestral break with deep voiced incantations delivered halfway through the song. The skull crushing heaviness of the riffs juxtaposed with these theatrical aspects add to the overwhelming sense of eeriness, as the song transitions into "That Which is Forbidden"; a real headbanger if the involuntary neck movements I had while writing this review are to be taken into account. Despite the tracks being of a consistently high standard, none of the songs up to this point jump out as standalone tracks. Then, we're launched into Snake Pit Mating Frenzy - one of the strongest tracks on the album. Nile treated us to this at their recent run of shows with Hate Eternal and Vitriol, and I’ve been keen to hear the album version ever since. Lasting just less than 3 minutes, it lives up to the title of Frenzy, with rapid fretwork and a memorable chant to boot - it's a real highlight. Next up, Revel In Their Suffering stomps into the audioscape with a pounding selection of riffs, interlaced with longer pauses contrasting against the consistent high energy the previous track subjected us to.
Fans of the atmospheric elements of Nile's previous catalogue will not be disappointed with track 4, Severn Horns Of War, which features an orchestral break with deep voiced incantations delivered halfway through the song. The skull crushing heaviness of the riffs juxtaposed with these theatrical aspects add to the overwhelming sense of eeriness, as the song transitions into "That Which is Forbidden"; a real headbanger if the involuntary neck movements I had while writing this review are to be taken into account. Despite the tracks being of a consistently high standard, none of the songs up to this point jump out as standalone tracks. Then, we're launched into Snake Pit Mating Frenzy - one of the strongest tracks on the album. Nile treated us to this at their recent run of shows with Hate Eternal and Vitriol, and I’ve been keen to hear the album version ever since. Lasting just less than 3 minutes, it lives up to the title of Frenzy, with rapid fretwork and a memorable chant to boot - it's a real highlight. Next up, Revel In Their Suffering stomps into the audioscape with a pounding selection of riffs, interlaced with longer pauses contrasting against the consistent high energy the previous track subjected us to.
It wouldn't be a Nile release without a sincere tribute to the musical style that influences their songwriting so heavily. Thus Sayeth The Parasites Of The Mind is an orchestration of Egyptian instrumentation that breaks up the metal. It's ruddy mysterious too. Thunderous drums crescendo in the distance sweeping us away to ask Where Is the Wrathful Sky? Indeed, as expansive as looking up at darkened storm clouds, this track pushes forwards and builds on the setting introduced by the previous composition. It feels like the two songs are interlinked. If you're looking for a palette of what can make a song heavy, then look no further. The Imperishable Stars Are Sickened takes us on a journey through a dense mesh of riffs, broken with dreamlike leads in the progressive songwriting style that Nile are known for. In the 8 minute expanse, we're treated to several separate styles of riffs that twist and entwine with each other, creating a sound that is dripping in foreboding. The last track We Are Cursed opens with long blasts of brass, before swallowing the listener into a murky pit of riff laced despair. Invoking a sense of dread is something this band are exceptional at doing, and closing the album out with this feeling was a fantastic choice; leaving the listener bereft of longing, other than to experience the album once more.
It seems like there's still plenty of gas left in Nile's tank, with this album easily fitting in with the repertoire, and indeed excelling as a fantastic example of what the band is all about. The production on this album is very much in line with their recent releases, with massive sonic space that leaves the listener with ample room to hear each individual instrument. For the under-rock dwellers who haven't experienced Nile before, Vile Nilotic Rites serves as good a diving board as any album prior. Those who don't enjoy the Nile formula, however, are out of luck here, as the group offers the same branding and style as they have done for over 2 decades. Nevertheless, fans of the group will no doubt have an enjoyable experience stuffing this into their earholes. 8/10
Angel Witch: Angel Of Light (Metal Blade Records) [Paul Hutchings]
Formed in 1975, Angel Witch are regarded as extremely influential in the metal world. Their self-titled debut in 1980 is widely regarded as one of the most important of the releases from the NWOBHM movement. Having careered through the next three decades with numerous line-up changes, the current line-up comprises original member and holder of the Angel Witch torch Kevin Heybourne (vocals and guitar), bassist Will Palmer, guitarist Jimmy Martin and drummer Fredrik Jansson. Overall, Angel Of Light is a reasonable listen. Steeped in the classic NWOBHM sound, opening song Don’t Turn Your Back is solid with neat riffs and Heybourne’s raw and melodic vocal showing no signs of change since that 1980 debut. Musically the band are as tight as they’ve ever been and whilst the production isn’t the best, the rest of the album is certainly enjoyable enough to listen to. I Am Infamy and Window Of Despair are my pick of the bunch, with the title track which closes the release another bone crunching old school song. Angel Witch are assured their place in metal history, and I have massive admiration for Heybourne’s dogged determination to stick with it for all these years. If you fancy heading back to those halcyon days when metal was just metal, this album will certainly take you there. 6/10
Mass Worship have been in existence since January 2018, unsurprisingly, this is the bands first album. The five piece from Stockholm define their sound as ‘Darkened Metal’, which sounds, to this reviewer, as a mix of Death Metal, Hardcore and sludge. However don’t take the Death Metal and Hardcore tags to mean this sounds like Deathcore, the main sound is mid-paced to slow death metal, with very angry sounding hardcore vocals. At times the pacing slows right down, and that is where the sludge comes from. The album is quite short (clearly hardcore in length) at just less than 30 minutes, with short punchy songs, that do not mess about. The album kicks off with Celestial, which is slow and very heavy with hardcore style vocals. The track does have some mid-paced and driving passages, before ending with a beautifully ugly, discordant riff. Spiritual Destitution is faster than the opening track, it feels relentless and has a huge chorus. It’s also one of the shortest tracks on the album; turns up, kicks the shit out of you, immediately fucks off.
Sibylline Divination is slow and dissonant, and sounds huge. The verse is more direct and less dissonant. Serene Remains has a soft and clean opening before going into an aggressive, staccato extreme section. This track feels more Hardcore than Death Metal. Below is slow, relentless and driving, but has a more measured feeling. This is aggressive and nasty, but in a very controlled way, this track has a very strong feeling of intent. Proleptic Decay is slow pounding hardcore, the track builds to become a relentless monster of a track. Dreamless Graves has a clean intro, that then gives way to a an insanely heavy and unrelenting sludge, this track is as heavy as a herd of elephants stepping on your foot all at once. The album comes to an end with Downpour, which is mid-paced and relentless, the ending is very dissonant, which is an apt way to bring the album to an end. Mass Worship is a simple album. It does not mess about, it’s heavy, relentless, angry and battering. The album is very direct, you’ll know strait away if it is for you or not. It’s a 27 minute blast of energy that is invigorating and enjoyable, highly recommended! 8/10
Profanatica: Rotting Incarnation Of God (Season Of Mist) [Paul Scoble]
Profanatica have been in existence since 1990. They were one of the first US Black Metal bands to form, although it took them 17 years to release an album, clearly this is a band that likes it’s time off. I’ve heard other Profanatica albums, and I’ve always found them to be a little uninspired. The problem I’ve always had with them is that they don’t seem to be able to write songs. Each ‘Song’ has 2 or 3 riffs and some vocals, but none of them feels like complete songs. What it feel like is song fragments; a verse and one chorus, then it’s over. It feels like they get a couple of riffs, ram them together (some of the parts don’t fit at all), and think that's a song, it’s pathetic. Profanatica are one of the laziest bands in metal. The production isn’t very good either. The guitars are very low in the mix, so all you can hear are Bass, Drums and vocals. So, badly produced song fragments. The other issue with this album (and Profanatica) is a very overtly Anti-semitic song title. I’m not putting down what it is, if you want to know, I’m sure you can find it. I’ve heard about Profanatica being ‘Problematic’, so was a little wary of them, but this is overt; Profanatica are clearly Fascists. So, it’s a badly written, badly produced pile of shit made by a bunch of Nazis, musically and ethically worthless, avoid at all costs! 0/10
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