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The release of a new Nile album is always cause for excitement. Say what you will, but no other Death Metal band has been as consistent for so many years, and has continued to release killer album after killer album. In fact, Nile albums are so close in quality that degrees between them amount to little more than personal tastes. This is their fifth studio full-length, following the stellar Annihilation Of The Wicked, and I think it is just as good, if a bit different.

This is nothing really new for Nile fans, except that Ithyphallic is a bit more varied and shows more dynamic that previous albums. There are more slow bits, and doomy riffs, and I have to say the blazing fast parts are not my favorite parts of this album. Again, as on the last album, the opener is a bit more conventional, though it is better than "Cast Down The Heretic". The album only gets really, really good when we hit the title track, then the catchy hammer of "He Who Is In The Water", followed by the slower, doomy "Eat Of The Dead". I find this album picks up momentum as it goes along, rather than the reverse, and aside from the rather dull ambient track "The Infinity Of Stone" there is hardly a dull moment after track 2.

All the technical prowess you expect from Nile is here, with blistering leads and hyperactive drums. Karl's vocals have really improved, as they are as vicious as ever, but much more intelligible, and sounding all the more evil because we can make out what he is bellowing. In fact "Eat Of The Dead" may be the most inimical song this band has ever put together. I find it amazing that this band has been at this for so long, and yet they keep doing it so well. An excellent addition to the Nile canon.