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Review: Nile - In Their Darkened Shrines
Nile
www.nile-official.com
In Their Darkened Shrines

Label: Relapse Records
Year released: 2002
Duration: 58:45
Tracks: 12
Genre: Death Metal

Rating:
4.5/5


Review online: December 21, 2002
Reviewed by: Scott Murray
Readers' Rating
How do you rate this release?

Rated 4.28/5 (85.53%) (47 Votes)
Review

Nile strikes back against some serious competition in the genre of death metal this year like a venomous cobra with their grandest offering of exotic and brutal music to date. In Their Darkened Shrines has everything you'd expect from a Nile record and then some. Brilliantly orchestrated riffing, inhuman war cries and some of the most impressive drum-work you'll here in metal today. But fans of the band know that Nile isn't all about speedy riffs and blastbeats. The brilliance of this band also lies in their ability to create an ancient and dark atmosphere that totally envelopes you into the fantastic tales told of within the 12 tracks of the album. The inner cover unravels like a sacred scroll revealing the mysteries behind the mythology that acts as Nile’s inspiration.

Right off the bat we are thrust immediately into the flurry with The Blessed Dead, a chilling, chaotic and heavy as hell preview of what is to come. Songs such as Sarcophagus and the 11-minute epic Unas Slayer of the Gods demonstrate some newfound diversity to the Nile sound. Slow and crunchy interludes, acoustic passages and powerful chants which you could imagine hearing a jackal-headed priest howling to the masses of ancient Egypt. I Whisper in the Ear of the Dead is a haunting confession, accompanied by echoing and ominous guitar riffs and foreign instruments, based on the exploits of a rogue pharaoh who was well versed in the Necromantic arts. The album closes with the title track, which is actually made up of four different songs. The saga begins with the instrumental death march Halls of Saurian Entombment and leads up to the album closer Ruins, which winds down slowly and methodically to put a close to the third installment of the Nile dynasty.

Since the beginning, Nile has been destined for greatness in their field, breathing fresh and original life into death metal while also following the established traditions of the craft. This is a must have in the truest sense of the phrase.

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Interview with Dallas Toler-Wade (Guitars, vocals) on October 17, 2009 (Interviewed by Sargon the Terrible)
Interview with guitarist and vocalist Dallas Toler-Wade on April 27, 2016 (Interviewed by Luxi Lahtinen)
Interview with guitarist and vocalist Karl Sanders on May 4, 2023 (Interviewed by Luxi Lahtinen)
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