Band:	Nile
Album:	The Underworld Awaits Us All
Style:	Brutal death metal, Technical death metal
Release date:	August 2024
A review by:	omne metallum

01. Stelae Of Vultures
02. Chapter For Not Being Hung Upside Down On A Stake In The Underworld And Made To Eat Feces By The Four Apes
03. To Strike With Secret Fang
04. Naqada II Enter The Golden Age
05. The Pentagrammathion Of Nephren-Ka
06. Overlords Of The Black Earth
07. Under The Curse Of The One God
08. Doctrine Of Last Things
09. True Gods Of The Desert
10. The Underworld Awaits Us All
11. Lament For The Destruction Of Time

London metalheads agree.

The Egyptian tourist board's favourite band, Nile return once again (alongside Sabaton) to make history teachers redundant with their ancient Egyptian tech death. Ten albums and still going strong, Nile may be a backwards-looking band, but their style and form is timeless. The Underworld Awaits Us All is another strong slab of brutal tech death that will see your brain shaken violently from headbanging before being pulled out through your nose (damn ancient Egypt, you weird).

The power of the pyramids flows through the band's tenth album, as the band show no signs of slowing down or running out of inspiration with yet another high quality release. For those who don't know their Anubis from their elbow, The Underworld Awaits Us All is a good introduction to the band if you have yet to fall under their spell, even though on papyrus (sorry, I mean paper), the band's better work comes earlier in their career.

A statement of intent, the appropriately titled "Stelae Of Vultures" signposts the direction the rest of the album will take: a mix of traditional sounds, blasting drums and the kind of guitar work that will make you sit up and pay attention. Coming out the gates so strong can often lead to the following tracks paling in comparison; thankfully for listeners that is not the case here. "Naqada II Enter The Golden Age" highlights the band's diversity, and ability to lean into a groove without sacrificing the sonic weight of their sound.

I was surprised to see that Sanders is 61, for his vocal prowess on tracks like "Doctrine Of Last Things" belies his years. Managing to balance his dual roles as guitarist and vocalist, "Overlords Of he Black Earth" is testament to his talents and enduring songwriting abilities. Ably supported by the rest of the band, with the likes of Kollias managing to throw in intricate fills in between full-speed blast beats, Nile cement their place at the upper echelons of the death metal pyramid on talent, rather than theme alone.

Do Nile write their lyrics in hieroglyphics? If so, they must have been running them through Google translate, as that would explain how "Chapter For Not Being Hung Upside Down On A Stake In The Underworld And Made To Eat Feces By The Four Apes" got its name: a solid track, but easily winner of the strangest song name of 2024. It's a song that highlights the strong (if somewhat characterless) production that ties everything together neatly.

It's not all Hathor and happiness however, with the album losing much of its earlier momentum at the tail end of the record. The Underworld Awaits Us All unfortunately shines a spotlight on its weakest moments by placing its two poorest (and longest) tracks towards the end of the album, after bursting out the gates with its shorter and sharper attacks at the start.

"True Gods Of The Desert" does seem like a somewhat directionless meandering of a track: a break from the formula, but one that suggests there is good reason the band don't often deviate far from it. The fact it runs on for seven minutes does not help hide this fact. The title track does stick to the formula and certainly has its merits thanks to the guitarwork and Kollias' drum work, but it could have benefitted from shaving off a few minutes of its runtime.

The underworld may indeed await us all, but Nile highlight that there is still plenty of life left in them. Reaching double digits in terms of output, the band celebrate in style with yet another strong release that will appeal to fans old and new.