On July 5, 2012, Sam Hatch of WWUH radio’s “The House Of Zazz” program conducted an interview with Karl Sanders of South Carolina-based extreme technical death metallers NILE. You can now listen to the chat in the YouTube clip below.
“The House Of Zazz” airs Tuesday nights from midnight to 3:00 a.m. on 91.3 FM in Hartford, Connecticut, and is streamed live on www.wwuh.org.
NILE‘s seventh full-length album, “At The Gate Of Sethu”, sold 3,800 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 131 on The Billboard 200 chart. The CD landed at position No. 2 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.
NILE‘s previous album, “Those Whom The Gods Detest”, opened with 3,500 units back in 2009 to enter The Billboard 200 chart at No. 160.
Other “At The Gate Of Sethu” first-week chart positions:
“At The Gate Of Sethu” was released in Europe on June 29 and in the U.S. on July 3 via Nuclear Blast Records. The follow-up to 2009’s “Those Whom The Gods Detest” was once again produced and mixed by Neil Kernon, who has previously worked with NEVERMORE, CANNIBAL CORPSE, QUEENSRŸCHE and DEICIDE, among many others. The CD artwork was handled by a true genius of darkened visuals, Seth Siro Anton (SOILWORK, PARADISE LOST, SEPTICFLESH).
Joshua Bottomley of Hails & Horns recently conducted an interview with Karl Sanders of South Carolina-based extreme technical death metallers NILE. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.
Hails & Horns: Karl, how long did it take to write the new NILE album [“At The Gate Of Sethu”]?
Sanders: I started in May [2011]. We finished our two-year touring cycle for “For Those Whom The Gods Detest” in April of last year. I took the rest of April and got over a case of severe bronchitis that I caught on tour in Europe that winter, then got to work in May and wrote all the way to November. Just an insane amount of hours put in. I really wanted to up the bar this time. In six months I wrote nine songs, seven of which we used on the record. Three more I co-wrote with Dallas [Toler-Wade, guitars, vocals].
Hails & Horns: NILE is a very technical, guitar-oriented band. Is recording the guitar parts the most frustrating aspect of the recording process?
Sanders: Absolutely. You said it. This album we quadruple-tracked the guitars and we took like a month to friggin’ do it. We were insane. We wanted to have the sharpest and cleanest and tightest guitar stacks that could be possibly imaginable. Because you know what? Goshdarnit, we want the fans to hear the fuckin’ riff. As long as it took to get those fuckin’ things razor sharp, that’s what the fuck we did. Because, man, it really makes a difference, when you take the time and the headache and go through the agony to get that shit clean and tight, it just makes the riff that much meaner and focused.
Hails & Horns: Have you ever thought of slowing it down? Making a “Black Album?”
Sanders: Oh, fuck no. But it’s an interesting tale along those lines. During the early part of envisioning this record, and wondering what sort of songs I was gonna write, we had some encouragement from folks within the label and management to experiment a little bit and bring in other elements and whatnot. I was in an experimental mood, so I had all these ideas about acoustic guitars and OPETH-like sections. But then as I started writing, and actually doing it, I didn’t write anything like that. It was all fuckin’ twice as heavy. I was scratching my head, wondering, “How am I supposed to explain this to the label and management?” They wanted us to experiment and hear I am doubling it up twice as brutal. Then the funniest thing happened. There was a video on YouTube that went around called, “Adolf Hitler Reacts to the New Morbid Angel Album.” It clicked in my head. I don’t have to explain myself to anybody. I’m not gonna fuckin’ experiment and fuck around and change our sound, except to go more extreme, more shredding, and more brutal. We’re into doing new things, but they’re in our own fuckin’ vein. We’re not jumping ship. Fuck no.
Christian metallers TOURNIQUET will release a new album, “Antiseptic Bloodbath”, this summer via Pathogenic Records. The CD will feature guest guitar solos by Marty Friedman (ex-MEGADETH), Karl Sanders (NILE), Pat Travers, Bruce Franklin (TROUBLE) and Santiago Dobles (AGHORA).
A teaser trailer for the CD can be seen below. Also available is the album’s cover artwork, which was created by Travis Smith of Seempieces (OPETH, DEVIN TOWNSEND, NEVERMORE, ICED EARTH, DEATH, AMORPHIS).
Commented TOURNIQUET: “The title track, ‘Antiseptic Bloodbath’, speaks of the way our society prefers to sanitize brutality. We can have our tidy Christian faith, or continue with no faith at all, as long as we don’t consider the painful bloody price that was paid for us.
“We use animals for our food, profit, and amusement, but would rather not know about the needless, often systematic suffering that is inflicted on them by a callous and greedy humanity. ‘Don’t upset my comfort zone — brutal truth, leave me alone.’ The great news is that we have the ability to choose. This album encourages us to make good and humane choices in our daily lives that reflect these images.”
TOURNIQUET‘s last studio release, 2003’s “Where Moth and Rust Destroy” (Metal Blade), featured special guest appearances by guitarists Marty Friedman (ex-MEGADETH) and Bruce Franklin (TROUBLE).
The official lyric video for “The Fiends Who Come To Steal The Magick Of The Deceased”, a brand new song from South Carolina-based extreme technical death metallers NILE, can be seen below. The track comes off the band’s seventh full-length album, “At The Gate Of Sethu”, which will be released in Europe on June 29 and in the U.S. on July 3 via Nuclear Blast Records. The follow-up to 2009’s “Those Whom The Gods Detest” was once again produced and mixed by Neil Kernon, who has previously worked with NEVERMORE, CANNIBAL CORPSE, QUEENSRŸCHE and DEICIDE, among many others. The CD artwork was handled by a true genius of darkened visuals, Seth Siro Anton (SOILWORK, PARADISE LOST, SEPTICFLESH).
Commented NILE mastermind Karl Sanders: “Seth Siro Anton has designed the cover. I have been a fan of SEPTICFLESH a long time, and as Seth expressed interest, I knew that he would deliver a great job. I would say his work is easily the best we’ve ever had. He has captured the darker side of the sound of NILE and reflected the music and ideas, the heart and soul of NILE are forming. Seth is a very talented man and understands exactly who we are.”
Added Seth Siro Anton: “It is no secret that I admire the powerful stylistic lines of the magical symbols that still transmit the aura of ancient Egypt, preserving in time the ancient mysteries. Also, I am fascinated from the final frozen moment of the flesh captured in an eternal sleeping stasis, at the completion of the mummification process. So, with a great pleasure I accepted the challenge, to visualize the new masterpiece of NILE, ‘At The Gate Of Sethu’.”
In a recent interview with CobraMetal.net, Sanders stated about “At The Gate Of Sethu”, “Well, we started [working on it] in May of last year (2011) after we finished our European tour. We worked on that fucking record for 10 months straight, to the exclusion of all else. (Laughs) Long hours, every day.”
Regarding the new album’s concept, Karl said, “It’s in similar territory to other NILE records in that a lot of it stems from Ancient Egyptology and sort of has underlying modern themes tied in. We haven’t abandoned our identity and I don’t believe you should fuck over your fans. If your fans like what you do, and you change too much of what you do, fans don’t like it. What matters to me is when I’m out on tour and I meet the actual fans and they share their thoughts…those are the people that I listen to. There’s a lot of new ideas within the realm of what we do that we tried to incorporate. We studied real hard on the guitar and have lots of new riffs and musical ideas. There are a lot of surprises on the record.”
When asked if fans can expect any guest appearances on the new NILE CD, Karl said, “Jon Vesano is all over this record. (Our former singer and bass guitarist who we’re still good friends with.) Jon did some guest vocals on “Those Whom The Gods Detest” and it made us realize all over again all the things we really liked about Jon‘s vocals. We wanted to incorporate some of his insanity. [laughs] He’s wicked, man. He knows how to channel that inner possession. He finds a way to summon it. It’s great stuff.”
“At The Gate Of Sethu” track listing (North American/European digipack):
01. Enduring The Eternal Molestation Of Flame
02. The Fiends Who Come To Steal The Magick Of The Deceased
03. The Inevitable Degradation Of Flesh
04. When My Wrath Is Done
05. Slaves Of Xul
06. The Gods Who Light Up The Sky At The Gate Of Sethu
07. Natural Liberation Of Fear Through The Ritual Deception Of Death
08. Ethno-Musicological Cannibalisms
09. Tribunal Of The Dead
10. Supreme Humanism Of Megalomania
11. The Chaining Of The Iniquitous
Bonus:
12. Enduring The Eternal Molestation Of Flame (instrumental)
13. The Inevitable Degradation Of Flesh (instrumental)
“At The Gate Of Sethu” track listing (European jewel case):
01. Enduring The Eternal Molestation Of Flame
02. The Fiends Who Come To Steal The Magick Of The Deceased
03. The Inevitable Degradation Of Flesh
04. When My Wrath Is Done
05. Slaves Of Xul
06. The Gods Who Light Up The Sky At The Gate Of Sethu
07. Natural Liberation Of Fear Through The Ritual Deception Of Death
08. Ethno-Musicological Cannibalisms
09. Tribunal Of The Dead
10. Supreme Humanism Of Megalomania
11. The Chaining Of The Iniquitous
In a recent interview with RockOverdose.gr, Sanders revealed that NILE will film a video for the song “Enduring The Eternal Molestation Of Flame” this August in Greece.
Although it has not yet been confirmed, it is likely that the clip will be shot in Meteora, which is said to be the largest and most important complex of monasteries in all of Greece, second only to Mount Athos. The monasteries are built on spectacular natural sandstone rock pillars at the northwestern edge of the Plain of Thessaly, near the Peneios river and Pindus Mountains, in central Greece. Meteora is home to six monasteries and is included on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
As announced by Factory Music Management, Dubai-based death metal sensations NERVECELL are proud to release their latest video, ‘Shunq (To The Despaired… King Of Darkness)’.
The trio, who were recently awarded Plaque of Recognition and Silver Record for reaching the status of the “All Time Best Selling Metal Band” and “Top 3 Best Selling UAE Artist (International Repertoire)”, have been steadily raising awareness across the world with high profile support slots with the likes of Morbid Angel, Machine Head, Amon Amarth, Immortal, Kreator and Metallica!
The track, taken from their acclaimed ‘Psychogenocide’ album includes a very special guest appearance from death metal legend Karl Sanders! (The Nile main man is a long time supporter (and big fan) of the band.)
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