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Nile - Amongst The Catacombs Of Nephren-Ka



8.2 | 416 votes |
Release date: 1998
Style: Brutal death metal, Technical death metal

Owners:

523 have it
30 want it
1 trades it


01. Smashing The Antiu
02. Barra Edinazzu
03. Kudurru Maqlu
04. Serpent Headed Mask
05. Ramses Bringer Of War
06. Stones Of Sorrow
07. Die Rache Krieg Lied Der Assyriche
08. The Howling Of The Jinn
09. Pestilence And Iniquity
10. Opening Of The Mouth
11. Beneath Eternal Oceans Of Sand

Additional info
Released via Relapse Records.

Guest review by
Stigmatized
Rating:
9.4
Released in April of 1998, Amongst the Catacombs of Nephren-Ka is the first full length album of Egyptian Death Metallers Nile. Sporting a different approach to death metal, and metal in general, this album shows Nile in their "raw" form. This is where it began, and what would eventually lead to later masterpieces such as "In Their Darkened Shrines."

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published 07.07.2006 | Comments (19)

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Comments

Comments: 21   Visited by: 643 users
19.02.2010 - 15:20
Headbanger009

Any good are these guys? Getting some now
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19.02.2010 - 15:29
Ellrohir
Heaven Knight
Maybe the best album by them, if you ask me
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My rest seems now calm and deep
Finally I got my dead man sleep


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15.08.2010 - 14:28
Perseverance
Account deleted
I like the sample of Mars in "Ramses Bringer of War"
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15.08.2010 - 14:34
Angelic Storm
Melodious
Really great debut. Definitely better than some of their later albums. xD
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15.08.2010 - 19:27
RavenKing

Written by Angelic Storm on 15.08.2010 at 14:34

Really great debut. Definitely better than some of their later albums. xD


I'm really not a Death Metal fan but I would say it's the only Nile album I can moderately enjoy. They went too much plain Brutal Death after this album.
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They shake your hand and they smile and they buy you a drink
They say we'll be your friends we'll stick with you till the end
But everybody's only looking out for themselves
And you say who can you trust I'll tell you nobody
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15.08.2010 - 20:20
Angelic Storm
Melodious
Written by RavenKing on 15.08.2010 at 19:27
I'm really not a Death Metal fan but I would say it's the only Nile album I can moderately enjoy. They went too much plain Brutal Death after this album.


Although I like quite a lot of Nile's later stuff as well, the reason why I have a particular fondness for the debut, is the sound is more textured, and the egyptian influences are allowed to shine through a lot more. This is also why "Black Seeds Of Vengeance" is the album of theirs I like the least. The brutality is a tad too overwhelming, which for a band like Nile, who's uniqueness all comes from their egyptian influenced sound, wasnt a good thing. The debut is brutal, but not overtly so. So the songs, and their unique sounds have much more room to breath. Really, it is IMO one of the classic death metal debuts, and one of the very few that is also compellingly original.
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15.08.2010 - 20:35
RavenKing

Written by Angelic Storm on 15.08.2010 at 20:20

Although I like quite a lot of Nile's later stuff as well, the reason why I have a particular fondness for the debut, is the sound is more textured, and the egyptian influences are allowed to shine through a lot more. This is also why "Black Seeds Of Vengeance" is the album of theirs I like the least. The brutality is a tad too overwhelming, which for a band like Nile, who's uniqueness all comes from their egyptian influenced sound, wasnt a good thing. The debut is brutal, but not overtly so. So the songs, and their unique sounds have much more room to breath. Really, it is IMO one of the classic death metal debuts, and one of the very few that is also compellingly original.


That's pretty much how I draw a line between this album and the rest of Nile's discography. After that, they went too much for sheer brutality, at the expense of the other elements.
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They shake your hand and they smile and they buy you a drink
They say we'll be your friends we'll stick with you till the end
But everybody's only looking out for themselves
And you say who can you trust I'll tell you nobody
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10.12.2010 - 00:05
BloodFireDeath

I have to say this is their best album. Best song length, brutal, atmospheric, the attitude is there. Good stuff. Recommend to ANYONE who likes ANY death metal.
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Goodspeed on the Devils Thunder
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10.12.2010 - 00:05
BloodFireDeath

Unless you like metal core. Then you should go gut yourself with a wooden cooking spoon.
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Goodspeed on the Devils Thunder
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20.06.2011 - 23:34
Rating: 7
Deadmeat
Necrobutcher
I dont know why but i cannot fucking get into this album. i listened to it many many times with no good result. i was expecting for something great...
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Υou've sold your human essence to the cold world of dead and empty things... You're SOLD!
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24.10.2011 - 13:23
Rating: 6
M C Vice
ex-polydactyl
Written by Deadmeat on 20.06.2011 at 23:34

I dont know why but i cannot fucking get into this album. i listened to it many many times with no good result. i was expecting for something great...

I agree. Tracks 5 and 11 were real good, but the rest is just a reminder of why I don't like American Death Metal. There's no emotion or atmosphere/ambiance/spirit/whatever you want to call it. No FEEL to it.
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"Another day, another Doug."
"I'll fight you on one condition. That you lower your nipples."
" 'Tis a lie! Thy backside is whole and ungobbled, thou ungrateful whelp!"
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24.10.2011 - 13:38
JD
Account deleted
^ Oh really? for shame.
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17.11.2012 - 17:53
bblitz

Awesome album.
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01.11.2015 - 00:42
Rating: 10
Hellcult

My very 1st death metal album back in 1999 , absolutely amaizing!
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And I see the blade fall down upon the head of lord in heaven
And Darkness falls upon the end of history
While I drink the milk of the Black Goddess and cry over the mankind

Black Moses is my name...
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22.06.2016 - 03:41
Jaeryd
Nihil's Maw
After hearing a classical song I've never heard before and recognizing some of the music, I just made the realization that the beginning of Ramses Bringer of War is totally taken from Gustav Holst's Mars, the Bringer of War.
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09.04.2020 - 01:05
Rating: 9
DeathMetal

Track 7 is too dope.
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31.01.2021 - 05:02
Rating: 8
JavierPaper

This album is very good but very short compared to the sucessors...
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11.07.2022 - 17:12
Rating: 9
F3ynman2000
Nocturnal Bro
Written by F3ynman2000 on 10.07.2022 at 14:35

Listening again to this and Annihilation Of The Wicked, trying to decide which is better.

Written by gavdann on 10.07.2022 at 23:13

I still think Amongst the Catacombs of Nephren-Ka is their best. I freakin' love that album.

Black Seeds of Vengeance is also good but after that they tried to get too fast and too technical for my liking and as a result less memorable and less enjoyable.

(Continuing the conversation on Catacombs in this thread)

Yeah, this is a fun album too. I really like the middle tracks (tracks 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7) and the intros of the last two tracks. They have a very melodic feeling and the Egyptian vibes take center stage.

The other songs try to do a faster approach, but I dont find them as memorable as what they pull off on Annihilation.
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12.07.2022 - 16:28
Rating: 10
gavdann

Written by F3ynman2000 on 11.07.2022 at 17:12

Yeah, this is a fun album too. I really like the middle tracks (tracks 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7) and the intros of the last two tracks. They have a very melodic feeling and the Egyptian vibes take center stage.

The other songs try to do a faster approach, but I dont find them as memorable as what they pull off on Annihilation.

After I stopped listening to metal almost entirely from about 91/92 I became interested in it again around 2000 and Catacombs, Pierced From Within and None So Vile were the ones which got me excited about death metal and extreme metal in general.

Catacombs is also quite short so doesn't drag on for too long. I do agree about the slower, doomy, more melodic tracks being great but I like the short, sharp neck snapping ones like Smashing the Antiu as well. It's just an all round brilliant album for me and their most enjoyable.

I'd love it if Karl Sanders and Chief Spires made up and Nile went back to basics personally.
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25.03.2024 - 19:31
Rating: 9
F3ynman2000
Nocturnal Bro
Written by gavdann on 12.07.2022 at 16:28

Catacombs is also quite short so doesn't drag on for too long. I do agree about the slower, doomy, more melodic tracks being great but I like the short, sharp neck snapping ones like Smashing the Antiu as well. It's just an all round brilliant album for me and their most enjoyable.

I'm revisiting this, and, damn, this is growing on me big time! "Smashing the Antiu" is great indeed. There are so many cool riffs sprinkled in throughout the album that don't show up again, which would be disappointing, but thankfully the album is short so one can immediately hit replay once it's over

"Die Rache Krieg Lied der Assyriche" is still probably my favorite because it's the perfectly atmospheric marching song (even though the title is grammatically incorrect). But there are so many awesome tracks throughout, it's almost beside the point to name them all. I'll just point out "Stones of Sorrow" (just listen to that riff 2:12 minutes into the song!) and "Opening of the Mouth", which don't seem to be mentioned often enough. I was also reading "The Outsider" yesterday again, so the last track here is an especially fitting song for me at the moment.

By the way, I know I said in my Realm Of Chaos review that that Bolt Thrower album is the Reign In Blood of death metal. But, now, I might have to give that title to these 33 minutes of raw, ancient Egyptian brutality
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25.03.2024 - 20:21
Boxcar Willy
yr a kook
Omgggg that guitar/bass tone is awesome. Love the groovy sections.
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14:22 - Marcel Hubregtse
I do your mum

DESTROY DRUM TRIGGERS
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