Nile - At The Gate Of Sethu review
| Band: | Nile |
| Album: | At The Gate Of Sethu |
| Style: | Brutal death metal, Technical death metal |
| Release date: | June 2012 |
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
12. Enduring The Eternal Molestation Of Flame [instrumental version] [bonus]
13. The Inevitable Degradation Of Flesh [instrumental version] [bonus]
Nile have been going for a long time, and are one of the few death metal bands that have been so consistently brilliant with each release for this long. Each album in the catalogue has been subtly different, and number seven At The Gate Of Sethu is no different.
Where the band's last album had some awfully long songs on it, At The Gate Of Sethu feels more compact. The album is also slightly more technical and feels well thought out with a lot of attention to detail, but it does lack the killer death metal punch that Nile have been so capable of delivering in the past.
At The Gate Of Sethu is then perhaps the first Nile album that initially underwhelms, but at the same time it is the first Nile album that gains mileage the more it grows on you. It is easy to become complacent listening to Nile because we have had six previous albums to adjust to the horrifically fast tempo and clinical tightness the band play with, but this album is just as technically impressive, if not more so than anything the band has put out before.
This album is anything but straightforward, but it may be the lack of the more primitive sections that give At The Gate Of Sethu the impression as not quite being the unrelenting, crushing death metal machine the band have been in the past. Instead the album has short, controlled bursts of brutality complimented excellently with great timing and guitar work.
Maturity is such a cliché notion in metal, but on this album Nile sound much more self-assured and confident of who they are as a band. This may be the tightest and most meticulous Nile we have heard, and in those aspects perhaps the best Nile we have ever heard. The only aspect slightly lacking from At The Gate Of Sethu is just one more step of raw brutality.
Nile have almost created the complete album; At The Gate Of Sethu might not be initially as explosive as some in the past, but given the chance and the technical and professional prowess of the band here is like never before.
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Death metal
Nuclear Blast
USA
Length: 47:33
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 10 |
| Songwriting: | 9 |
| Originality: | 8 |
| Production: | 9 |
Comments
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Comments: 52
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| Baz Anderson staff Posts: 13237  |
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| Kingface Posts: 335  |
Interesting Review Baz. As much as I do love a bit of Nile, I stopped from myself from pre-ordering it when the cheapest I could find it to pre-order was £12.99. Trying not to pre-order things at "Full" (or a figure that seems like Full) Price unless it is something I am desperate to own asap. Oh and still the longest Song Titles Ever.
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck elite Posts: 40071  |
Written by Guest on 29.06.2012 at 21:18 yep. The production is really extremely shoddy, just listen to the horrible guitar sound.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996 
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| Alex F Slick Dick Rick Posts: 3502  |
Written by Baz Anderson on 29.06.2012 at 21:16 This is always the solution. The music doesn't sound good? Pump the volume.
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck elite Posts: 40071 |
Written by Alex F on 29.06.2012 at 21:51 doesn't matter here. The production doesn't become better here at all when you pump up the volume. The guitar sound which is already extremely bad at low volume becomes ever worse at high volume.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino staff Posts: 18274  |
Written by Baz Anderson on 29.06.2012 at 21:16 You can't possibly be serious.  Since when does higher volume fix bad guitar sound and overall bad production?Opinions about the quality of this album aside.... Your suggestion still baffles me, higher volume has never helped.  Big chances are that I just failed to notice the sarcasm because it would be a shame if you really thought that. 
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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BlueMobius
Account deleted Written by Guest on 29.06.2012 at 21:18 Yeah, from the tracks I've heard so far, I think I'm going to have to stay away from this one solely based on the production. I really don't understand how albums get a poor production in this day and age. It seems like with all the modern technology, producer expertise on the market and experience Nile have had as a band that has been pumping out albums for a while, this kind of production would not happen. But what do I know? Maybe that's the sound Nile wanted. 
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| fosi Posts: 97 |
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| METALOZON Posts: 9  |
1 The atmosphere is almost completely gone  2 The bass is to quiet These are the main problems I have with this album. The songs themselves are good. But the thin or dry sound of the album could give you a headache. So with all this how could the production get a 9  I would give the production an 8 if I'm in a good mood.
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| axelx666 Posts: 124  |
Im laughing at the face it says "myspace player" on the left..nobody uses myspace anymore..:lol: now on to the article i say this album at least deserves a 9 i mean an 8 for originality? Nile's songs are 90% egyptian i mean THEY SING ABOUT EGYPTIAN HISTORY! you don't see many bands doing that you know. but other then that it's a great review.
---- "they can't stop us,let them try,for heavy metal we will die" "on olemassa asioita karmivimmat yönä olen yksi heistä." " we are the new bucolic,we are the pulse of the maggots" "END"
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| !J.O.O.E.! Account deleted |
!J.O.O.E.!
Account deleted Written by Guest on 30.06.2012 at 06:23 True enough. With Nile they seem to be pretty scatty with their production as they seem to have had distinctly different production on each and every album. Some work, some really don't...
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino staff Posts: 18274 |
Written by Guest on 30.06.2012 at 14:10 I've only heard Black Seeds Of Vengeance, In Their Darkened Shrines and Annihilation Of The Wicked... All three have perfect production, aiming at different things but working. ..Which is why this album in comparison to those three... have a TERRIBLE... TERRIBLE production.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino staff Posts: 18274 |
Written by Guest on 30.06.2012 at 14:30 Which sucks big time since I always felt Nile rocks harder and more brutal with BASS... Well, all bass like this one needs bass, but specially Nile.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Iskander Posts: 44  |
While i agree that the album feels a bit thin at times, i can't understand the bad reviews it's getting... feels like everyone is jumping on the bashing train for no reason at all. i agree with this review, though... it took me a few spins before i started to really like it.
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| The Benighted Posts: 243  |
I remember listening to the leak and thinking "Man, this production is terrible." I had hoped it was just an issue with the rip. Finally got the retail release and had the same problem. Sure the songwriting is top notch, but the production seriously kills this album. It's so ridiculously thin. Nothing has any punch whatsoever, you can't hear the bass, and the drums are irritatingly clicky. What a disappointment.
---- Learn to adapt to the change, or get washed away like tears in the rain.
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| Rulatore Posts: 1107  |
Don't get the hate on this album the production is quite ok for me (the guitars could be better, but to me it's ok).I'm quite happy that they tried something different now, especially the vocals (oh man, the vocals in "The Fiends Who Come To Steal The Magick Of The Deceased" are just awesome) and shorter songs. Nice review, keep them coming 
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist staff Posts: 21306  |
Written by axelx666 on 30.06.2012 at 14:06 Originality takes more into account than just the lyrical content.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| axelx666 Posts: 124 |
Written by Troy Killjoy on 30.06.2012 at 18:31 you mean the whole concept of the album too? but like i said it is egyptian, most bands don't do that. so i stick with my previous statement. 
---- "they can't stop us,let them try,for heavy metal we will die" "on olemassa asioita karmivimmat yönä olen yksi heistä." " we are the new bucolic,we are the pulse of the maggots" "END"
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| !J.O.O.E.! Account deleted |
!J.O.O.E.!
Account deleted Written by axelx666 on 30.06.2012 at 20:38 Nile are probably 90% death metal 10% "Egyptian" - lyrics and image count for nothing when it comes to originality most of the time (and as a concept it's nothing new in the slightest). Musically, a few middle-eastern flourishes don't take away from the fact that it's primary (average) death metal.
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| axelx666 Posts: 124 |
Written by Guest on 30.06.2012 at 20:48 ah if we're going with the sound then yes you are correct. but im going with image and lyrics.
---- "they can't stop us,let them try,for heavy metal we will die" "on olemassa asioita karmivimmat yönä olen yksi heistä." " we are the new bucolic,we are the pulse of the maggots" "END"
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino staff Posts: 18274 |
Written by axelx666 on 30.06.2012 at 21:41 They've been doing that for quite a while and they aren't alone at that either tbh...
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| axelx666 Posts: 124 |
Written by X-Ray Rod on 30.06.2012 at 21:54 ?? what other bands? this is new to me. plz elaborate.
---- "they can't stop us,let them try,for heavy metal we will die" "on olemassa asioita karmivimmat yönä olen yksi heistä." " we are the new bucolic,we are the pulse of the maggots" "END"
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