Nile (band)

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Background information
Origin	South Carolina, USA
Genre(s)	Technical death metal Brutal death metal
Years active	1993–present
Label(s)	Anubis Records Relapse Records Nuclear Blast
Website	Official Site
Members
Karl Sanders Dallas Toler-Wade George Kollias
Former members
Jon Vesano Chief Spires Pete Hammoura Tony Laureano Derek Roddy John Ellers Joe Payne

Nile is a brutal / technical death metal band from South Carolina, USA assembled in 1993. Their music and lyrics are inspired by Ancient Egyptian mysticism, history, religion and art.

1 About
2 Music
3 Discography
4 Line-up
- 4.1 Former members
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] About

Nile's music is mostly written by founding member and guitarist Karl Sanders. It combines traditional death metal with elements of Middle Eastern music, incorporating traditional Egyptian instruments into some of the songs. Nile's music is also characterized by its extreme complexity and speed, for which the band has received acknowledgement from many music fans and journalists, not to mention their extremely heavy riffs, due to their guitar and bass tunings.

The lyrical content is based on Karl Sanders' interest in Egyptology as well as other ancient Middle Eastern cultures such as Mesopotamia. Lengthy sleeve notes are included with the albums Black Seeds of Vengeance, In Their Darkened Shrines and Annihilation of the Wicked albums, explaining the inspiration or source for the lyrics of each song. Also, some of the songs are based on the works of H. P. Lovecraft, an early 20th-Century author, who has also inspired many other bands from various genres.

Karl Sanders has also released one solo album called Saurian Meditation.

In May 2006, Nile signed a new recording contract with Nuclear Blast Records. On February 26, 2007 Nile entered the studio and is set to begin recording their fifth full-length album, which will be their first release with Nuclear Blast records. Karl Sanders has confirmed a release date of June 29th via a posting on the band's message board

On March 21 2007, Nile was confirmed as a "Second Stage" act for Ozzfest 2007. A message from Karl Sanders via Nile's MySpace page indicated that they were excited to finally bring true Death Metal to an Ozzfest audience.

[edit] Music

Nile is noted under a genre named "technical death metal," which is considered a branch of death metal featuring odd time signatures and complex guitar riffs and solos. The band categorizes their music as "ithyphallic death metal", in reference to their epic Egyptian themes. Egyptian and Middle Eastern instruments are featured in some songs as well to help accent the themes more. They are one of the few bands who use the drop A tuning (from lowest string to highest: A, E, A, D, F#, B).

[edit] Discography

[edit] Studio albums

Album Cover	Album Title
	Amongst the Catacombs of Nephren-Ka Released: April 28, 1998 Chart Positions: U.S. Sales: Label(s): Relapse Records Singles:
	Black Seeds of Vengeance Released: September 5, 2000 Chart Positions: U.S. Sales: Label(s): Relapse Records Singles:
	In Their Darkened Shrines Released: August 20, 2002 Chart Positions: U.S. Sales: 62,000 Label(s): Relapse Records Singles: Execration Text, Sarcophagus
	Annihilation of the Wicked Released: May 24, 2005 Chart Positions: U.S. Sales: Label(s): Relapse Records Singles: Lashed to the Slave Stick, Cast Down the Heretic