From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ithyphallic is the fifth full length album by American death metal band Nile. It was released on July 17, 2007 through Nuclear Blast Records, in both standard and digipak formats. Ithyphallic has currently produced one single: "Papyrus Containing the Spell to Preserve Its Possessor Against Attacks from He Who Is in the Water". It is the band's first album released on Nuclear Blast, since signing with them in May 2006. It is the first album since "Amongst the Catacombs of Nephren-Ka" not to feature notes explaining the context of the lyrics. The album was also released in a limited-edition (of 1000) pyramid-shaped box containing the CD, several images, a certificate of ownership and a hidden scroll containing the lyrics and liner notes from the album.
[edit] Promotion
Throughout June and July, Nuclear Blast Records held a special contest to allow several fans to be able to listen to Ithyphallic. The rules were that they would have to be able to decipher a secret hieroglyphic message. If they won, they were given an email containing a link to a website where the album was posted for the free listening. On July 7, the contest ended, and the answer was revealed to be "papyrus".
[edit] Track listing
- "What May Be Safely Written" – 8:15
- "As He Creates So He Destroys" – 4:36
- "Ithyphallic" – 4:40
- "Papyrus Containing the Spell to Preserve Its Possessor Against Attacks from He Who Is in the Water" – 2:56
- "Eat of the Dead" – 6:29
- "Laying Fire Upon Apep" – 3:25
- "The Essential Salts" – 3:51
- "The Infinity of Stone" – 2:04
- "The Language of the Shadows" – 3:30
- "Even the Gods Must Die" – 10:01
[edit] Bonus tracks
11 "As He Creates So He Destroys" (Instrumental, Digipak bonus track)
12 "Papyrus Containing the Spell to Preserve Its Possessor Against Attacks From He Who Is in the Water" (Instrumental, Digipak bonus track)
[edit] Chart positions
[edit] Credits
[edit] Historical and fictional references
- The Song Papyrus Containing the Spell to Preserve Its Possessor Against Attacks From He Who Is in the Water is a reference to a spell from the Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead
- Ithyphallic Is a word that means "To have the penis erect". This refers to many Egyptian gods of fertility, as this is how they were represented.
- Laying Fire Upon Apep is a reference to one of the methods described in the Books of Apophis that Ra would use to overcome the Fiend Apep in their nightly duels.
- What Can Be Safely Written, As He Creates So He Destroys, Eat of the Dead, The Essential Salts, and The Language of the Shadows are taken from Canadian occultist Donald Tyson's Necronomicon: The Wanderings of Alhazred[1], itself a tribute to the fictional mythology of H.P. Lovecraft.
- The Essential Salts is also a reference to the salts used to preserve the corpse of a Pharoah in mummification.
