Album Review: Nile – Vile Nilotic Rites

Nile’s ninth album Vile Nilotic Rites sees the Egypt-obsessed technical death metallers change both bassist and guitarist. That’s only a fact worth mentioning because the band have made the transition so seamless you wouldn’t realise otherwise – it’s rare that a band can overhaul almost 50 per cent of its line-up and not see even the slightest waver in sound or quality.

This record follows the same blueprint as every other Nile album, then; skull-shatteringly heavy, a flurry of technical riffs slice their way through the swampy atmosphere created by a barrage of blastbeats and guttural roars.

It would be easy to accuse Nile of churning out the same old stuff, because, after a quarter of a century the band’s sound has become something incredibly dependable, and as constant as the river they take their name from. Nile aren’t reinventing the wheel, but they don’t need to. Brutality is what they are best at, and it’s exactly what they deliver.

Verdict: 3/5