All about this artist
Biography:
This US death metal band was formed in 1993 in Greensboro, South Carolina, by Karl Sanders (born 5 June 1964, Greenville, South Carolina, USA; guitar/vocals), Chief Spires (bass/vocals) and Pete Hammoura (drums/vocals). Initially pursuing a more doom-based sound, the tempos increased as their musical proficiency improved.
Nile's first EP, 1995's Festivals Of Atonement, saw the foundations of the Egyptian influences (a long-time fascination of Sanders) on their typically brutal death metal sound. Signing to Visceral Productions the trio released the Ramses Bringer Of War EP, which confirmed their claim to the title of "Ithyphallic Metal".
Although musically comparable to Morbid Angel or Cannibal Corpse in the riffs, vocals and blast-beats, the symphonic arrangements and exotic themes marked Nile out from the gore and Satan-obsessed death metal scene.
When Visceral went out of business the band was quickly picked up by Relapse. The debut full-length Amongst The Catacombs Of Nephren-Ka followed in 1998 and even without the striking atmospherics it would have been a fiercely proficient death metal release.
The Egyptian and Sumerian instrumentation added a distinctive and sometimes genuinely chilling edge to the exceptional musicianship and tight arrangements as demonstrated on "Ramses Bringer Of War" and "The Howling Of The Jinn". Adding second guitarist Dallas Toler-Wade the band toured with labelmates Incantation as well as on the Death Across America tour with Canadian death metal legends Cryptopsy and Gorguts.
Returning from the road Nile set about writing and arranging material for the next release, but such was the scale of the project it took well over a year before they was ready to re-enter the studio. Black Seeds Of Vengeance (2000) was a truly stunning release, with the band employing a wide range of ethnic instruments and even incorporating a Tibetan choir.
Their ultra-technical sound reached new heights. "Chapter For Transforming Into A Snake" was not only a brutal slice of metal, but its lyrics were interpreted from the Papyrus Of The Undying, an ancient and profane Egyptian text. The album's title track detailed the struggles between the ancient Egyptians and the Amalachite people, while all the lyrics were explained through Sanders exhaustive sleeve notes.
During the recording of the album the band was forced to replace Hammoura who had incurred a repetitive strain injury. Derek Roddy of Malevolent Creation stepped into the breach for the album and was in turn replaced by Tony Laureano (ex-Angel Corpse).
Shortly after Spires also departed, to be replaced by bass player Jon Vesano (ex-Dark Moon). The line-up of Sanders, Toler-Wade, Laureano and Vesano completed the recording of 2002's thunderous In Their Darkened Shrines. Both this release and the 2005 follow-up Annihilation Of The Wicked confirmed Nile's status as one of the leading death metal bands of the new millennium.
The latter was completed with new drummer George Kollias in the line-up. Bass player Vesano left the band shortly after the album was released. In the wake of his departure, Nile signed a new recording contract with the Nuclear Blast Records label and completed a new studio album, Ithyphallic.
