Best Newcomer: Nile's Fear - Although it has been a good 2 years since their debut album hit the shelves of small record stores across Australia, their land of origin, Nile's Fear has only recently caught the eye of the public. Fatefully, Vinny Styxx of The Wicker Man discovered the band's second release, 'Human Death Fields', and demanded they be brought along on the ever famous 'Darkest Tour'. Since then they have been experiencing success after success, signing with
Negative Records, their
sophomore album selling 1,600,000 copies around the world,
opening for The Nimrods and The Wicker Man, and guitarist Jackson joining Rick Fisher of The Black Gates' side project,
Sisyphean. Now numbers might not mean everything, but
4,000,000 album sales, 7,500,000 single sales and 22,780,000 tickets aren't too shabby, especially for an experimental thrash/death metal band. In recent history, they've released their third studio effort, the critically acclaimed 'The New Genocide Plot', which has been
nominated for Best Album at The Birdies and given a
4.5/5 score by Spice Magazine, tying only with PANIC!'s 'Broken Down On Memory Lane', so it makes sense that critics are calling it one of the best Metal albums of the decade. Currently they are on the Negative Tour and their new album has sold
1,800,000 copies in 17 weeks, going
#1 in the US, Europe and Australia and
#31 in the world.
Best Album: Nile's Fear - 'The New Genocide Plot - The third release from Australian deathers Nile's Fear shows a return to their death/thrash roots, removing almost all traces of their experimental first 2 efforts. Pop fans will for sure find it to hardcore, but as Spice Magazine said
"if you like this stuff then this will be your new obsession".
Debuting at #1 in the US, Europe and Australia and #31 in the world, there is no doubt about why this is being hailed as one of the best metal albums of the decade. It has managed to stay in the
top 40 for 17 weeks so far, charting at #30 in Australia this week.
Sales (In 17 weeks) -
1,721,050Peaks:
Europe - 1
US - 1
Australia - 1
UK - 57
World - 31
Track Listing:
Wake Up to Death At Your Door: Similar to Avenged Sevenfold with Machine Head riffs.
Spared by a Coma (3:14) - Carver, Araya, Adler - For the first 5 or 6 seconds there is silence, and then the band rips into a face smashing set of intro chords, over which Lucas pounds out furious drum fills. They quickly rip into a relentlessly fast riff, which at first is only played by Jackson, before accompanied by everyone else. They change to a slightly more melodic riff and Lucas slows his beat, signaling for Matt to come in, screaming out violent and throat ripping lyrics. They slowly increase the speed of the riffs and drums, until the song reaches its climax at a vicious chorus, whose anthemic lyrics are unmistakable: 'Where has it come from? How can it be stopped? So quickly we're to meet our end, our empire we have lost. Karmatic armegeddon, no religion could foresee a planet once forsaken, not even a memory'. Matt takes an interesting solo, which is quite memorable, and they repeat some of the earlier passages, which lead out of the song.
Cancerous Bullets [single] (8:36) - Araya, Demmel - This song starts off with a powerful and gut wrenchingly fast thrash riff, laden with tons of string skipping and polyrythms, beautifully played by Matt, while David slams down an intricate harmony line and Lucas blasts savage yet technical death metal beats, infused with a tribal backing rythm. Over this madness Jackson lays down a mind blowing solo that takes one to a land of primal violence and purely majestic awe. They all converge on a chromatic riff, and Matt begins singing, using a mix of raspy grunge vocals, thrashy shouting and hardcore "talking". They rip through a progressive line of frenzied leads and arpeggiated harmonies, Matt and Jackson trading solos whenever the vocals stop. Suddenly the band cuts out, leaving Lucas to take a massive drum solo leading directly into a heavy as fuck breakdown, which finishes the song.
1349 (Corpses) [single]: Sounds like Slayer, Megadeth (a.k.a. old school thrash metal)
The Boy in the Bloody Pajamas (28:41) - Carver, Adler, Araya - The song begins on a rather somber note, leading right into a sad Middle Eastern influenced instrumental passage, played using entirely clean tones and a mix of cymbals, church bells, gongs and the occasional tom for the drum part. The band moves fluidly through different pieces, painting a story of depression, pain, loss and hopelessness, with Matt's ghostly vocals fading in and out like a hideous snake that is beaten back into hiding everytime it emerges from its hole. Jackson performs multiple acoustic solos, and David takes one as well, employing a very clean tone. At the 19 minute mark distorted tones and military snare drums fade in, and a brief passage of utter violence and savage riffs ensue, only to cut slowly back into clean playing, which can't decide to be victorious or horrified. The song fades out slowly.
Fate Takes A Turn For The Worst (5:19) - Araya - There is not much that can be said about this brutal, dark song which sings about chaos, death and there being no escape, hinting at Armageddon. It is composed of pure melodic death metal riffs and leads, accompanied by intense blast beats and growls that would give even the most professional of screamers a bloody cough. Somehow Matt and Jackson manage to pull off a 1:30 second shred-tastic harmonized solo, which when paired up with the breakneck speed of the track should prove nearly impossible and demands every bit of attention possible from both players.
Bury The Bones of Your Martyrs: Sounds like Trivium, All That Remains, specifically "Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr" by Trivium (see where I got the name?)
Life is an Unholy Thing: Sounds like All Shall Perish
The Words Still Echo: Instrumental, mainly synthesizers and other sound effects such as military drum, church bells, etc., occasional guitar work.
Into A Strange New World [single]: Sounds like Iron Maiden with more contemporary sound.
Review:
'The New Genocide Plot' Review:
Wake Up To Death At Your Door
Nile's Fear leaves no doubt about the direction this newest installment to their catalog will take when the first spine shattering riff, courtesy of guitar virtuosos Matt Carver and Jackson Araya, skipping straight past the experimental interludes of 'Warlock' and the technical build-ups of 'Human Death Fields'. The song progresses nicely, with no outstanding characteristics other than a strong bass solo by David Demmel. A strong album start, though there isn't much to seperate it from run of the mill melodic death metal. 7.5/10
Spared By A Coma
A slightly better though out track then the previous one, 'Spared by A Coma' manages to take a rather common song structure and infect it with a variety of different riffs, ranging from poly-rythmic chromatic triplets to crisp and melodic leads, over which drummer Lucas Adler seems to switch on to auto-pilot, adding some un-conventional yet mildly predictable drum fills. Overall, this track picks up where the last one left off, expanding on this new shift to a more straight-forward sound, without providing any jaw-dropping uniqueness. 8/10
Cancerous Bullets
This is where the album finally kicks off for me. The thrashing riffage is tight, as is expected, and technically demanding, yet the band finally seems to land back in their home territory, blending different styles with their own special Nile's Fear sound. In particular the guitar-bass harmonies, well thought out drum solo, and vocals, which abandon the past 2 tracks strict death metal growl for a more sophisticated mix of raspy singing and thrash grunts, power this song forward, making it one of the better pieces on this album. 9.5/10
1349 (Corpses)
For me this is the only real disappointment Nile's Fear has offered us. In their quest to create something new, they have crafted a hybrid of progressive metal with old school thrash, which under certain circumstances might work out, but in this case ultimately fails to deliver. The 2 styles are blended rather sloppily, and in particular the technical riffing needs to be tight and above all else brutal, but it comes out as rather clumsy and light-weight compared to some other gems on this album. A filler at best. 4/10
Fate Takes A Turn For The Worst
Carrying on from the success of 'Cancerous Bullets', this song stresses the new found combination of infectiously catchy groove oriented riffs with melodic and technical proficiency, an style which could become quite career defining if they learn how to expand upon it. Although the shred-tastic soloing may get old after 5 songs straight, it is a huge step up from the blunder of '1349', and justly lands a spot right up near the top of the album. A graceful recovery, matching the best tracks of this album toe-for-toe. 8.5/10
Boy In The Bloody Pajamas
The perfect compliment to 'Fate Takes A Turn For The Worst', this 28 minute masterpiece doesn't present itself as a art piece as much as it does a flowing line of thought, never repeating itself nor becoming run-on. The acoustic work on this song is mind-blowing, a well needing turn away from the slightly over used pure shredding, and Matt's vocals are brilliant, for they don't just tell a story through lyrics, but also through melody. The brief reign of military snares and heavy guitars sets up the perfect contrast for the following clean passage, which beautifully mixes victoriousness with absolute horror. All hail Nile's Fear/ 10/10
Bury The Bones Of Your Martyrs
An interesting trip away from the previous work. I know that I'll only receive a hoard of hate-mail for this, but 'Bury The Bones Of Your Martyrs' is most easily described as an interesting take on prog metal, injected with mediocre metal-core, which is better suited for the next album from The Wicker Man. Don't get me wrong, this song is rather good, but it only repeats upon other band's innovations, and when compared to those it falls rather short. Much better than I would've anticipated if you had told me they were going to have metal-core vibes on one of their tracks, but they really should stick to what they do best. 7.5/10
Life Is An Unholy Thing
A strong pick, this track utilizes Jackson's lead skills to their fullest potential. The various riffs and arpeggios are interesting and fresh, yet they are missing some of that wow-factor that gave such gems such as 'Cancerous Bullets' that extra boost that made you instantly remember that this particular riff belongs to this song, but by the second or third time through you should have absorbed enough of it to remember it. Lucas' drumming is rather predictable, and it seems they could use a bit more balance, for Jackson's playing over-shadows everyone else. There is more work to be done, but a good sign that their headed in the right direction.8/10
The Words Still Echo
Definitely the oddest of the 10 songs. The use of various electronics and synthesizers will turn off the more close minded metal heads, but will have fans of experimental music screaming for more. The combination of only occasional guitar and drums allows David's bass playing to really shine, not to mention the interesting Pro Tools composition, formally credited to friend of The Wicker Man fame Charlie Haner. A solid and well done departure from an otherwise metal album. 8/10
Into A Strange New World
Once again, Nile's Fear has strayed off into the vast expanse of music, this time focusing on the moving prowess and skill of Iron Maiden. Although I have criticized them multiple times now for not staying true to themselves, I must say that to their credit this modern take on the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal is quite good, and doesn't feel like it's quite as much of a copy as the previous songs, and it actually carries strong traces of Nile's Fear's unique playing style. A powerful finishing track, which sums up the quality of the album I think. 8.5/10
Overall: 8/10
The Wicker Man - Best Gig: 'No Prayer For Brazil' + Best Live Act - Click HereEdited by user 29 October 2009 05:50:07(UTC)
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