''Amongst the Catacombs of Nephren-Ka'' is the debut studio album by American

death metal Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, feat ...

band Nile. The album was released on April 28, 1998, through

Relapse Records Relapse Records is an American independent record label based in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. It was founded by Matthew F. Jacobson in 1990. The label features many grindcore, death metal, metalcore and sludge metal artists. History The label was ...

. The album is considered to be their breakthrough record. Unique in the discography, the songs on this album are notably shorter in length than those featured on subsequent Nile albums. ''Amongst the Catacombs of Nephren-Ka'' is the only release besides ''

Ithyphallic A phallus is a penis (especially when Erection, erect), an object that resembles a penis, or a mimesis, mimetic image of an erect penis. In art history a figure with an erect penis is described as ithyphallic. Any object that symbolically— ...

'' to not include Karl Sanders's liner notes explaining each song. The title of the album is a reference to the H. P. Lovecraft story ''

The Outsider The Outsider may refer to: Film * ''The Outsider'' (1917 film), an American film directed by William C. Dowlan * ''The Outsider'' (1926 film), an American film directed by Rowland V. Lee * ''The Outsider'' (1931 film), a film starring Joan Barr ...

''. The phrase is featured in the song "Beneath Eternal Oceans of Sand" which has lyrics paraphrased from the aforementioned tale. In Lovecraft's

Cthulhu Mythos The Cthulhu Mythos is a mythopoeia and a shared fictional universe, originating in the works of American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. The term was coined by August Derleth August William Derleth (February 24, 1909 – July 4, 1971) was an ...

, Nephren-Ka was an Egyptian Pharaoh whose unspeakable cult worship led him to be stricken from almost all Egyptian records. The catacombs where he is buried are referenced in several Lovecraft stories as well as many stories by other mythos authors. The song "Smashing the Antiu" is about a festival celebrating the destruction of the

Antiu The Antiu were dwellers in the desert east of the land of ancient Egypt and Sinai, whom the early pharaohs waged war with continually. It seems that one of them must have won some decisive battle, which was held to be of such importance that an an ...

, a people with whom the early Egyptians were frequently at war. The orchestral intro on "Ramses Bringer of War" is strongly inspired by Gustav Holst's ''Mars'' movement from ''

The Planets ''The Planets'', Op. 32, is a seven- movement orchestral suite by the English composer Gustav Holst, written between 1914 and 1917. In the last movement the orchestra is joined by a wordless female chorus. Each movement of the suite is name ...

'', written between 1914 and 1916. The title of the song "Das rache krieg lied der Assyriche" roughly translates as "The Revenge War Song of the Assyrians" in German (''"Das Rache-Kriegslied der Assyrer"''). The album was inducted into Decibel Magazine's Hall of Fame in June 2009 (No. 52).

Critical reception

Matt Kantor for '' AllMusic'' called the album "a stand-out death metal release, expanding the genre's scope but staying true to its extreme, blood soaked roots." ''

Invisible Oranges ''Invisible Oranges'' is an American online music magazine dedicated to heavy metal news, band interviews and album reviews. It was founded by Cosmo Lee in September 2006 shortly after emigrating from San Francisco, California, United States t ...

'' called the album "Nile's breakthrough moment, leaving behind all traces of thrash" while climbing "the death metal ladder with speed and dexterity." In a retrospective of the album, Tom G. Wolf of ''Astral Noize'' "marked the start of an impressive career for the band" and it "still remains an essential listen."

Track listing

All tracks written by Karl Sanders

Personnel

;Nile * Karl Sanders - guitars, vocals,

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

s * Chief Spires -

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

, vocals * Pete Hammoura -

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

, vocals,

dumbeck The goblet drum (also chalice drum, tarabuka, tarabaki, darbuka, darabuka, derbake, debuka, doumbek, dumbec, dumbeg, dumbelek, toumperleki, tumbak, or zerbaghali; arz, دربوكة / Romanized: ) is a single-head membranophone with a goblet ...

s ;Additional musicians * Drilbu Dungkar - thigh bone flutes, Turkish gongs * Mahala Kapala - Damaru human skull drums * Mudflap - additional vocals on "Die rache krieg lied der Assyriche" * Penga Grande - additional vocals on "Die rache krieg lied der Assyriche" * Gyuto Drupka - choir ;Production * Adam Peterson - artwork * Bob Moore - producer, engineering * Matthew Jacobson - executive producer * Earl Sanders - producer * Bill Yurkiewicz - executive producer

References

{{Authority control Nile (band) albums 1998 debut albums Relapse Records albums Cthulhu Mythos music Jinn in popular culture