Karl Sanders (born June 5, 1963) is an American singer and guitarist, most widely known as the founding member of the ancient Egyptian-themed

technical death metal Technical death metal (also referred to as tech-death) is a musical subgenre of death metal that began and developed in the early- to mid-1990s, with particular focus on challenging, demanding instrumental skill and complex songwriting. Techni ...

band

Nile The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin language, Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered ...

Early life

Before creating Nile, Sanders was in a

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . ...

band during the late 1980s called Morriah and played local shows with the young

Morbid Angel Morbid Angel is an 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 ...

and other US death metal bands.

Other projects

Sanders began his own solo side project in 2004. Much of the music that he plays includes similar elements of his band Nile, however presented in an ambient/Egyptian folk format, rather than death metal. Sanders explained that "he got sick of hearing big loud death metal everyday after touring", and started writing quieter music to relax, and recorded them. His first solo full-length album, ''

Saurian Meditation ''Saurian Meditation'' is the first solo album by Karl Sanders, the vocalist/guitarist of the technical death metal band Nile (band), Nile. It was released on 26 October 2004 through Relapse Records. The music is a full length exploration of the ...

'', was released in October 2004 under the

Relapse In internal medicine, relapse or recidivism is a recurrence of a past (typically medical) condition. For example, multiple sclerosis and malaria often exhibit peaks of activity and sometimes very long periods of dormancy, followed by relapse or r ...

record label. A second solo album, ''

Saurian Exorcisms ''Saurian Exorcisms'' is the second solo album by Karl Sanders, the vocalist/guitarist of the death metal band Nile. It was released on 14 April 2009 through The End Records. The music is a full length exploration of the atmospheric interludes ...

'', was released in April 2009. In May 2022, he announced his third solo album, ''Saurian Apocalypse'', would be released on July 22.

Equipment

According to Sanders in the official Nile forum and in an article on

MetalSucks MetalSucks is a heavy metal music-themed news website. The site features reviews, interviews, information on latest metal releases and blog-like posts from the writers, most notably Vince Neilstein and Axl Rosenberg. History The site was foun ...

, the equipment he uses is:

Guitars

Dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

V Nile Custom *Dean 79 V *Dean ML *Dean VX * KxK Spear V * 1973 Fender Strat with Warmoth "Jackson" neck *Natural finish KxK Double-Neck V - Top neck fretless 11 string, bottom neck in drop A *Dark finish KxK Double-Neck V - Top neck in drop D, bottom neck in drop A (Was recently sold on eBay) *KxK Seven string V *Godin Glissentar *Godin ACS Slim Solidbody Classical *Dean 12-string acoustic *Handmade Turkish bağlama saz

Pickups

Seymour Duncan Seymour Duncan is an American company best known for manufacturing guitar and bass pickups. They also manufacture effects pedals which are designed and assembled in America. Guitarist and luthier Seymour W. Duncan and Cathy Carter Duncan foun ...

Invader (Main bridge pickup) *Seymour Duncan Distortion (Alternate bridge pickup) *Seymour Duncan Full Shred (Neck pickup) *Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates (Neck pickup)

Strings

*SIT .070 .050 .038 .017 .012 .010

Picks

* Dunlop Tortex Sharp 1.35 mm

Amps

*ENGL Invader (Current main amplifier) *

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia * Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Islands * Marshall Islands, an i ...

JCM 2000 DSL 100 heads (Previous main amplifier, and backup for Engl) *Marshall 1960 a/b cabs with Celestion 65 watt Creamback speakers *Splawn Quickrod (Main amp used for recording ''At The Gates of Sethu'')

Other equipment

Roland Roland (; frk, *Hrōþiland; lat-med, Hruodlandus or ''Rotholandus''; it, Orlando or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the ...

GP-8 *Lexicon Digital Reverb *Roland GR-1 Guitar synth *Roland PK-5 Midi Pedals *Customized Dell Vostro *

Sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigation, navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect o ...

and Kontact software * M-audio Interface *Glyph Porta Drive * MOTU interface *Radial Tonebone Plexi Pedal *Radial Direct Boxes *Radial JD-7 *

Monster Cable Monster Inc. is an American company that manufactures and markets about 6,000 products, but is best known for audio and video cables. It also produces speakers, headphones, power strips, mobile accessories and audio devices for automobiles. The c ...

Guest appearances

Sanders guested on Behemoth's 2004 CD release, ''

Demigod A demigod or demigoddess is a part-human and part-divine offspring of a deity and a human, or a human or non-human creature that is accorded divine status after death, or someone who has attained the "divine spark" ( spiritual enlightenment). A ...

'', playing a guitar solo on the track "XUL". He also performed a guitar solo at the end of the track "God of Our Own Divinity" by

, on their 2003 album ''

Heretic Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...

,'' as well as a solo on the song "The Final War (Battle of Actium)" on Ex Deo's 2009 album Romulus. Sanders also played on

Grave A grave is a location where a dead body (typically that of a human, although sometimes that of an animal) is buried or interred after a funeral. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of burial, such as grave ...

's 2010 album

Burial Ground A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

on the tracks "Bloodtrail" and "

Naafa The National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA) is a non-profit, fat acceptance civil-rights organization in the United States dedicated to improving the quality of life for fat people. . NAAFA works to eliminate discrimination base ...

". Sanders traveled to Dubai to collaborate on guest vocals for Nervecell's song "Shunq (To the Despaired... King of Darkness)" on their 2011 album ''Psychogenocide''. On

Tourniquet A tourniquet is a device that is used to apply pressure to a limb or extremity in order to stop the flow of blood. It may be used in emergencies, in surgery, or in post-operative rehabilitation. A simple tourniquet can be made from a stick and ...

's 2012 album ''

Antiseptic Bloodbath ''Antiseptic Bloodbath'' is the eighth full studio album released on July 19, 2012 by Tourniquet (band), Tourniquet, a Christian metal band formed in 1989 in Los Angeles, California. It is the band's first release since 2003's ''Where Moth and Rust ...

'', Sanders contributed a guitar solo to the track "Chamunda Temple Stampede". Sanders was also featured in episode one of Rusty Cooley's and Zachary Adkins' podcast "Guitar Autopsy" available on YouTube. In 2017 Sanders traveled to Egypt to collaborate with

Nader Sadek Nader Sadek is an Egyptian-American artist. His death metal project gathers many well-known and emerging artists from the entire metal scene, focusing mostly on black and death metal. Sadek currently resides in New York City and has worked as a st ...

, Derek Roddy, and Mahmud Gecekusu on The Serapeum EP In 2018 Sanders did a guest solo on the song "Sacred War of Lawlessness" for Polish Blackened Death Metal Band Veld Sanders provided lead guitars for THŪN's self-titled EP in 2021.

Discography

With Nile

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sanders, Karl Living people Lead guitarists American heavy metal guitarists American heavy metal keyboardists American heavy metal singers 20th-century American singers 21st-century American singers 1964 births American multi-instrumentalists 20th-century American guitarists Death metal musicians