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Per quanto mi riguarda la mia recensione potrebbe essere semplicemente la parola “Nile”, e sono sicuro che chi ha seguito questo gruppo lungo la loro carriera ormai decennale capirebbe al volo cosa intendo dire. Ma la mia missione non è quella di convincere ancora di più i fedeli del genere, bensì catturare nuovi adepti: quindi aguzzate la vista e leggete attentamente questa recensione.
I Nile sono una band americana con tre precedenti Lp all’attivo: fin dagli esordi, i cinque membri hanno fatto mostra di una passione per l’antico Egitto. La cosa non si traduce solo a livello tematico, ma anche a livello musicale in quanto le melodie suonate riproducono più o meno fedelmente quelle Egizie: il fatto che poi abbiano tentato di coniugare le suddette melodie con gli stilemi del Brutal Death metal, rende chiaro quanto sia ardito questo progetto. I componenti del gruppo hanno mostrato sin dall’inizio delle particolari doti tecniche, ma ad onor del vero, sono in continua evoluzione e migliorano di album in album: già nel precedente “In Their Darkened Shrine” sfioravano la perfezione, ma in questo lavoro ci si sono avvicinati ancora di più: per fare dei paragoni illustri, sono prossimi ai livelli dei Cryptopsy o dei Suffocation. Sicuramente i Nile eccellono per le chitarre: ve li ricordate i solos di Chuck Schuldiner? Bè, qui passaggi della stessa difficoltà (ma con caratteristiche sonorità egiziane) diventano riff e donano a quest’album, e in generale al sound dei Nile, quella originalità che li fa uscire dalla staticità tipica del genere.
Ovviamente i cinque non rinunciano alla componente Death che è sempre presente e non cede mai completamente il passo a quelle contaminazioni simil etniche: il loro è Brutal a tutti gli effetti, tempi velocissimi spezzati da rallentamenti pesanti come macigni, growling catacombale e parti di chitarra di una potenza non indifferente inseguite da quelle antiche melodie che fanno la differenza. Riff difficilissimi e scale ascendenti stoppate ed eseguite con una rapidità impressionante nonché un batterista instancabile e molto preciso non sono gli unici elementi: c’è molto di più. La cosa che più colpisce l’ascoltatore è la maniacale cura per il dettaglio di questo disco, la qual cosa si traduce nell’inserimento di pezzi suonati con strumenti caratteristici dell’antico Egitto, spiegazioni sui misteriosi rituali di questo popolo nel booklet (i testi si fanno sempre più storicamente corretti), canzoni strutturate in maniera perfetta e chirurgica e, infine, una produzione lucida e pulitissima.
Canzoni come la title track o "Von Unaussprechlichen Kulten”, dalla durata che supera abbondantemente gli otto minuti, sono esempio di questo lavoro mirabolante. Ma la minuzia è un'arma a doppio taglio: un lavoro rifinito tanto bene non può non avere un retrogusto di artificiosità: capite che allora la passione per l’antico Egitto diventa di dubbia sincerità e tutto il disco assume i connotati di un prodotto calcolato e per nulla naturale. Ciononostante, il fasto del cd è anche sinonimo di grande qualità e perfezione, e non toglie niente alla grande innovazione apportata al genere dai Nile. Ottimo disco sotto il profilo tecnico e compositivo, ma un po’ troppo barocco per meritare il massimo dei voti. In ogni caso si colloca tra le migliori release del 2005.
Elenco tracce testi e samples
02 Cast Down the Heretic (05:45)
Blasphemer, Heretic, Defiler of the Sacred Ones.
Thou art Deprived of Your Limbs.
Thy Nose Shall be Split.
Thou art Cast Down and Overthrown.
Ra-Harmakhis Destroyeth Thee.
He Damneth Thee and Driveth Hooks into Thy Body.
Isis Sayeth in Mighty Voice,
"The Number of Thy Days are Cut Short.
Thy Bones are Broken to Splinters Thy Vertebrae are Severed."
Horus Hammereth Thy Head.
The Sons of Heru Smash You with Their Blows.
Thou Art Decimated by Their Violence.
Thou Fallest Backwards as Thou Retreateth Like unto Apep.
The Great Company of Gods Gather in Retribution.
They Hath Passed Judgment upon Thee.
They Cast Down Your Heresy.
They Spit Upon Thee and Thy Rebellion And Turn Their Back upon Thee.
Horus Repulseth Thy Crocodile.
Sut Defileth Thy Tomb.
Nephthys Hacketh Thee in Pieces.
The Sons of Horus Speareth Thee.
The Gods Repulse Thee.
The Flame of Their Fire is Against Thee.
Cursed Art Thou, Impaled Thou Art, Flayed Art Thou.
Heretic Thou Art Cast Down.
Blows are Rained upon Thee.
Dismemberment and Slaughter are on Thee.
Thy Crocodile is Trampled under Foot.
Thy Soul is Wrenched from its Shade.
Thy Name is Erased.
Thy Spells are Impotent.
Nevermore Shalt Thou Emerge from Thy Den.
Thy City Armana Lays in Ruin.
Damned Art Thy Accursed Soul and Shadow.
Die O One, which Art Consumed.
Thy Name is Buried in Oblivion.
Silence Covereth Thee and Thy False One.
Down upon Thy Belly.
Be Drowned, Be Drowned, Be Vomited Upon.
[Guitar solo]
The Gods have Pronounced Thy Doom.
They Scorn Thee and Thy False Aten.
The Ancient Ones Turn Their Backs upon Thee.
Thou Art Cast Down, Overthrown.
Thy Reign of Heresy is Ended.
Those Thou Hast Driven Out Have Risen Against Thee.
Cast down the Heretic.
Cast down the Heretic.
Cast down the Heretic.
Khnemu Draggeth Thy Spawn to the Block of Slaughter.
Sick Shalt Thou be at the Mention of Thine Own Name.
Sekhmet Teareth Out Thy Bowels and Casteth Them into Flames.
She Filleth Thine Orifices with Fire.
Uadjit Shutteth Thee in the Pits of Burning.
Nevermore Shall You Breathe or Procreate.
Neither Thy House or Tomb Exist.
Thou Shalt Drive Thy Teeth into Thine Own Body.
Heretic, Thou Art Cast Down.
Overthrown, Ended, Hacked in Pieces, Slaughtered, Butchered.
Ra Hath Made Thoth to Slay Thee Utterly.
03 Sacrifice Unto Sebek (03:02)
Sebek, Sochet, Suchos.
Dread Lord of the Marsh.
He Who Crawleth Amongst the Sacred Waters.
And Devoureth the Flesh of That Which is Sacrificed unto Him.
Tua Ashemu. Tua Ashemu.
Rekhes Au Sebek. Rekhes Au Sebek.
Tua Ashemu. Tua Ashemu.
Sebek, Neter, Ashemu.
Whose Teeth Rendeth and Teareth With Terrible Violence.
Restore the Eyes of the Dead.
Collect Their Skulls.
Join Their Bones Together Again.
Lord of the Temple of the Mount of Sunrise.
Open the Way unto the Underworld.
Cause the Dead to Rise to New Life.
Bring the Child Horus upon the Throne of Osiris.
[Guitar solo]
04 User-Maat-Re (09:14)
O Seti, Great One, My Father.
I Hath Finished for Thee Thy Temple at Abydos.
And Made Known the Lineage of the Blessed.
Those Who Came Before.
I Hath Exalted Mine Ancestors.
I Hath Honoured with the Blood and Sweat of Many.
The Legacy of Thy Conquests.
T Hath Glorified Thy Temple of Set in Avaris.
In Karnak, Hath I Raised the Great Hall.
In Thebes, Sublime Monuments, Grand Pylons, Obelisks
And Colossal Statues Are Inscribed With My Name.
By Divine Right I Hath Usurped the Monuments of My Predecessors.
I Hath Created Imposing Rock Hewn Temples.
Monumental Colossi in Mine Own Image.
Like as unto the Images of Amun, Re, Ptah.
I Hath Caused to Rise a Formidable Legacy Carved in Stone.
In the Mountain of Meha.
Intended to Endure a Million Years.
In the Violence of Sekhem.
I am Become Montu,
God of War in the Two Lands.
I Hath Suppressed the Rebellious.
I Hath Driven Back Chaos and Disorder.
The Conquered Chiefs of All Foreign Lands are Beneath My Sandals.
I Hath Emblazoned My Countless Victories in Immortality.
Carved in Rocks as Living Images of the Ritual Massacre of Mine Enemies.
I am User-Maat-Re Setepene-re,
Sovereign of Sovereigns,
Beloved of Amun,
Chosen of Re,
I Hath Made Manifest the Grandeur of My Empire.
To be Worthy of Thy Legacy.
O Seti, Great One.
User-Maat-Re, Thou Hast Done Nothing.
User-Maat-Re, Thou Hast Done Nothing.
[Guitar solo]
User-Maat-Re, Thou Hast Done Nothing.
User-Maat-Re, Thou Hast Done Nothing.
Nothing.
Nothing.
05 The Burning Pits of the Duat (03:52)
I Hath Been Immersed Head Down.
In that, Which Floweth In Abundance from the Slaughtered Ones.
I Hath Been Made to Eat Feces and Drink Urine.
I Lay in Chains before the Undying Flames.
I am Helpless in the Presence of He Who is Master of the Pits of Fire.
I am Humbled and Broken in the Presence
of Those Who Shall Consume My Shade in the Pits of Burning.
[Guitar solo]
I Didst Bow in Homage to the Spawn of Set.
I Hath Kneeled in Homage to the Servants of Shesses.
In Rebellion, I Did Recite the Formulae of Rites in Glorification of the Lords of Filth.
I Hath Recited the Formulae of Rites in Glorification of the Lords of Wickedness.
He Who Hath Dominion of Khenti-Amenti Hath Uttered,
"Hack in Pieces and Cut Asunder the Bodies of Mine Enemies
and the Members of the Dead Who Hath been Turned Upside Down.
Scatter in Pieces Their Shades.
They Shall be Cast Down Headlong into the Pits of Fire.
They Shall not Escape nor be able to Flee From the Flames Which Art in the Serpent Set-Heh."
I burn.
[Guitar solo]
My Heart Desires to Burn in the Pit of Fire.
Allow My Ka to Blaze in Flames and be Utterly Consumed.
I Stand in Submission Before the Living Uraei of Flame
Who Hurls Forth Burning Heat Against The Tongues of Those Who Hath Spoken Evil.
Incinerate Me in the Pits of Burning.
Sear Me in the Pits of the Damned.
Immolate Me in the Pits of Torment.
I Seek only the Charnel Bliss and the Blackened Caress of the Burning Pits of the Duat.
[Guitar solo]
I Burn.
I Burn.
I Burn.
I Burn in this Tomb of Fire.
I Burn in this Tomb of Fire.
I Burn in this Tomb of Fire.
I Burn in this Tomb of Fire.
06 Chapter of Obeisance Before Giving Breath to the Inert One in the Presence of the Crescent Shaped Horns (05:21)
07 Lashed to the Slave Stick (04:18)
Asfetiu.
Asfetiu.
Fiends, Criminals, Slaves, Blasphemers.
The Word of Ra is Against Ye.
Ye are Fettered and Bound with Leather Straps.
Helpless, Doomed, Wailing in Unendurable Torment.
Lashed to the Forked Slave Stick By the Neck.
Lashed to the Slave Stick.
Abata Ankh t Khet.
Neba t Steb Tcha.
Lashed to the Slave Stick.
Ra Pronounceth the Formulae Against Thee.
The Eye of Horus is Prepared to Attack Thee.
Sekhmet Uttereth Words of Flame Against Thee and Pierceth Thy Breast.
Your Evil Deeds Have Turned Against You.
Your Plottings Have Come upon You.
Your Abominable Acts
You shall be lashed to the Slave Stick.
Abui, The Gods Who Burns the Dead.
Shall Leave You Smoldering in Exile from the Netherworld.
Abati.
The Gorer.
Causes You to Howl like a Jackal in Anguish.
Your Doom Hath been Decreed by Ra.
Your Unjust and Perverse Judgments are upon Yourselves.
The Wickedness of Your Words of Cursing are upon You.
It is You Who Hath Committed the Unutterable and Wrought Iniquity in the Great Hall.
Your Corruptible Bodies Shall be Cut to Pieces.
Your Souls Shall have No Existence.
Ye Shall Never Again See Ra as He Journeyeth in the Hidden Land.
The Doom of Ra is upon You.
Lashed to the Slave Stick.
Abata Ankh t Khet.
Neba t Steb Tcha.
Lashed to the Slave Stick.
Abata Ankh t Khet.
Neba t Steb Tcha.
Asfetiu.
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"Questi hanno inventato un nuovo genere il brutal death egiptian death metal un connubio tra brutal e death metal e melodie egizie che riportano indietro di mille anni."
"In una parola: faraonico, compratelo."
