Its been nearly a decade since I last listened to Nile. I remember the first three albums - with In Their Darkened Shrines in particular - being quite excellent. The combination of ambience, melody, and brutal death metal was rather novel at the time.
Upon revisiting the third album today, I was reminded of why I thought so highly of it. To put it simply, it's excellent. The album features a collection of riffs that strike a delicate balance of accessibility and brutality. One minute the guitars will be pummeling, the next they will be playing an unforgettable melody. It's seamless.
Where the guitars leave off the drums pick up. For the longest time I considered this album to be a clinic on extreme metal drums. The creativity shown by Tony Laureano is incredible.
There is plenty of blasting on the record, however there are nuances to them. Sometimes the bass drums will accent different parts of the guitar riffs rather than going full speed ahead. The same can be said for the symbol work and the snare. They way they synergize is magnificent.
In between the death metal there are ambient moments. Their are placed at opportune times to work in harmony with the metal. This contributes to the flow of the album, and is the ultimate factor in completing the sound that Nile perfected.
In Their Darkened Shines remains my favorite Nile album. It holds up for me after twenty years. Not something that can be said about many albums.
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