Smashing its way into today’s Album of the Year category we see scarab summoners, mummification masters and history’s most brutal excavators at Day Twenty.
- Jakub Zyteki – Wishful Lotus Proof
- Agent Fresco – Destrier
- Cain’s Offering – Stormcrow
- Tesseract – Polaris
- Unleash The Archers – Time Stands Still
- Lamb of God – VII : Sturm Und Drang
- Lindemann – Skills and Pills
- The Black Dahlia Murder – Abysmal
- Amorphis – Under The Red Cloud
- Steven Wilson – Hand Cannot Erase
- Saurom – Self Titled
- Napalm Death – Apex Predator
- Blind Guardian – Beyond The Red Mirror
- Between The Buried and Me – Coma Ecliptic
- Luca Turilli’s Rhapsody – Prometheus
- Cattle Decapitation – The Anthropocene Extinction
- Symphony X – Underworld
- Carach Angren – This Is No Fairytale
- Nightwish – Endless Forms Most Beautiful
Nile – What Should Not Be Unearthed
For those who might have watched the classic Brendan Fraser epic’s, it is common knowledge that usually when a large imposing stone effigy lies slightly buried you probably should leave it alone. Taking this idea and running with it we see the return of our favourite tomb raiders. Bringing preconceptions crashing down the band bring their antiquated themes hurtling into the modern day in the form of “Call To Destruction”. Deciding to aim their focus on solid song writing the band succeed in their endeavours. What Should Not Be Unearthed is a cautionary tale to the inquisitive nature of humanity.
Boasting some of the line up’s best material the colossal March of “In The Name Amun” would move even the mightiest of armies. Never truly letting up the album is a start to finish education, mirroring the brutality of the Egyptian times. Whatever your opinion on the band’s topic, Nile have very much carved a niche for themselves. Being one of the most technical band’s in the scene and flag bearers of creativity the band bring the focus back to the most important elements without the trimmings of technicality. Potentially one of the band’s best songs to date the fury of “Evil To Cast Out Evil” is a fantastic example of just how the band constantly strive for creativity. Many slated the record for its predictable nature but, personally I feel it’s the most original the band have been in a long while. Subject matter might be slightly limited granted but nevertheless the musical proclivity of the record is unbeatable. Cloaked in atmosphere the likes of “What Should Not Be Unearthed” and “To Walk Forth From Flames Unscathed” bring the album to fantastic climax.
Wiping the metaphorical dust off the band with What Should Not Be Unearthed, Nile confidently sit atop their pyramid surveying their kingdom. Though perhaps the scriptures warn the intruder it would be best left untouched Nile deliver a record that would make being inhaled, crushed or Omid Djalili style scarabed oh so worth it.
