Black Seeds Of Vengeance

Finally, something refreshing in the Death Metal scene.  Rather than the usual Satanic-based evil, Nile offers a variation on the theme, with Pharaohs-era Egyptian themes.  Mix top-notch Death Metal music with ancient Middle-Eastern instruments, and the result is Nile.  This second album is nothing short of impressive, with a constant evil-sounding atmosphere, no doubt aided by the use of unusual instruments.

The vocals are the usual Death Metal type, the difference being in the lyrics, which include some parts in ancient Egyptian language - there are even a couple of songs with no English words at all.  The result is quite interesting to listen to.  This time around, they went through the effort of including a description of each song in the booklet.  Those are a must-read.  The first time I read the lyrics, I had some difficulty understanding what the hell they were talking about.  The song descriptions put everything into perspective, with the added benefit of a little course in history.  Sure thing, those guys are very educated in ancient Egyptian culture, and their musical adaptation is surprisingly fitting with the subjects recounted in the descriptions.

One of the year 2000's must-have albums.