NILE : ALL GODS, HATE ETERNAL...

Over the past 13 years, Karl Sanders, Dallas Toler-Wade and their gang have been travelling down a pitch-black river. Along its shores, by the pyramids and ancient tombs, the ancient gods of Egypt are gathered again to spread terror and desolation on mankind. Nile is their voice, coming from the ages and through thunder and lightning. « Ithyphallic » is their new funeral chant, a great, dark and brutal album, a perfect combination of their metal heritage and their love of mythologies. Seth, Toth, Anubis, Osiris are all summoned up by Karl Sanders and company for Nuclear Blast. The doom/death squad is back. Hail to the gods.

-“Ithyphallic” is your first record for Nuclear Blast, after all those years with Relapse: what happen?

K: Well, we had a four albums deal with Relapse and we had come to the end of our contract and we thought that, as a band, we wanted to move on to continue to grow forward, to get bigger and better things.

- This is your first album for your new label: at what levels can you see the difference for the realisation of this record?

K: So far, so good, they’re nothing but professionals, they’re hard working and very sincere: when they talk with you, they look you in the face and you get the feeling that what they say is what they do. That’s very important to us. We had many experiences in music, and I’m sure that you know, as a music journalist, when you’re talking to people and you look them in the face, sometimes you don’t get that feeling, the idea is what they say, what they do is not sincere. But we knew they were for real. We feel freer to do what we do, starting with the title of the album, which is a fascinating story: when we were doing “Annihilation of the wicked”, we were wondering how we could call this record. Dallas, our singer and guitar player, said that we could call it “Ithyphallic”, as this word has been around us for a long time and really stands something about the band. So we called the record company, and they told us they was no fucking way we’d called an album ‘Ithyphallic’, we won’t let you, it won’t never happen. So we said alright, what about one of the songs for the title, and they said no, because there’s the band Celtic Frost, which have a song called “Procreation of the wicked”, you can’t do that. But our manager succeeded in saying that it was a metal title, and that we won’t take another name for the album. So, this time around, we talked with Nuclear Blast and ask, as seriously as before, what if we want to call it ‘Ithyphallic’?, just to see what they would say. They answered ‘It’s your album, call it like that if you want’. They seemed very serious, they meant it, so that’s what we did, and we took ‘Ithyphallic’. They want us to do whatever we want to do, they put not artistic restrictions on us, they do nothing but encourage us they just want to do their part, which is doing the business, which is music business, and we go to the art, making music. We have a great relationship. I could probably sit here one hour to talk about all the differences between Nuclear Blast and Relapse, but let’s just say that we’re very happy so far, it’s a great label which works very hard.

-You worked again with producer Neil Kernon (Judas Priest, Cannibal Corpse, Nevermore), after ‘Annihilation of the wicked’: is he the best producer for Nile?

K: So far, yes. Before this, it was Bob Moore, and Bob is more like a friend than a record producer; we worked with him so many times that we’re almost a family, but we needed someone to crack the whip on us a little bit. It worked good with Bob, but in a way, it’s too easy with Bob. Neil is a much respected professional; he won several Grammies, for God’s sake, and worked with some incredible artists over the years. I have many respects for what he has to say.

-What do you think of the Erik Rutan productions?

K: I think it’s getting better; all the stuff I’ve heard recently sounded really damn good, Hate Eternal as well as Cannibal Corpse.

-You pretty much always wrote the lyrics of the band: where did your love for Egyptian mythology come from at the beginning?

K: It came from movies, books and history channel on TV. When we first started the band, we didn’t choose the name Nile first, but a friend of us said that as we liked all this middle-eastern stuff, why didn’t we call us Nile? What could we do with that name? What potential, what possibilities? And that was that initiative that really sparked with the ancient Egypt: why not? No one else has ever done it, so we could do it and why not do what you like? There’s a big quote from Mark Twain when he said to the young Jack Frost: ‘Write about what you know’. So that’s what we do, we play the stuff that we like, and very happy with it!

-Is it partially because USA has no ancient history too?

K: Yes, there’s not so much to write about what we have, and we have not much: we have slavery, but if you start to write about slavery, in today’s society, people will call you guys white racists motherfuckers!

-Are you a believer yourself?

K: No, it’s purely historical. I think it would be very inappropriate to try to practice ancient Egyptian religion in these modern days, it has no relevance. In fact I think God himself has a very little relevance today. The religions of the world that we have now are all two thousand years old, Islam, Christianism, do they rule the place in today’s world? I think not, I think it’s very inappropriate I think the fundamental irrelevance is causing us many problems in today’s world.

-Who are, at your sense, the most interesting characters of the Egyptian pantheon?

K: All the darker ones, Seth, Anubis, Toth, they come up frequently I think because it’s death metal, and, when you do death metal and write about ancient Egypt, you pick the darker ones, the darker stories, the more evil aspects. I think everything’s possible, because we’re a death metal band, and if you do death metal, you have to explore the darker path. We don’t feel to write the lighter path, it would be somewhere incongruous, that idea in death metal: death metal should be blasphemous, rebellious, anti God. For one point, just the fact that we’re saying that pagan religion existed before Christ, it’s blasphemous in the sense of Christianity, ok, so it’s a basic blasphemy right there, but it’s not enough, we feel we have to blaspheme all the Gods as well.

-This world of yours is your trademark and it’s very particular amongst the death metal scene: is it for you a way to make people get interested in something else than slasher movies and post mortem sexuality?

K: I think it’s interesting for us, but not necessarily for everyone. Sometimes, people say to us that there’s already plenty of gore metal and slasher metal, anti God metal, Satan metal, already many bands doing this, and we’re the only band doing that stuff and doing it great…so it’s possible for us to do it any better! Angel Corpse, Immolation, it would be foolish to try to copy them, so we do our thing. I think that it’s what the way people should be in their life, do your own life, you have only one to live, so live it! You succeed or fail by your own nerves; I think that’s the best.

-Are your lyrics inspired by real and historical events or total imagination?

K: It’s mostly historical, hence sometimes I watch history channel, I think it’s very amusing, and it’s responsible for many of our songs.

-Do you have any DVD project with all videos, or a special project, like a movie but with your music, telling stories of ancient Egypt?

K: Yes, and I think it would be possible if one have the money. If you have a big imagination, you must have big pockets: look at Cecil B. DeMille, if he didn’t have the money, he would have done anything. So it’s just kind of a pipe dream for us! But when we’ll have the money, I’ll love to do that. But death metal is very underground, there’s not so much money, you know.

-Another spot of inspiration comes from Lovecraft and the Necronomicon: for what songs in particular?

K: Of course, there are quite a few things from Lovecraft on this record. The first two songs of the record are straight from him, and also ‘The essential salts’ are very inspired by Necronomicon.

-What about the video for ‘Papyrus containing the spell to preserve its possessor against attack from he who is in the water’…

K: Well, it’s actually a very good question, because we don’t actually know yet what’s gonna be on the video. The producer told us what he wants to be in the video, but we said no! So I don’t know. We’re supposed to work on this video between now and the Ozzfest, in July, so we’ll see what happens!

-By the way, why such long titles sometimes?

K: When we started, years ago, with ‘Slavation of the blah blah blah…’ it was first of all because this kind of title for songs gave the whole complete picture of the music. That was in the first place. But secondly, it was amusing to us to do it, because the record company has to try to fit this title on the back of the record, and every time they have to type it, on a promo record or working on a record cover, it piss them off to write such long titles : it’s just pure fun!

-Did you ever think of a gig amongst pyramids in Egypt?

K: Oh, yes, man, that would be great, but I don’t know if it will happen. Maybe it’s another pipe dream!

-What bands inspired you when you started?

K: When I started Nile, I was pretty young, so it was Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Kiss. Slayer came a bit later, when I was already playing in bands when they came along, but I was astonished to see someone could do that, and it’s still good. Metallica, the first two albums, were very inspiring, as well as the first two Slayer albums. I think they rewrote the book on what can be done or not. You can’t go faster, you can’t do louder! More than ‘Reign in Blood’, it was ‘Hell Awaits’ to me. When it came out, it blew me away!

-Favourite amongst your own records?

K: Our new record, because when you have a new record out, it’s like a new girlfriend, it’s always your favourite!

-Nile in France?

K: In October or November, I guess…

Interview made in Paris on April 12th 2007

Thanks to Valérie for her precious help.