Nile Nihil - Death Trip

Death Trips.

(Originally submitted to the Metal Archives on November 1st 2020) 

Nile Nihil is a young band from Kentucky, who released their debut full-length Death Trip earlier in the summer, without really having much else to their name from the looks of it, not even a demo. What we have here is a death metal album that while not perfect, has enough energy and passion to make up for most of its flaws.
Following a short prelude with vocal samples and "spooky" ambient noises we're being thrown into the first track, "Contagion". One thing becomes immediately clear from the first notes being played: the production. My goodness this album has production that makes 2nd wave Norwegian black metal albums sound like they were recorded with an actual budget. The guitars are barely audible, having a thin grating tone, the bass is slightly buried in the mix and the drums are too high up, especially the cymbals, which swallow the riffs whole. This is particularly bad in the first few tracks, however the production gradually improves as the album goes on, with the guitars having more meat to them and being higher up in the mix. Despite all that, I don't quite know if I can hold it against the band because the album was recorded independently, which, coupled with the fact that the band is quite young makes me feel like I should be more lenient towards them.

The actual tracks themselves are just as inconsistent as the production, with there being quite a few misses on the first half, such as the aforementioned "Contagion" and "It's Alive". The latter track in particular has riffs that feel extremely out of place on this release, or any death metal album for that matter, with the opening section sounding like something out of a Tool song, as well as another riff that comes up around 0:54. Thankfully "Salts of Preservation" is among those tracks and is actually decently written and has some variety, with the band cycling through quite a few riffs during its runtime, with two notable ones being the section that starts at 1:12 and the riff that the track ends with.

With all that being said, this album isn't completely irredeemable. The final three tracks (discounting the Death cover which I'll discuss later) are actually pretty well written and have the best production of the bunch. "Necropolis" has a very sickly atmosphere to it, with some Obituary styled grooves sprinkled throughout the song along with some faster riffs, and Carter Tarr's vocals sounding like a somewhat more restrained John Tardy with a lower register, making for one of the album's better tracks. The instrumental "The Color Out of Space" is the highlight of the album, where the band is showing us that they can write tracks with a lot of variety to them, and even some nice lead work, specifically the section at 2:12-2:26. "Exhumed" is yet another collection of cool riffs that are being used effectively and never overstay their welcome, with a build-up that starts at 1:27 and leads to another nice solo at 1:50.

Last but not least, we have the band covering Death's iconic "Zombie Ritual", and the reason this album is at 57% and not in the 40s. The cover isn't perfect by any means, and it definitely doesn't outdo the original, but seeing a bunch of guys who are around my age cover one of my favourite songs from my favourite band of all time struck a chord with me, because one can tell by hearing them play that they love old school death metal. Hearing them play throughout the song and having fun with it is a breath of fresh air compared to all the bands that take themselves too seriously these days.

On a strictly technical level, Death Trip is a somewhat subpar release by a young band, with weak production and some tracks that would be better off being released as an EP. In my eyes (or ears), it's an album made by a band that loves the music they're playing and want to pay tribute to their heroes from a time that has long since passed, and while far from flawless, it's got passion in spades. I genuinely hope these guys put out something else in the future because the potential is there, and it'd be a shame to see it go to waste.

Highlights: Necropolis, The Color Out of Space, Exhumed

Rating: 57% 

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