Annihilation of the Wicked

Nile have been around for years. They have a signature sound, viz. mercilessly brutal technical death metal with middle eastern modes and progression jammed in. Normally with a gimmick it is like the synthetic icing on the cake but Nile have really incorporated their themes into their work; the album art and liner notes go into glorious nerdy detail about the historical context of various things (e.g. "Lashed To The Slave Stick" - about the preferred method of punishment in the time of the Pharaohs, complete with Egyptian vocals). 

This is probably their best album. This is their first release with drumming machine George Kollias pounding away and it is a glorious combination of frenetic blasting and delicate, interesting little fills which keeps everything moving on. The guitar work is top notch death metal riffing and leads, with some really nice parts where the indulge in the Egyptian musicality (e.g. the first proper track "Cast Down The Heretic" has a delicious culmination whatever drop-A chord they end up in). Bass guitar is there as well, although the most you can say about it is that it keeps pushing everything along if only rarely taking centre stage. 

Standout tracks are the two I've already mentioned although most of the tunes are excellent, even the mood-setting acoustic pieces. The only real criticism is that the album runs a little long, it is 52 minutes most of which are at 4,000 bpm so there is a lot to take in. Some of the tracks could have been left for a bonus edition or an EP or something. But this is quibbling. This is an amazing album from one of the genre's premiere acts and I still listen to it. I don't think it has been surpassed after all these years, although releases from Suffocation and Decapitated do come close!