aRternative

In today's manifestation of the whirlwind of genres and songs inside my skull, I will guide you to a land that you might find surprising to be a source of dark music. Take my hand and follow me into the vast and endless desert sands of Egypt, into the dusty and skin-crawling gravevaults of pharaohs, and to the soothing balm of the oases' waters.

One of the world's leading and most succesful death metal acts chose Egyptian culture as the guiding idea behind their music. Their name was taken after one of the most central and determining elements of ancient Egypt's life, their mighty river, the Nile. The band's lyrics and artwork is mainly built up of themes from the culture's history and mythology, often dealing with the gruesome aspects and events of (after)life. Their song titles are peculiar in that some of them are unusually long and most contain some Arabic or ancient Egyptian words. Just to mention a few: Kem Khefa Kheshef, User-Maat-Re, Yezd Desert Ghul Ritual in the Abandoned Towers of Silence or the longest one, Chapter of Obeisance before Giving Breath to the Inert One in the Presence of the Crescent Shaped Horns. The legends of this ill-fated civilization however, are not only represented in the band's imagery and textuality, but also in the music itself. Although most of the music is pure death metal of extreme skill, lightning speed and unusual brutality, intros and intermezzos of traditional Egyptian instruments like the baglama-saz help create a sinister atmosphere of North African folklore.

The source of this deep affection towards Egypt is the singer-songwriter-guitarist and amateur egyptologist, Karl Sanders. His love for this mythology and history is so obsessive that he eventually decided to create a creative outlet solely for traditional Egyptian meditative folk music. He has already released his second solo album under his own name, the first entitled Saurian Meditation, the second Saurian Exorcisms.

On these two albums, droning ambient sounds draw up the background, either of instrumental or digital source and even special low-tone throat-singing techniques are used to set the atmosphere. Onto these, the guitars conjure an Arabic world of melodies, mostly being acoustic but sometimes distorted. Electronic distortion might sound out of place in case of music trying to visualize an ancient world, but Sanders' highly professional skills create short solos and droning that perfectly blend into their grim surroundings. Unlike in Nile, there are no vocals on the solo albums of Sanders, hence there are no lyrics at all. Most songs contain some drums or other traditional percussion.

The title of Saurian Meditation suggests a calm, relaxed and comforting atmosphere that can form the base for meditation, but there are some songs on the disc that are far from comforting. The song The Elder God Shrine for example creates an emotion of excitement like that before a battle. Its choirs resemble soldiers taunting each other to get into the state of mind required for war. The second album, Saurian Exorcisms is even further from pleasant moods and relaxation. Songs like A Most Effective Exorcism Against Azagthoth and His Emissaries wield guitars and percussion in a fearful and unsettling way. Shira Gula Pazu is similar to a forbidden, primitive, and pre-human desert ritual for the summoning of a nameless god.

If you, by some perverse reason, happen to enjoy the burning heat of sun-scorched sand, the cold touch of reptilian skin, the color of ageless, dry stone and the sight of the endless, unknown desert, Karl Sanders is the choice for the soundtrack to your dreams.