Nile interview with Karl Sanders

(Originally from 4/29/05)

With Annihilation of the Wicked coming out soon, what a great oppurtunity to meet with Karl Sanders and have a little chat about the new allbum, touring, and even hear a great Nile story. Our unofficial operative Matt Cinatl brings this to us without further adieu...

Matt Cinatl: First and foremost I’d like to thank you for taking time out of your tour schedule to do this. 

Karl Sanders: No problem, glad to be here.

MC: Perfect place to start would be right in the beginning, even pre-Nile, how did each of you guys get into music, more specifically metal, and even more specifically death metal? 

KS: Um, well, I got into music probably like most kids my age did, listening to Kiss albums. Kinda sparked that inner demon to want to play guitar. As soon as I hit that first E chord, I was hooked.

MC: And how did you get into death metal, just natural progression? 

KS: Natural evolution, yeah.

MC: Had you played in bands before Nile? 

KS: Of course.

MC: Death metal? 

KS: Not exclusively, all sorts of different kinds.

MC: And obviously you guys weren’t put here by the sun god Ra, so how did you guys form? 

KS: Well, I’d been playing in bands with Pete Hammoura for about 10 years and we started another band called Nile and it seemed to stick, it seemed to do something.

MC: Alright, now that we’re done with the standard interview questions we can move on. Oh, and by the way, what interview question do you hate the most? I see everyone asking you about the whole Egyptian thing… 

KS: Yeah, if another person says to me “So, when did you first get interested in Egypt?”, I think I’ll fucking strangle them. (laughs)

MC: So, you guys got a new album coming out pretty soon. I’ve gotten the very special honor of hearing it and not to be to prophetic, but once it was over all I was thinking was “Death Metal Album of the Year”… Did the recording of Annihilation of the Wicked feel any different than past albums and at what point did you say “We really have something special here”? 

KS: Well, we knew in the rehearsal room when we were writing the songs that the songs were pretty darn strong. But, it wasn’t really until we were driving home and listening to it that it really struck us that “Hey, wow, this stuff is pretty fucking amazing” And, we laughed ourselves all the way home from Chicago to Greenville.

MC: So it was recorded here in Chicago? 

KS: We mixed here in Chicago.

MC: One of the most outstanding things about the album is the production. How was it working with Neil Kernon and how was he chosen? 

KS: Well, I thought Neil Kernon did a fabulous job. He’s given us a very clean production, you can hear everything and there’s a really good balance. And, actually Neil had been a Nile fan for quite awhile so when we went about looking for a seasoned producer.. (At this point the interview stops as a girl gets out of a car)…Oh my god, look at that, in the black shirt. Black shirt, blonde hair. Check it out, check it out. Man! They grow them fine here in Illinois.

MC: Maybe she’s a death metal fan. 

KS: Somehow I don’t think so. She IS wearing all black.

MC: That’s true 

KS: Look at that! Daaaammmn! Um, so when it came time to look for a seasoned producer, a veteran producer Neil seemed like the right guy.

MC: The best thing I can say to describe the new album is that it’s everything Nile has been about except with way more conviction and passion poured into it. It’s Nile magnified. Was there a different approach to the recording of this album than past albums? Perhaps a different mindset or attitude? 

KS: Well, we were pretty damn serious this time about what we were doing. We were really intent on making a savage metal album.

MC: What was the most difficult part of the recording process for you? What were the most difficult songs to track? 

KS: Yeah, ‘Burning Pits of the Duat’ is a pretty tough one. ‘Chapter of Obeisance Before Giving Breath to the Inert One Under the Presence of the Crescent Shaped Horns’ is pretty intricate too, there’s some pretty tough shit in there as well.

MC: Do you know the band Bal Sagoth? 

KS: Oh yeah.

MC: That’s exactly what I thought of when I heard that song title. 

KS: If you say it fast you can get it out in one breath.

MC: It’s obvious that you guys tell stories through your music, but what are some of the themes or morals of the stories you tell on the new album? And overall, what would you say is the goal of the band lyrically? 

KS: Mankind deserves to be destroyed and annihilated, that’s it.

MC: Pretty simple. 

KS: Yeah.

MC: Now my introspective question, do you think that you guys have recorded an album yet that realizes your full potential? 

KS: Well, who knows. We’ve still got a lot of ideas, a lot of fucking burning desire to do new stuff. And we got a new drummer, a new bass player. We got a fucking really fresh intensity. So, who knows? It’s yet to be seen. I certainly have no intention of letting up any time soon.

MC: Now, King Diamond and Nile, that’s an interesting combination. How did that happen? How much influence do you have on what bands you tour with? 

KS: Well, this is King Diamond’s tour so we don’t have much influence. Other than when they were looking for a fourth band we were quick to say “Get Behemoth, get Behemoth!”.

MC: So, other than Behemoth, what are some of your favorite bands to tour with? 

KS: I’m really fond of Krisun, Immolation. Morbid Angel and Cannibal [Corpse] were great to tour with, but, y’know what? They’re headliners in their own right. They’ve certainly been around longer than we have and sold more records. So, I mean, y’know, it doesn’t really make sense to tour with them anymore.

MC: What do you guys prefer, recording, touring, or even writing? 

KS: I like it all, it’s all part of music.

MC: What would you say has been Nile’s crowning achievement, that breakthrough point? 

KS: Well, there’s lots of them along the way. One of the first one’s and the most meaningful was when we made it all the way to Seattle, on the first Morbid Angel tour we did. And I look out onto the Pacific ocean and I thought to myself, “Y’know what, my music has taken me all the way across this mother-fucking country.” And, uh, that was one of those moments. Another one was when I was looking out over the Colosseum and feeling that same feeling. “Wow, our music has brought us all the way around the world”.

MC: What’s your opinion on some of the bands out there now who are following in your footsteps, integrating Egyptian themes into their music? 

KS: Like who?

MC: I’ve heard something about a Darkened Shrines, there are a couple of them all over. 

KS: No kidding, I don’t know about any of them, so, there you go.

MC: Do have any advice to kids out there now who want to start a band? 

KS: The advice that I would give is just go do your own fucking thing and don’t let anyone tell you what you can and cannot do. Just go and play your hearts out.

MC: And, could you give us your best Nile story? 

KS: My best Nile story?

MC: Yeah, this is always my favorite question. 

KS: My best Nile story, well, since we’re here at the House of Blues Chicago. We were here in, I think, ’99 with Morbid Angel. And it was the Sunday Gospel Brunch. Alright, and we couldn’t set up our gear until the Sunday Gospel Brunch was finished. Ok, so, while they’re carrying on doing their gospel thing, we go up to our dressing room, which, unbeknownst to us, that’s not actually supposed to be our dressing room until the Sunday brunch is finished. So, I go in there and of course we’re on tour, and this is the first chance I’ve had at a shower all week. So, first thing I do, I’m alone in the dressing room. I go in the shower. When I come back out, step out with just a towel around me, I’m surrounded by at least thirty, maybe thirty-five, African American gospel singers of either sex. Which, it was quite a different room from when I stepped into the shower. So, we got to talking and laughing…

MC: After you got dressed? 

KS: …Uh, yeah I got myself dressed, combed my hair. They’re all standing around asking us what kind of music we do and I’m trying to explain it to them. And, it’s just not registering with them. So, it hits me, we got this song, at the time the album out was Amongst the Catacombs of Nephren-Ka, which has got this song called Die Rach Krieg Leid der Assryche. It’s that big chant-y tribal thing so I’m trying to explain it to them. So, I take the big cart, that’s like a service cart to bring food and drinks. And I say “Well, it’s got a beat like this”. And I start pounding out the rythym with both fists. Now, next thing that happens is that this chorus starts singing this line. So I’m pounding the rythym, I’m singing the (Karl starts to hum out the main theme to the song), that bit. And, there’s like thirty of the gospel singer, right. So, they pick up on this right away. So now I got thirty people joining in, singing the background part. So, I’m pounding the drums out, they get it going. They’re clapping and stomping. So I start singing the lead vocal. And I’ve got the whole song happening with all these gospel singers and right in the next room Trey Azagthoth and Steve Tucker [Morbid Angel] start hearing this ruckus, right? And they come in and they’re like “What the fuck is going on in here?”. And it was a genuine Nile Gospel throwdown.

MC: That’s great! Alright, do you have any final words? 

KS: Well, I’ve had a blast doing this interview and re-telling old Nile anecdotes, it’s quite fun.

MC: Alright thanks again, not only for doing this interview, but what you guys are doing for death metal. Good luck tonight! 

KS: Well thank you.

A big thanks to Matt Cinatl, Karl Sanders, and all the guys at Nile for this interview! The new album, Annihilation of the Wicked comes out on May 24th, and you can visit the official Nile website at www.nile-catacombs.net.