Nile

Everybody together now: Anoint my phallus with the blood of the FALLEN!! With that quaint little sing-along, South Carolina death metal institution Nile takes cock rock to an all new level. Potential latent menstruation envy aside, you gotta give Nile leader Karl Sanders credit for sticking to his, uh . . . guns. Because straight-ahead death metal with just one theme — ancient Egyptian mythology — should by all rights have worn out its welcome and run itself into the ground long ago. Instead, Sanders and company seem to get only more determined in their single-mindedness with each passing year. In fact, Sanders says that the band's latest album, Ithyphallic, which is named after those miniature statues with disproportionately large penises, represents the band's in-your-face statement of its intent to keep on chugging. And chug it does — Nile indulges in no pretense whatsoever about what its music is: growling, hailstorm drums, and manic riffs coming at you with blinding speed and furious technical proficiency in the vein of classic Morbid Angel and Suffocation. Sanders was present when death metal first reared its hideous head. The man still carries the torch with pride, and few can match his penchant for voluminous/howlingly fun liner notes.