The highly successful American death metal band Nile has been touring massively since the release of their last album "Annihilation Of The Wicked", both in Europe and the states. When they stopped by my home town of Linköping, Sweden, last October I did not miss out on the opportunity to go see them for the first time in my life. I'm not sure if it was me or the band who wasn't up to it that time because I found the performance rather bleak and lack-lustre. It is possible that they were tired and worn-out after months on the road as it was one of their last European shows before returning back home. While I was disappointed at that point I was to be the complete opposite when this evening had come to an end.

I have reviewed shows at this venue (Skylten) in the past here at Tartarean Desire and you may remember by now that this is a community owned venue where no alcohol is allowed. Therefore the conditions are not perfect for a metal live show as Swedes without a certain amount of alcohol in the blood is not the most lively crowd around. Of course people flow in and out of the doors during the shows to fetch a beer on the outside now and then. Rules and regulations that fall flat are extremely unnecessary. Enough said about this. Even though the show was not sold out a decent number of people stood before the stage awaiting the first opening act to enter.

Psycroptic is a young death metal act who have been lucky enough to leave Tasmania and tour Europe with one of the leading bands of the genre. This year they released their second full-length album entitled "Symbols Of Failure". The band plays brutal and semi-technical death metal. It was a precise and tight performance but it became clear very soon that the band suffered from their lack of live experience. Hardly no words were spoken to the audience and the singer never sought eye contact but stared at the same point throughout the entire set, unfortunately resulting in a very uninvolved crowd of people despite their music actually being very competent. The frontman varies between a deep, dark growl and a more high-pitched scream with a hint of hardcore. If he could use other frequencies of his voice and learn to interact more with the people in front of him I believe Psycroptic would benefit from the changes in the future.

Next up was the French veterans Yyrkoon who appeared to be much more experienced and present on the stage. I was somewhat disappointed with the band's last album from this year but luckily they didn't focus entirely on their new material this evening. Stéphane Souteryrand is quite a talented guitarist and singer and he is also a charismatic front figure which makes a band seem so much more alive when performing live. While most people had been left hanging without a proper warm-up after Psycroptic's set this is where the heat started building up. I wouldn't bet on even half the attendants being well familiar with the French band's material but listening to the reactions they got through to some new fans. As long as Yyrkoon stick to what they do best - a dynamic mixture of fast-paced black metal, technical death metal and a touch of thrash metal - they are truely impressive. However, mid-way into their set the slower and less diverse songs started becoming tiresome. In my opinion they should have played the set backwards, ending with the faster songs.

Still remembering last year's show from the amateur Egyptologists I did not really expect anything which was probably good because I was very positively surprised this time. Last October Nile were about to end their world tour but now they had just started their European trek and it was a completely different band I was to witness. The quartet of Karl Sanders, Dallas Toler-Wade, Joe Payne and George Kollias showed everyone who came to the show in doubt why they are one of the leading death metal bands in the world at the moment. Everything clicked - the guitar interaction between Karl and Dallas, the world class vocal performance from the same couple, Karl's solos, the rumbling bass lines from Joe and the inhuman drum wizardry from the Greek guy behind the skins. The road to perfection is long and hard but many months of touring has paid off for these guys.

As usual Nile include both old and new material in their live set which I personally appreciate. I am not very fond of bands who decide not to play any of their old material such as Therion. Don't get me wrong. I completely understand that a band wants to move forward and renew themselves (I still love their new stuff as well) but to completely leave out songs from the early years is not something I condone. After all, no band's history is complete without any era of their past. Of course I can't speak for everyone but I am confident that no-one left the venue this night regretting that they had spent the ticket money. It is very possible that I had a bad day last year because this show was one of the best I have ever been to. If you are yet a Nile virgin give them a shot. Let's see how many ways you can twist that sentence.

All photos by Johan Larsson. Unfortunately they are not that good since the venue was very dark and we were not allowed to use flash.