Check out the first track from the Nile guitarist’s new solo album, Saurian Apocalypse
(Image credit: Miikka Skaffari / Getty)
Karl Sanders, the guitarist and all-round musical maestro behind South Carolina death metallers Nile has debuted a new solo track featuring Rusty Cooley.
The track, entitled The Sun Has Set on the Age of Man, forms the first taster of his forthcoming solo album, Saurian Apocalypse. It marks the third in his Saurian trilogy of Eastern-influenced ambient/folk records, though the last instalment, Saurian Exorcisms, was released back in 2009.
“The Sun Has Set on the Age of Man is a great choice for people’s first exposure to this album,” comments Sanders.
“It’s the opening track of the new Saurian record, very cinematic and an eerie mood setter. Much like the score of an opening scene of a sci-fi movie, the song serves as an introduction for the many twisted journeys of the album that follows...”
“The track is also very special to me as it features two dear longtime friends of mine, original Nile drummer Pete Hammoura on percussion, and legendary guitar shredder Rusty Cooley on guest acoustic solos. Although Rusty certainly is a prolific electric guitar shredder, this track marks his debut on acoustic guitar. Thank you, Pete and Rusty!”
Saurian Apocalypse reportedly sees Sanders putting to use a huge range of Eastern folk instruments including the baglama saz (a Turkish lute), Ancient Egyptian Anubis Sistrum (a clanking percussive instrument) , Dumbek (a form of Middle Eastern drum) and gongs, alongside an 11-string Glissentar.
As you might guess when browsing the list of titles below, the record interweaves a distinct sense of menace and foreboding among the ambient textures. So despite its acoustic and folk roots, it may not prove a relaxing listen…
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“[It is] a deeply personal record of quiet and exotic, hypnotic dark music spawned from somewhere deep within the Reptilian part of my brain and soull,” expands Sanders.
“In some way, sharing this music with fans is much like sharing the lurking, haunting visions in my skull, of quiet blasphemies and an inexorable dread of the looming demise of our species.
“I am beyond happy that listeners and fans will finally be able to enjoy this music as much as I and my colleagues have while making it. It is my earnest hope that the music of this Saurian Apocalypse record will bring others as much inner peace as it has me. Fuck yes.”
So that’s that then. There’s an apocalypse coming, this is the soundtrack… Enjoy!
(Image credit: Napalm Records)
Saurian Apocalypse track list
The Sun Has Set on the Age of Man
The Disembodied Yet Slither Among Us
The Evil Inherent in us All
Skull Fuck Ritual (Skull Breach Edition)
Nada Zaag
An Altered Saurian Theta State
Nihil Emplexus
Divergence: The Long Awaited Third Primordial Ascension
Mask of Immutable Self Delusion
No Creature More Deserving of Cataclysmic Annihilation
Alongside Saurian Apocalypse, the first two records in the series – 2004’s Saurian Meditation and 2009’s Saurian Exorcisms – will also be receiving a full vinyl and CD re-release treatment.
Matt is Features Editor for GuitarWorld.com. Before that he spent 10 years as a freelance music journalist, interviewing artists for the likes of Total Guitar, Guitarist, Guitar World, MusicRadar, NME.com, DJ Mag and Electronic Sound. In 2020, he launched CreativeMoney.co.uk, which aims to share the ideas that make creative lifestyles more sustainable. He plays guitar, but should not be allowed near your delay pedals.
