Those Whom the Gods Detest is the sixth studio album by American technical death metal band Nile. The album was released on November 3, 2009, in North America, and on November 6, 2009, in Europe through Nuclear Blast. It was produced and mixed by Neil Kernon, with Erik Rutan handling the drum recording. The album debuted at #160 on Billboard 200 list in United States. The cover artwork, a depiction of the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten, was brought to realization this time around by Michal "Xaay" Loranc, with whom Karl Sanders has previously worked on his second solo recordSaurian Exorcisms. According to a post on the band's message board, they are planning to release a "making of" documentary covering the rehearsals, preproduction and studio sessions of the album. Liner notes featured in the album booklet, written by Karl Sanders, to explain the concept behind the songs, saw their return on this album. They were previously featured on the albums Black Seeds of Vengeance, In Their Darkened Shrines and Annihilation of the Wicked, however didn't appear on the follow-up album, Ithyphallic. As of September 24, 2009, the track "Permitting the Noble Dead to Descend to the Underworld" has been made available for streaming over MySpace Music. On October 28, 2010, the band released the official video for "Permitting the Noble Dead to Descend to the Underworld".
Critical reception
Critical reception of this album has been relatively positive. Justin Norton from the website About.com, within the website's heavy metal subdivision, favorited Those Whom The Gods Detest as being one of their best albums to date. "Those Whom The Gods Detest is a career landmark packed with mind-boggling guitar riffs and solos, nonstop speed, George Kollias’ inimitable drumming and a sense of urgency some claimed was missing from their last effort. Death metal bands take note – Nile is back with a vengeance, much like Boris Karloff in the old Universal Mummy pictures." Norton also noted that this album's name is anti-religious. "Frontman Karl Sanders says anger and rejection were parts of this album, and it shows. 'The concept is that all of us who play and listen to metal are the people that the gods hate. So is a unified rejection of the gods - any god, every god,' Sanders says. 'Not any one in particular, but all of 'em.' If the album is meant to be a rejection of gods then it’s certain to unify metalheads in praise."
