This is Nile's two demos combined; Festivals of Atonement and Ramses: Bringer of War. FoA stands alone as an album in itself. It's from a time when Nile's music was slightly slower and a bit less brutal, with not as much double bass as they have now. They still possessed the same song writing ability, and were able to incorporate the Egyptian theme into their music just as well. Overall the demo is a very diverse, unique slab of death metal. The sheer brutality then begins with the Ramses: Bringer of War demo, consisting of two songs and an eerie incantation to finish. All three of these tracks are also featured on their album Amongst the Catacombs of Nephren-Ka. I don't own that album, but from what I've heard of it the songs from it which are featured on In the Beginning are the best songs on that album. With my knowledge I would actually recommend this album ahead of Catacombs, although their new album Black Seeds of Vengeance blows both of them away.

This review is credited to:
Julian Forbes