Death metal, Egyptology, one of the fastest drummers in the world, guitars tuned lower than the average bass, and technical arrangements that will make your head spin. That combination of elements could only describe South Carolina titans Nile.

Formed in 1993, Nile released their first full-length album in 1998 and has set about bringing their death metal onslaught to fans worldwide ever since. The band is widely renown for fighting to keep ticket prices to the absolute minimum and hanging out to greet concert-goers after shows. Their dedication to the fans along with seven albums’ worth of top shelf death metal has garnered them a rabid following.

Nile will release their long-awaited eighth album What Should Not Be Unearthed on August 28, 2015 via Nuclear Blast Records. In the meantime, check out the crushing “Permitting the Noble Dead to Descend to the Underworld” from the band’s 2009 offering Those Whom The Gods Detest. Also, be sure to check out Nile drummer George Kollias’ recently released solo album Invictus, which is extremely badass.

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When I was growing up in rural Indiana in the early ’80s, there was very limited access to heavy music. These were the days before MTV blew up with the whole hair metal, Headbangers Ball phenomenon. But on Sunday nights, there was a two-hour radio show that came from WOXY, just across the state line in Oxford, Ohio (home of Miami University of Ohio). It was called Massive Metal for the Masses and I would wait all week for it to air. It was through this show that I was introduced to bands like Venom, Bathory, WASP, Michael Schenker Group, Slayer, and countless others. This Monday weekly column is my tip of the hat to that show. I call it Massive Metal Monday. Every week, I will pay tribute to defining moments by the artists that laid the groundwork for heavy metal to become the worldwide cultural bond for all of us metal heads.