NILE's KARL SANDERS On His Recent Illness: 'It Was About A Month Of Recovery This Time'

In a new interview with Metal Blast, NILE founding mastermind/guitarist Karl Sanders reflected on the fact that he was forced to miss the band's June 29 performance at Hellfest in Clisson, France after becoming "seriously ill." The other three members of NILE's current touring lineup — drummer George Kollias, guitarist/vocalist Zach Jeter and bassist/vocalist Dan Vadim Von — played the show as a three-piece. Asked if Hellfest 2024 marked NILE's first live performance without him, Sanders said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's the first time that the [other] guys have had to play without me since 1996. [Back in 1996] I had to miss a couple of shows because I was in a custody battle in court over the custody of my infant son. So I had to be in court. You can't miss that. Then, in 2005, we all got food poisoning in Arizona and I was really, really, really sick. So we just didn't play, which that was a costly endeavor. When you don't play, you still have to pay all the expenses; you just don't get paid. [Laughs] So it's not good. That's what they say: the show must go on. Well, the show must go on. But this thing after Graspop [Metal Meeting in Belgium] and before Hellfest, it's the first time they've had to play without me. The expenses on that trip were so costly this time that we would have lost so much money if they didn't try to save the show. It was just insane. So, hats off to my bandmates. They did what they had to do under very difficult circumstances. And they did it. So I've got some good bandmates."

Regarding what happened to cause him to miss the Hellfest show and how he is doing in his recovery, Karl said: "Well, I don't necessarily wanna bore people with, 'Oh, you got this' or 'You got that.' I'm doing better now. But it was about a month of recovery this time. I feel very cheated out of my summer. I was gonna enjoy this summer. 'Cause the [new NILE] album's finished, and July I was gonna be home. But it was not to be."

After the Hellfest performance, Jeter took to his social media to write: "@hellfestopenair 2024 was one for the books, to say the least. Due to illness, our brother Karl was unfortunately unable to join us on stage. As much as we missed him, the show had to go on. Alongside @georgekolliasofficial and @danielvadimvon we crushed this show as a 3 piece!

"To the Hellfest crowd, you guys were fucking awesome and made it all worthwhile. We'll be back in Europe with Karl in September for 'The Underworld' tour, see you out there!"

NILE will release its tenth album, "The Underworld Awaits Us All", on August 23 via Napalm Records. The LP was once again produced and recorded at Sanders's own Serpent Headed Studios in Greenville, South Carolina. The band then returned to "Vile Nilotic Rites" engineer Mark Lewis (CANNIBAL CORPSE, DYING FETUS, WHITECHAPEL) for mixing and mastering.

"The Underworld Awaits Us All"'s art was once again envisioned and created by Michał "Xaay" Loranc, with reference to the cycle of life and judgment at its end.