I thought the same thing. Their first two albums are far superior.
And the fourth, although that's less brutal.
Today I received:
Limbonic Art - Legacy of Evil
Aborym - Generator
Kiuas - The New Dark Age
Nile - Black Seeds Of Vengeance
The following are opinions based upon a single listen and may change radically:
I was really underwhelmed by Kiuas. I suspect Spirit of Ukko is far better; this relied way too much on syncopated chugging synced to double bass; there was a lacking of awesome riffs and the ballsy production couldn't cover up for the unballsiness of the riffing. Also, solos a little too wankey for my taste but not a big issue. May grow on me.
Black Seeds Of Vengeance seemed like a blueprint for In Their Darkened Shrines. It was markedly inferior, though. The guitars were muddy, and while there were plenty of those cool egyptian melodies they weren't as cool as on ItDS. Also, the tempo changes that were handled so masterfully on ItDS seemed too abrupt here. And the riffs were just better. Also, the vocal performance is good, but there's too much of the incredibly deep indecipherable vocals and not enough of the midrange growls.
One thing I really appreciate about this album is the liner notes. I think writing some notes on where the inspiration for the song came from or how it was put together or just whatever cool story there is behind it is really worth doing and I wish more bands would do it (only other one that comes to mind is Shadows Fall's Fallout From The War). This isn't to say that Nile's lyrics are so awesome, but just that it's cool to see what's going on behind the scenes. Also, the lyrics are a welcome break from gore.