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Scarab: Blinding the masses
28/03/12 || BamaHammer
Scarab is a death metal band from Cairo, Egypt. According to their website, they have given themselves the title of “Egypt’s Death Metal Band”.
Just reading those two sentences has probably already enticed your stereotypes to make an appearance and recklessly assume this band sounds like Nile. You’re probably thinking they use traditional Egyptian instruments to create ambient introductory movements before getting into songs about ancient Egyptian gods farting on each other or whatever Nile is usually talking about. Every assumption Nile has put into your head about the mixture of Egypt and death metal is just wrong when it comes to Scarab.
The bottom line is that Scarab has much more in common with Morbid Angel than Nile. The best comparison that I can make as to what this album sounds like is a much better yet slightly less polished continuation of Morbid’s “Gateways to annihilation,” which was an album that I really enjoyed. Nothing about it is overly fast or thrashy in feeling, but what you get is an album that is both infectiously groovy and relentlessly brutal at the same time. The references to Egyptian culture are just subtle enough to noticed occasionally but not enough to seem overbearing, which I know can be the case with Nile from time to time.
After a short one minute intro track, “Into the dunes” which does sound very “Egyptian” and film-score-esque, Scarab rips through with “Valley of the Sandwalkers” and never really looks back. It’s got everything any good death metal song has. Groovy, chugging rhythms, extremely fast drum-kicks, and powerful, guttural vocals that actually sound pretty impressive. No matter how hard you try to shake it, the overall sound and feel these guys put out there on this album just reeks of an evolved Morbid Angel. The only thing that it’s really missing are the weird guitar solos, which honestly, I don’t miss. Every track has its moments that suck you into the groove, and there isn’t a single song on the album that makes you even think about skipping a track. Granted there are only seven real songs in total, and the duration of the album is under 40 minutes, but this is a very, very impressive record as a whole from start to finish.
Like I said before, the Egyptian touches are very subtle. Whereas Nile makes every part of every song talk and sound like they are about pharaohs, pyramids, hieroglyphs, and gods’ penises, it never feels like Scarab is forcing any of that on you while you listen. Occasionally some of the melodies sound a bit Nile-ish, but they are few and far between. Lyrically, Scarab is more about the residual parts of ancient Egyptian culture like the slavery, war, disease, and murder which are referenced but no more or in no different fashion than any other death metal band from anywhere else in the world does it.
The only downside to this album is the production. The guitars have a tendency to become a little bit muddled just because of their loud, honking tone, and it makes the overall production sound a too dull for my taste. There’s just not enough high end sizzle to bring the music to life. The bass drum kicks also sound pretty unnatural and too triggered, which is very noticeable on first listen because of the disparity between the drums’ processed sound and the dead guitars. However, even though the production is a little below par, that nitpicking. This is actually a self-released album, so I have no real qualms with the sound.
This is a fantastic album. Make no mistake. Scarab is a worthy candidate for the title of “Egypt’s Death Metal Band.” They created an album that shattered most of the paradigms individuals and metal fans have about incorporating ancient Egyptian themes into music, and as a result have something unique going for them, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for this band.
- Information
- Released: 2009
- Label: self-released
- Website: www.scarabegypt.com/
- Band
- Sammy Sayed : vocals
- Al-Sharif Marzeban: guitars
- Tarek Amr: guitars
- Bombest: bass
- Sherif Adel: keyboards
- Hatem El Akkad: drums
- Tracklist
- 01. Into The Dunes
- 02. Valley Of The Sandwalkers
- 03. Ankh
- 04. Leaders Of Agony
- 05. Blinding The Masses
- 06. Eye For Sanity
- 07. Devourer Of The Unjustified
- 08. War To End
