(16 Feb 2011)
I was bored one day, which made me go check out songs on Youtube. I found some interesting stuff, such as Serdce, as well as some stuff that seemed interesting until I listened to it, such as Traumatic Voyage. Scarab, on the other hand, sounded like neither. My first reaction was "Nile clone... meh.", and my next reaction was "Worse than a Nile clone. Egypt, thou hath let me down." In other words, I was quick to dismiss some incredibly tasteful and well-executed Death Metal. Maybe not particularly amazing in any way, but very enjoyable and with a nice dose of character.
First of all, this is a perfect work of Death Metal production: everything is perfectly clear yet has just the right amount of rawness to it. If that weren't enough the album has one of the best guitar tones I've ever heard. It's so fucking dirty that you can't help but imagine wet sand. Then, there is the vocalist, who has one really unique vocal style, which can be best described by the word "monstrous". Throughout the well-written songs, you hear this guy growl in ways that shouldn't be possible for a human being. No, seriously. Again, like I said, these guys have taste when writing the songs. No unnecessary exuberance, everything is in its place.
And then, you listen to the album again, and notice that it is really lacking in terms of variety, and that the riffing and overall playing is a slab of blandness with some "Egyptian" melodies thrown in for good measure, and that's precisely where Nile are better than Scarab: Nile actually makes Egyptian Death Metal, while Scarab makes Death Metal by Egyptians. Don't get the wrong impression, though, this is no "poor man's Nile". Scarab have definitely got their own character, but there is still a lot of work to do.
Standout tracks:
Valley Of The Sandwalkers
Leaders of Agony
Eye of Sanity
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