Review: “Transmutation of Fate” by Scarab

After spending their first six years as Hate Suffocation, in 2007 Egyptian Death Metal beast Scarab announced themselves to an unsuspecting world with EP “Valley Of The Sandwalkers“. Three full length albums soaked in Ancient Egyptian culture, spirituality, ritualistic riffs, cinematic orchestration and crushing aggression would follow, the bands reputation growing in stature year on year. As with most bands who are around for more than two decades, line up changes are inevitable but those that happened in 2024 were more of a changing of the guard than anything else. Original bassist Mohamed El Sherbieny aka “Bombest” returned after nine years in the wilderness, keyboardist Sherif Adel also rejoining after six with new guitarist Omar Abou Doma of Ethereal Credence completing an unholy trinity of new faces. They joined rhythm guitarist Tarek Amr, vocalist Sammy Sayed and drummer Amir El-Saidi to make the band whole again, their first cryptic writings together the half an hour of power that is “Transmutation of Fate“…

The return of Egyptian Death Metal legends Scarab begins with “Vow of the Sphinx (Abo El-Houl)“, an intense Progressive Death Metal track that blends cinematic orchestration with ethnic vibes, giving it an almost spiritual dimension as the riffs churn and burn on the technical side of the river. It has a captivating and imaginative flow about it that conjurer’s ancient horrors over its near eight minute duration, the band pushing the boundaries of what they have previously created and elevating the musicianship in curious ways. Sammy Sayed mixes up the skull splitting death growls with almost choral like chanting which fuels this ritual of the damned, the pomp and circumstance of it echoing recent works by Shokran.

After that powerful opening cut, a little bit of soloing as the atmosphere of “Hands from the Sun (Amon)” builds is a nice touch, the winds of plague threatening to destroy everything in sight as Sayed roars like an angered caged beast. There is a spellbinding quality to the intricacies of this one which may have made it a superior opening track, the nuances both in ethnic instrumentation and guitar work keeping you on the edge of your seat throughout. When we speak of cinematic orchestration, the question is could you see yourself listening to this as a film score on the big screen during a summer blockbuster and the answer is very much yes because it would sound absolutely epic.

The bass from Mohamed El Sherbieny bursts through the fabric of “Epistle of Secrets (Creators of III)” with joyous regularity adding another layer to the texture of the bands sound, whereby while the guitar is an important component, it’s not the only component to make its presence felt. This one has some sinister moments within its epic majesty, the menacing harsh vocal of the mid section becoming eerie, haunting and malevolently evil with ghostly notes and dark whispers that swirl in the background. The rich dark melodies reach the soul stirring levels as Sayed screams “Destroy my enemy!” at the top of his lungs, arguably the most brutal moment of the record.

Continuing the narrative “Monarch of Violence (Oriasirius)” is another masterclass in Progressive Death Metal, the musicianship impressing as much as the song writing abilities as Scarab confirm they have returned to claim their crown. Crushing rhythmic battery is layered up with vibrant yet sinister leads, the demonic vocal performance part of what makes this one fearfully addictive. Channelling ancient mythology into Extreme Metal has long been the art form of Scarab but here, the devilish interplay between instrumentation is at its finest [8/10]

Track Listing

1. Vow of the Sphinx (Abo El-Houl)
2. Hands from the Sun (Amon)
3. Epistle of Secrets (Creators of III)
4. Monarch of Violence (Oriasirius)

“Transmutation of Fate” by Scarab is out 8th May 2026 via Brutal Records