Album Review: Adarrak – Ex Oriente Lux (Sathanas Records/Blood Blast Distribution)

Singapore-based death metal newcomers Adarrak will release their debut album ‘Ex Oriente Lux’ on May 27th, 2021 via Satanath Records (physical) and Blood Blast Distribution (digital).

On Ex Oriente Lux, Adarrak showcases a mixture of established (Headcrusher, Norse, The Amenta, Dispiteous, Sol de Sangre, Somnium Nox) and emerging musicians that are both local and global. The album boasts guest appearances by Marty Friedman of Megadeth fame, as well as other local musicians (Üllermach, Boxchild).

When you’re the new kids (sort of) on the block in the world of death metal, you need to bring it and bring it with some force. Happily, that’s exactly what Adarrak do. Exploding out of the starting gates with the raging and destructive sound of Final Ethos Demise. Every instrument being wielded like a weapon but with an impressive array of hooks. This is death metal but a refinement of the extreme sound.

Case in point? The doomy drawl that introduces Into the Abyss. The weight of darkness, crushing and the epic, clean vocals echoing around the skull. Of course, it takes on a more traditional format but again, Adarrak surprise with killer riffs and one hell of a guitar solo. It’s then followed by the no-nonsense Mettle, where heavy metal rules and to not throw the horns in the air while head-banging your neck muscles into oblivion, just feels wrong.

The guest solo from Marty Friedman on Bereft is exactly as great as you would hope it to be. However, it’s not the only great thing about a track that is brutally heavy throughout. Another killer head-banger from Adarrak.

The quality is certainly not dropping as the band prove they can throw out extreme and intense epics with the detailed thrill of Withering. A monolithic effort that Adarrak make look so very easy. Before they take a brutish approach with the ferocity of Through the Fabric of Time and following Beneath the Vault of the World. The combination of clean and guttural vocals weigh in at just the right time to enhance a riff or compliment a hefty drum pattern or bass hook.

Wonderful stuff and Adarrak aren’t quite done showing off their skills just yet as the final track on this kick-ass album is an instrumental called Fire Will Cleanse. A wild and frenetic explosion of guitars and drums, you’d think you would miss the vocals but the wild array of noise caused by everything else makes up for the lack of them.

Adarrak – Ex Oriente Lux Full Track Listing:

1. Final Ethos Demise
2. Into the Abyss (feat. Nicholas Chang)
3. Mettle
4. Bereft (feat. Marty Friedman)
5. Withering
6. Through the Fabric of Time
7. Beneath the Vault of the World
8. Fire Will Cleanse (Instrumental) (feat. Edmund “Ed Quekstein” Quek)

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