Scar Symmetry - Symmetric In Design

*=Staff's pick	Chaosweaver* 2012 - The Demise Of The 5th Sun Dominion Underneath The Surface* Reborn Veil Of Illusions Obscure Alliance* Hybrid Cult* Orchestrate The Infinite Detach From The Outcome* Seeds Of Rebellion The Eleventh Sphere

Genre	Melodic Death Metal	Christian Älvestam	Vocals
Tracks	12	Jonas Kjellgren	Guitar
Runningtime	49 Min.	Per Nilsson	Guitar
Label	Metal Blade	Kenneth Seil	Bass
Release	07 Feb. 2005	Henrik Ohlsson	Drums
Country	Sweden	-	Keyboards
Similar artists	Soilwork, Fear Factory, Edge Of Sanity

Do the combinations I.) one growler and one clean vocalist II.) fat and bone crushing riffs and atmospheric harmonies appeal to you? No? You think it sounds like you have heard that before, and it sounds like a tiresome concept already before hearing it? If I say that this album contains the best growling I have ever heard: fat and immensly brutal yet so smooth and clear, some really fat riffing and some very nice work with keyboard arrangements which create some very delicious moods - would you at least consider giving it a chance anyway? You definitly should, because this is a killer.

Scar Symmetry is a new band from Sweden, and was formed in 2004 when Jonas Kjellgren (Carnal Forge, Centinex, World Below), Henrik Ohlsson (Theory In Practice, Mutant, Altered Aeon), Per Nilsson (Altered Aeon), Christian Älvestam (Unmoored, Incapacity, Torchbearer) and Kenneth Seil decided to put together a brand new constellation that, in their own words: "would express a fresh and heavy form of catchy death metal without any boundaries whatsoever". The band wanted to "incorporate huge synthesizers into the music, along with blazing vituoso guitar soloing, which would all be backed up with complex but catchy rhythms and every style of singing known to metal in general".

I agree to everything above, because this sounds very fresh and vital, and this really speaks to me. I have listened to it over and over the past days, and I love every second of it. This contains great riffing, mostly mid- or uptempo, sometimes faster, galopping riffs with great hooks and some really nice guitar lead work. If this is each individual musicians best effort in their career or not I could not tell, since I have actually not heard any of their former bands. Having two vocalists in a band often becomes a bit pretentious and unnatural, like it's there just for the sake of it and they never really counteract on the same level. Scar Symmetry, however, use the concept to its fullest potential. The growling and the clean vocals almost split it 50/50, perhaps 60/40 in favor if the growls. They mix and interact perfectly, and if clean vocals vs. growling ones are handled in this kind of way, it is a pure joy to take part of.

This may not be entirely new dawning or exceptionally genius, technically speaking, but it catches my full attention because of the way the music is built. It is a continous flow and you are powerfully being brought forward throughout the album. Despite the fact that I ususally don't like it, I think that in this case it is also exiting to be tossed between two styles, since when the clean vocals are the active ones, this might be categorised as hard metal, and immediatly after that, without it feeling weird or strained, it's basic death metal of the better kind. And that is something they stick to, and is a major part of their strenght. The production, which took place in Black Lounge studio (Centinex, Incapacity) is great. Rich, full and with heavy and great guitars and drums, and contributes a lot to whole picture and the final grade.

I am very happy that a new album from an unknown band still can touch me in this kind of way. I feared that those days were over, when you felt 'wow' over something new, because we are being fed with such an abundance of bands nowadays. The only thing that holds back the last point from complete perfection, is the fact that I feel that they could have taken out the turns just that little bit extra. They are already taking them out in a perfect way, by mixing brilliant riff based metal with strong catchlines, great keyboard atmosphere, and the mentioned vocal efforts, but I suspect there are even more where this came from, and it will be highly interesting to see what this band can come up with in the future. I am sure they are going to stick around the scene for quite some time.

See also review of: The Unseen Empire , Holographic Universe , Pitch Black Progress

Production	Vocals	Compositions
9	10	9

Summary
9 chalices of 10 - Tommy