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Unexposed to the mainstream, the band Scar Symmetry, formerly led by vocalist Christian Alvestam, flies relatively under the radar in the metal scene. I was lucky enough to hear their first album, Symmetric in Design. Their newest album, Holographic Universe, was released in summer 2008 on June 20th, and it comes as close to redefining a sound as a band possibly can. Only getting better after its first album, the bands sophmore album, Pitch Black Progress, expands the band’s sound but ultimately a lot of the middle of the album was lost on me. Holographic Universe, thematically centered around the book of the same name by Michael Talbot, is as flawless as a melodic death metal band can sound. On top of shredding guitar rifts and great solos, Alvestam’s vocal range has to be hands down one of the best I have ever heard. Ranging from deep growls to less harsh grunts, the first time you hear Scar Symmetry it will throw you off when his clean vocals and his high pitched 80’s metal voice are weaved seamlessly into the mix, and it continues on Holographic Universe. It’s unbelievable to think it is the same person and that this singer can bring it to the live stage, but he does.
Holographic Universe easily gets a 9/10 as an album that will get continuous plays out of a metal fan until you burn holes through it. Unfortunately, it is Christian’s last album with Scar Symmetry, as he and the band have parted ways due to creative differences. While they were together, they were nothing less than stellar.
1. Morphogenesis
2. Timeweaver Zero
3. Quantumleaper
4. Artificial Sun Project
5. The Missing Coordinates
6. Ghost Prototype I (Measurement of Thought)
7. Fear Catalyst
8. Trapezoid
9. Prism and Gate
10. Holographic Universe
11. The Three-Dimensional Shadow
12. Ghost Prototype II (Deus Ex Machina)
(I know what you’re thinking - with titles and lyrics like these, you better hope it’s based off a sci fi novel)