The ammount of inspiration and pleasure I have derived from this album is not easily described. Scar Symmetry has bluntly made it clear right from their debut in 2005 that emotional contrast is powerful. By shamelessly mixing death-metal grunts and silky-smooth vocals with clever songwriting and pure technical skill every song becomes like an adventure.
This 2008 release is arguably their best effort, as the last album with their original and prolific vocalist. I am a firm believer in progressive music and it's bold breaking of boundaries. I argue this master-piece is the pinnacle joining different metal and hard-rock disciplines.
I spent one winter working with surveying large piles of gravel. It was lonesome work. Just me, the company car and the equipment. With my mobile-phones mp3-player jacked up into the cars capable stereo-system and these melodies flowing into my ears, I drove in between sites with a most serene mind. Listening to music this involving, catchy and soul-capturing while driving should probably be dis-advised. Although it surely did make my days less mentally exhausting.
The range of skill in the vocals showcased never seizes to amaze. Be it a mellow verse, frantic upbeat growling or a powerful chorus with falsetto harmonies, Christian delivers. Instrumental all beats and tempos are mechanically tight. It's clear; these fellows know how to use a studio environment. This may in fact be Scar Symmetry's only unquestionable down-side, everything is played flawlessly.
The mechanical style goes well with the themes of dreamy space worlds the lyrics paint. Stories about illusionary elements enveloped in mystical scientific terminology fits the tone the music set exquisitely. The topic of a transcended consciousness has a tendency to tickle an open minds imagination. And being a sucker for scientific curiosity and especially astronomy coupled with philosophy, I can't help but throw out superlative adjectives around this album. The words by themselves don't look like much, but synthesized with the orchestral arrangements the sentences come alive.
Hopefully I have stirred some curiosity. Go explore this extraordinary well-crafted metal album. I hope you see, at least partly, what entices me so about it.
Grooveshark link:
Scar Symmetry - Holographic Universe
Spotify link:
Scar Symmetry - Holographic Universe
Scar Symmetry - Holographic Universe
Spotify link:
Scar Symmetry - Holographic Universe
