Scar Symmetry

Nearly two decades on, SCAR SYMMETRY are still light years ahead of the competition. It’s time for Phase II… Formed in Sweden in 2004, Scar Symmetry were a unique proposition from the start. Although clearly owing a debt to the pioneering melodic death metal bands of the ‘90s, guitarist Per Nilsson and his comrades were walking their own evolutionary path. But Scar Symmetry have been conspicuous by their absence since concluding touring in support of 2014’s astonishing, cosmic odyssey The Singularity (Phase I - Neohumanity). The first in a planned trilogy, the album was widely praised for the sheer audacity of Nilsson’s still-mutating vision. In 2023, Scar Symmetry unveil the second chapter in this intricate, intergalactic saga: The Singularity (Phase II - Xenotaph). Harder, darker, more complex and more joyously progressive than ever, it is more than worth the nine-year wait. Per Nilsson cheerfully admits that creating a follow-up to Phase I took longer than expected because, not unreasonably, he simply had other things to do, including touring the world with Meshuggah, as stand-in for the temporarily absent Fredrik Thordendal. Now that the world has largely woken from its Covid-induced stupor, Per Nilsson is looking forward to fully reactivating Scar Symmetry and taking the dramatic, pulverising events of Phase II to the people. Faithful to their original masterplan, these kings of metal’s celestial frontier are still way ahead of the game.