Scar Symmetry
Encyclopedia
Scar Symmetry is a Swedish
melodic death metal
band from Avesta
in Dalarna County
, formed in 2004. The band has released five albums, with six released singles. They are currently signed to Nuclear Blast
records.
's Black Lounge Studios by guitarists Jonas Kjellgren, Per Nilsson
and drummer Henrik Ohlsson. That same month, vocalist Christian Älvestam and bassist Kenneth Seil joined the band, which then recorded a demo
for the song "Seeds of Rebellion" which helped the band get a recording contract with Cold Records (a subsidiary of Metal Blade Records
).
In July 2005, the band entered Black Lounge Studios to begin recording its debut album, Symmetric in Design
. It followed it up by playing festivals in Europe
, as well as touring with Soilwork
, Hypocrisy
, and One Man Army
.
with Nuclear Blast
records. Eight months after the release of Symmetric In Design the band started recording its follow-up, Pitch Black Progress
. The band again followed up its recording by touring, this time with Communic
for the Waves of Pitch Black Decay Tour 2006 throughout Europe, and they toured North America
with melodic death metal pioneers Dark Tranquillity
and The Haunted
. The song "The Illusionist" began receiving air-play on MTV2
's Headbangers Ball
. In September 2007, the band embarked on another North American tour with headliners Katatonia
, Insomnium
, and Swallow the Sun
, the "Live Consternation Tour."
, was released on June 20, 2008. Following the release, despite an outpouring of good reviews and press for the album as well as the success of the single for "Morphogenesis", Scar Symmetry did not embark on tours. The band released a statement on September 11, 2008 announcing that they had parted ways with vocalist Christian Älvestam, due to touring conflicts and creative differences. On 6 October, they announced the replacements for Christian Älvestam: they will continue with two singers, Roberth Karlsson (growls and backing clean vocals) and Lars Palmqvist (clean vocals and backing growls) and the band finally began touring in support of the new album in December after six months.
, was released on 2 October 2009 in Europe, and on 20 October 2009 in the US. It is the bands first album to feature new vocalists Karlsson and Palmqvist. Despite the replacement of previous singer, the album received generally positive reviews upon its release. A music video was filmed for the songs "Noumenon & Phenomenon", "Ascension Chamber" and "The Iconoclast".
From late October 2009, Scar Symmetry took part in the Neckbreakers Ball Tour alongside Behemoth
, DevilDriver
and Arsis. In February 2010, Scar Symmetry announced that they were to support head-liners Hypocrisy
at the "A Taste of Extreme Divinity" tour. Towards the end of 2010, they toured with Epica
in the United States
and Canada
- starting in West Springfield, Virginia
on 16 November, and finishing in Raleigh, North Carolina
on 18 December.
, was released in Europe on 18 April 2011. Drummer Henrik Ohlsson states that the title of the album "seeks to expose the hidden hand of the elite that pull the strings of mankind in order to fulfill their agenda of global domination". The album is the band's best-selling yet in America in terms of first-week sales. It sold 1,500 copies, landing it at #11 on the Billboard Heatseekers Chart.
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
melodic death metal
Melodic death metal
Melodic death metal is a heavy metal music style that combines elements from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal with elements of death metal. The style was developed during the early and mid-1990s, primarily in England and Scandinavia...
band from Avesta
Avesta Municipality
Avesta Municipality is one of 290 municipalities of Sweden. It is in Dalarna County, in central part of the country, and its seat is in the town Avesta....
in Dalarna County
Dalarna County
Dalarna County is a county or län in middle Sweden. It borders the counties of Jämtland, Gävleborg, Västmanland, Örebro and Värmland. It is also bordered by the Norwegian counties of Hedmark and Sør-Trøndelag in the west...
, formed in 2004. The band has released five albums, with six released singles. They are currently signed to Nuclear Blast
Nuclear Blast
Nuclear Blast is an independent record label and mail order record distributor with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States and Brazil. The record label was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Germany. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label moved on to releasing albums by melodic...
records.
Formation and Symmetric in Design (2004-2005)
Formed in April 2004, Scar Symmetry came together during the band Altered Aeon's recording session at Jonas KjellgrenJonas Kjellgren
Jonas Kjellgren is a Swedish musician and producer, now residing in Grangärde, Sweden. He has played for bands such as Carnal Forge and Dellamorte as their lead vocalist and played guitar for Centinex, Scar Symmetry and bass for October Tide. As a producer, he has worked with bands such as Sonic...
's Black Lounge Studios by guitarists Jonas Kjellgren, Per Nilsson
Per Nilsson (guitarist)
Per Nilsson is one of the guitarists and founding members of the Swedish melodic death metal band Scar Symmetry. He also plays guitar for the Swedish Progressive Rock group Kaipa...
and drummer Henrik Ohlsson. That same month, vocalist Christian Älvestam and bassist Kenneth Seil joined the band, which then recorded a demo
Demo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
for the song "Seeds of Rebellion" which helped the band get a recording contract with Cold Records (a subsidiary of Metal Blade Records
Metal Blade Records
Metal Blade Records is a record label which was founded by Brian Slagel in 1982. The U.S. corporate office for Metal Blade is located in Agoura Hills, California. It also has offices in Arizona, Germany, Japan, Canada, and the UK. The label is distributed in the U.S. by Sony BMG Music...
).
In July 2005, the band entered Black Lounge Studios to begin recording its debut album, Symmetric in Design
Symmetric In Design
-Credits:Scar Symmetry*Jonas Kjellgren - rhythm guitar*Per Nilsson - lead guitar*Henrik Ohlsson - drums, lyrics*Kenneth Seil - bass guitar*Christian Älvestam - vocals-Release history:-External links:*...
. It followed it up by playing festivals in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, as well as touring with Soilwork
Soilwork
Soilwork is a Swedish melodic death metal band from Helsingborg. They are currently signed to Nuclear Blast. Formed in late 1995 by Björn Strid and Peter Wichers, originally under the name Inferior Breed, the band changed their name in late 1996 to Soilwork .Their sound is a fusion of the classic...
, Hypocrisy
Hypocrisy (band)
Hypocrisy is a melodic death metal band from Sweden. It was formed in 1990 in Ludvika, Sweden by Peter Tägtgren.Musically, the band started off with a traditional death metal sound on their first albums, and soon drifted to become a melodic death metal band. The lyrics in their early stages -...
, and One Man Army
One Man Army and the Undead Quartet
One Man Army and the Undead Quartet is a death/thrash metal band from Sweden. The band was formed by vocalist Johan Lindstrand after the breakup of The Crown. After two albums on Nuclear Blast Records, they moved to Massacre Records...
.
Pitch Black Progress (2006-2007)
In June 2006, the band signed a new record dealRecording contract
A recording contract is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist , where the artist makes a record for the label to sell and promote...
with Nuclear Blast
Nuclear Blast
Nuclear Blast is an independent record label and mail order record distributor with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States and Brazil. The record label was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Germany. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label moved on to releasing albums by melodic...
records. Eight months after the release of Symmetric In Design the band started recording its follow-up, Pitch Black Progress
Pitch Black Progress
Pitch Black Progress is the second studio album by Swedish melodic death metal band, Scar Symmetry. The album was released in Europe on April 21, 2006 and in North America on May 2, 2006 through Nuclear Blast....
. The band again followed up its recording by touring, this time with Communic
Communic
Communic is a progressive metal band from Kristiansand, Norway. The band was founded in 2003 and has released four albums. The first two have received good reviews from magazines and critics.-Beginning :...
for the Waves of Pitch Black Decay Tour 2006 throughout Europe, and they toured North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
with melodic death metal pioneers Dark Tranquillity
Dark Tranquillity
Dark Tranquillity is a Swedish melodic death metal band from Gothenburg. They are one of the longest-standing bands from the original Gothenburg metal scene, and are one of the most integral pioneers of the melodic death metal genre of music....
and The Haunted
The Haunted
The Haunted is a Swedish metal band from Gothenburg, formed in 1996.The original members were Anders & Jonas Björler, Peter Dolving, Adrian Erlandsson and Patrik Jensen...
. The song "The Illusionist" began receiving air-play on MTV2
MTV2
MTV2 is a cable network that is widely available in the United States on digital cable and satellite television, and is progressively being added to analogue cable lineups across the nation...
's Headbangers Ball
Headbangers Ball
Headbangers Ball is a music television program consisting of heavy metal music videos airing on MTV2, MTV Australia, MTV Two , MTV Adria , MTV Brand New, MTV Portugal, MTV Finland, MTV Arabia, MTV Norway, MTV Sweden, MTV Denmark, MTV Greece, MTV Türkiye, MTV...
. In September 2007, the band embarked on another North American tour with headliners Katatonia
Katatonia
Katatonia is a Swedish metal band formed in Stockholm in 1991 by Jonas Renkse and Anders Nyström .-1991-1993:The early Katatonia releases, such as the EP Jhva Elohim Meth.....
, Insomnium
Insomnium
Insomnium is a Finnish melodic death metal band from Joensuu, Finland. Their new album "One for Sorrow" was released October 2011. On September 9th, 2011 Insomnium released the music video Through The Shadows from their 2011 album One For Sorrow....
, and Swallow the Sun
Swallow the Sun
Swallow the Sun is a Finnish melodic death / doom metal band.- Biography :Swallow the Sun was formed in early 2000 by Juha Raivio, joined soon by Pasi Pasanen came along . They rehearsed a couple of songs, one of them being "Through Her Silvery Body" which would end up on their first demo,Out of...
, the "Live Consternation Tour."
Holographic Universe and New Vocalists (2008-2009)
The band's third album, Holographic UniverseHolographic Universe (album)
-Band members:*Christian Älvestam − vocals*Jonas Kjellgren − lead guitar, rhythm guitar, keyboards*Per Nilsson − lead guitar, rhythm guitar, keyboards*Kenneth Seil − bass guitar*Henrik Ohlsson − drums-Release history:...
, was released on June 20, 2008. Following the release, despite an outpouring of good reviews and press for the album as well as the success of the single for "Morphogenesis", Scar Symmetry did not embark on tours. The band released a statement on September 11, 2008 announcing that they had parted ways with vocalist Christian Älvestam, due to touring conflicts and creative differences. On 6 October, they announced the replacements for Christian Älvestam: they will continue with two singers, Roberth Karlsson (growls and backing clean vocals) and Lars Palmqvist (clean vocals and backing growls) and the band finally began touring in support of the new album in December after six months.
Dark Matter Dimensions (2009-2010)
The band's fourth album, Dark Matter DimensionsDark Matter Dimensions
- Music videos :In early September 2009, a video was filmed for the song "Noumenon & Phenomenon" with director Maurice Swinkels . Swinkels had previously produced the bands music video for "The Illusionist"...
, was released on 2 October 2009 in Europe, and on 20 October 2009 in the US. It is the bands first album to feature new vocalists Karlsson and Palmqvist. Despite the replacement of previous singer, the album received generally positive reviews upon its release. A music video was filmed for the songs "Noumenon & Phenomenon", "Ascension Chamber" and "The Iconoclast".
From late October 2009, Scar Symmetry took part in the Neckbreakers Ball Tour alongside Behemoth
Behemoth (band)
Behemoth is a Polish blackened death metal band from Gdańsk, formed in 1991. They are considered to have played an important role in establishing the Polish extreme metal underground, alongside bands such as Vader, Decapitated, Vesania and Hate....
, DevilDriver
DevilDriver
DevilDriver is an American heavy metal band from Santa Barbara, California, formed in 2002. The band was originally named Deathride, however, due to copyright issues and the name being taken by several bands, Deathride changed its name to DevilDriver, which refers to bells Italian witches used to...
and Arsis. In February 2010, Scar Symmetry announced that they were to support head-liners Hypocrisy
Hypocrisy (band)
Hypocrisy is a melodic death metal band from Sweden. It was formed in 1990 in Ludvika, Sweden by Peter Tägtgren.Musically, the band started off with a traditional death metal sound on their first albums, and soon drifted to become a melodic death metal band. The lyrics in their early stages -...
at the "A Taste of Extreme Divinity" tour. Towards the end of 2010, they toured with Epica
Epica (band)
Epica is a Dutch symphonic metal band founded by guitarist and vocalist Mark Jansen subsequent to his departure from After Forever. They are known for their symphonic sound and the use of female vocals and male growls performed by Simone Simons and Mark Jansen, respectively. All six members write...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
- starting in West Springfield, Virginia
West Springfield, Virginia
West Springfield is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population was 22,460 at the 2000 census.-Geography:West Springfield is located at ....
on 16 November, and finishing in Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...
on 18 December.
The Unseen Empire (2011-present)
Scar Symmetry's fifth album, titled The Unseen EmpireThe Unseen Empire
The Unseen Empire is the fifth full-length studio album by Swedish melodic death metal band Scar Symmetry.The album sold around 1,500 copies in the United States in its first week of release, and landed at position No...
, was released in Europe on 18 April 2011. Drummer Henrik Ohlsson states that the title of the album "seeks to expose the hidden hand of the elite that pull the strings of mankind in order to fulfill their agenda of global domination". The album is the band's best-selling yet in America in terms of first-week sales. It sold 1,500 copies, landing it at #11 on the Billboard Heatseekers Chart.
Current members
- Roberth Karlsson – vocals (lead growls) (2008–present)
- Lars Palmqvist – vocals (lead clean) (2008–present)
- Per NilssonPer Nilsson (guitarist)Per Nilsson is one of the guitarists and founding members of the Swedish melodic death metal band Scar Symmetry. He also plays guitar for the Swedish Progressive Rock group Kaipa...
− lead and rhythm guitars, keyboards (2004–present) - Jonas KjellgrenJonas KjellgrenJonas Kjellgren is a Swedish musician and producer, now residing in Grangärde, Sweden. He has played for bands such as Carnal Forge and Dellamorte as their lead vocalist and played guitar for Centinex, Scar Symmetry and bass for October Tide. As a producer, he has worked with bands such as Sonic...
− rhythm and lead guitar, keyboards (2004–present) - Kenneth Seil − bass guitar (2004–present)
- Henrik Ohlsson − drums, lyrics (2004–present)
Session members
- Richard Bendler - live harsh vocals (2011)
- Fredrik Andersson - live guitar (2011)
Studio albums
- Symmetric in DesignSymmetric In Design-Credits:Scar Symmetry*Jonas Kjellgren - rhythm guitar*Per Nilsson - lead guitar*Henrik Ohlsson - drums, lyrics*Kenneth Seil - bass guitar*Christian Älvestam - vocals-Release history:-External links:*...
(2005) - Pitch Black ProgressPitch Black ProgressPitch Black Progress is the second studio album by Swedish melodic death metal band, Scar Symmetry. The album was released in Europe on April 21, 2006 and in North America on May 2, 2006 through Nuclear Blast....
(2006) - Holographic UniverseHolographic Universe (album)-Band members:*Christian Älvestam − vocals*Jonas Kjellgren − lead guitar, rhythm guitar, keyboards*Per Nilsson − lead guitar, rhythm guitar, keyboards*Kenneth Seil − bass guitar*Henrik Ohlsson − drums-Release history:...
(2008) - Dark Matter DimensionsDark Matter Dimensions- Music videos :In early September 2009, a video was filmed for the song "Noumenon & Phenomenon" with director Maurice Swinkels . Swinkels had previously produced the bands music video for "The Illusionist"...
(2009) - The Unseen EmpireThe Unseen EmpireThe Unseen Empire is the fifth full-length studio album by Swedish melodic death metal band Scar Symmetry.The album sold around 1,500 copies in the United States in its first week of release, and landed at position No...
(2011)
External links
- Scar Symmetry at MySpaceMySpaceMyspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....