Band's List Melodic Death Scar Symmetry Holographic Universe

Scar Symmetry is possibly the first melodic death metal band that I ever listened to, and also probably the first that got me into death metal in general. They are from Sweden, where a whole lot of amazing metal bands come from, and were formed in 2004. They have released 4 studio albums so far, all of which are very different, if you listen closely. In this album, they consist of TWO lead vocalists instead of one, which do different types of vocals in general (one does mostly singing, the other does the death growls and harmonizing).

Turning to the album, let me just say that this particular album is the first I heard of Scar Symmetry, and got me loving the band even when I wasn’t as big a metal head as I am now, so this album is an AWESOME first impression to anyone who hasn’t heard the band before, especially if you are already into metal. That being said, this album has many epic sounding anthems, melodic choruses and riffs, technical solos, and pounding versus littered throughout each song, with great instrumentation. With digital effects added and complicated guitar parts, this album actually fits the cover and name perfectly; That of a Holographic Universe. This album is also very unique with the genre classification in a few songs. The title track is about 9 minutes long, and features more of a progressive death metal sound, though it still shows their signature sound. Another example would be the song Artificial Sun Projection. It has extremely catchy riffs, as played in the beginning and throughout the chorus, as well as an almost power metalish bridge. Also, songs like The Missing Coordinates and Quantumleaper show the guitarists talent with technical and fast-paced solos, as well as a few very creative riffs. The vocals are definitely top notch, ranging from clean growls, to truly amazing singing and harmonizing. The new vocalists may not quite have the same sound as the old one, but they sure do deliver the goods, regardless. One more thing I’d like to add, as if there isn’t a lot more to go on about, is that the mixing and equalization is top notch. Not that this really contributes to the band, but it’s always very good to have great sound quality to make music sound the best it can be, which always contributes to a bands sounds in my book.

In short, this album is definitely a must buy for any metal fan, and is one of my favorites as well. It’s beautifully epic blend of death metal and sci-fi melody will please many fans.

Now they say a third album is the difficult one.
Your debut sets out who you are and what you do. Your follow up should be a reaffirmation of that modus operandi and yet show you have scope for progression and are not merely just treading water.
Of course, the third can be a marker for the continuation of the career, whether you are destined to be a mediocre band whose releases are met with indifference, or a band that can genuinely be considered as a bringer of good to the metal community...

Thankfully, Scar Symmetry appear to have taken the more positive route, crafting a powerful and excellent successor to Pitch Black Progress.
Their sound is similar to the melodic death of Soilwork, but Scar Symmetry reach into prog, so called Euro-metal and melodic death and mix it up into a pleasing blend of insanely catchy metal anthems.
Huge sing a long choruses infect every song with a commercial quality, and although it may not be good game for the more hardened death heads out there. For those of us who find it difficult to resist some shiny, catchy metal with anthems the size of the sky (see Morphogenesis), there’s been little else this year that’s captured that feeling as well as Holographic Universe !!