Ethereal Metal Webzine

Ryan Murray | Co-Owner | Chief Editor | Contributor

r.m.music84@gmail.come on

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Progressive Melodic Death Metal icons Scar Symmetry, who have just recently re-signed with Nuclear Blast, have announced that they’ll be releasing their first full-length studio album in nine years! The Singularity (Phase II – Xenotaph) will be released on June 9th, 2023! This album will also see the first album featuring current rhythm guitar/backing vocalist Benjamin Ellis! Today, the band is giving fans a glimpse into their new sound by releasing the album’s first single “Scorched Quadrant”!

Right off the bat with an in your face, gut busting riff, this heavy track boasts a more modern production, a bigger sound, with incredible arrangements! The harsh vocals are incredibly well done, and sound effortless. Soaked in beautiful clean vocals as well, there are incredible melodies heard throughout this track that will keep you hitting replay!

See band’s press release below for more!

ANNOUNCE THEIR FIRST NEW ALBUM IN NINE YEARS THE SINGULARITY (PHASE II – XENOTAPH)

RELEASE VIDEO FOR FIRST SINGLE ‘SCORCHED QUADRANT’

Nine years since the first installment of The Singularity Trilogy, virtuosic progressive metallers SCAR SYMMETRY, who recently re-signed to Nuclear Blast Records, have announced The Singularity (Phase II – Xenotaph) which will be released on 9th June. To coincide with the announcement, the band have also released the video for the album’s first single ‘Scorched Quadrant’.

Watch the video for ‘Scorched Quadrant’ and stream on all services now at: https://scarsymmetry.bfan.link/scorched-quadrant

Pre-order The Singularity (Phase II – Xenotaph) now at: https://scarsymmetry.bfan.link/xenotaph

In the wake of the announcement, band mastermind Per Nilsson comments “It brings us the utmost pleasure and pride to announce the long-awaited and much-teased ‘Phase II’ to the world along with its first single! It’s been a long time coming but I’m glad that we went the extra mile to make everything as perfect as we felt it needed to be.

The world is a different place in 2023 than it was in 2014 when ‘Neohumanity’ was released… We see the rise of AI before our very eyes and while we all look in awe at the wonders it can create it is easy to think of some very disturbing scenarios. In our new album, we once again explore these themes of neohumanity, artificial intelligence and the technological singularity from a dystopian point of view. 

The AI-enhanced neo-humans are waging war upon the unmodified majority of mankind who don’t stand a chance against their technologically superior oppressors, until one day, a glimmer of salvation appears in the night sky. Almost impossible to first take in; as an utterly alien mirage, seemingly out of nowhere mysterious, giant spacecrafts silently emerge from the heavens. Travelers both intergalactic and interdimensional, these ultra-terrestrial beings who have been watching mankind for millennia seem to have decided to not sit idle while the technocalyptic cybergeddon is ravaging our planet.

We recently renewed our vows with Nuclear Blast and we’re very thrilled about moving on to this next phase (ahem) of our career with them by our side!

The ‘Phase II’ touring cycle starts today and fittingly, we begin with a tour supporting my former employer’s Meshuggah! We hope to see you all on the road soon, but until then, here’s Scorched Quadrant!”

The Singularity (Phase II  Xenotaph) Tracklisting:

1. Chrononautilus

2. Scorched Quadrant

3. Overworld

4. Altergeist

5. Reichsfall

6. Digiphrenia Dawn

7. Hyperborean Plains

8. Gridworm

9. A Voyage With Tailed Meteors 

10. Soul Scanner

11. Xenotap 

Today also sees SCAR SYMMETRY kick off a run of Swedish tour dates supporting MESHUGGAH, alongside THE HALO EFFECT and ORBIT CULTURE. The band also have a number of additional dates lined up for 2023, including several festival performances. All dates can be found below.

SCAR SYMMETRY 2023 Live Dates

31.03.23 SE – LUND, Sparbanken Skåne Arena*

01.04.23 SE – ÖREBRO, Conventum*

07.04.23 SE – UMEÅ, Nolia-hallen*

08.04.23 SE – STOCKHOLM, Annexet*

21.04.23 SE – LINKÖPING, Saab Arena*

22.04.23 SE – PARTILLE, Partille Arena*

06.05.23 NO – KOPERVIK, Karmøygeddon Metal Festival

10.06.23 NL – LEEUWARDEN, Into The Grave

22.07.23 FI – LAUKAA, John Smith Open Air

28.-29.07.23 DE – HEIMBURG, HMN Festival

03.-05.08.23 SE – REJMYRE, Skogsröjet

12.08.23 FIN – HELSINKI, Hellsinki Metal Festival

21.09.23 DE – HAMBURG, Logo

23.09.23 DE – HANNOVER, Bei Chez Heinz

24.09.23 DE – LEIPZIG, Hellraiser

25.09.23 DE – Hirsch, NUREMBERG

26.09.23 DE – MUNICH, Backstage

07.10.23 DK – KØGE, Køge Metal Festival

*supporting MESHUGGAH

Tickets for all shows are available from scarsymmetryofficial.com

About SCAR SYMMETRY

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. As showcased on 2005 debut Symmetric In Design, the band were driven by fervently progressive and proudly melodic instincts, infusing their often brutal riffs and arrangements with wild, futuristic atmospherics, and sublime, emotional melodies that always hit their targets with ruthless precision.

As SCAR SYMMETRY moved forward, their music continued to evolve in tandem. They joined forces with Nuclear Blast Records for 2006’s breakthrough opus Pitch Black Progress (2006), and have since amassed an extraordinary catalogue of forward-thinking but irrevocably crushing modern metal. From the glossy, hyper-melodic barrage of Holographic Universe (2008), to the immaculate thunder of The Unseen Empire(2011) and the astonishing, cosmic odyssey that is The Singularity (Phase I – Neohumanity) (2014). the Swedes have blown minds and enhanced their reputation with every artistic step.

SCAR SYMMETRY is

Roberth Karlsson – Vocals

Lars Palmqvist – Vocals

Per Nilsson – Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Keyboards

Benjamin Ellis – Guitars

Henrik Olsson – Drums