SCAR SYMMETRY — Pitch Black Progress (review)

SCAR SYMMETRY — Pitch Black Progress album cover Album · 2006 · Melodic Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
J-Man
In terms of modern Swedish melodic death metal, Scar Symmetry is one of the biggest names out there. While still showing distinct influences from the classic albums by bands like In Flames, Dark Tranquility, and At the Gates, Scar Symmetry takes the Gothenburg melodeath style straight into the twenty-first century. This band is not hesitant when it comes to including newer trends into their core melodic death metal sound, and the groovy riffs, power metal-styled choruses, and sleek modern production means that old school extreme metal purists will probably find little to enjoy on Pitch Black Progress, the band's sophomore effort. However, if sleek, catchy, and well-written melodic death metal is what you long for nowadays, it's really difficult to go wrong with Pitch Black Progress. Scar Symmetry is a group of impeccable musicians and gifted songwriters, and they have just enough originality to make them a unique staple in the modern extreme metal scene. Although Pitch Black Progress isn't a truly excellent album, it comes highly recommended from this reviewer.

Though Scar Symmetry is rooted in Swedish melodic death metal, there are lots of extraneous influences from other genres to keep things fresh. There's a distinct power metal influence in the clean-sung choruses, as well as plenty of groovy thrash riffs and even a few deviations into progressive metal and metalcore territory. Pitch Black Progress is an album for metalheads with a taste for modern sensibilities and melody, as both of them play a big part in Scar Symmetry's core sound. The musicianship is extremely tight and polished across the board, but it's actually Christian Älvestam's vocals that usually take the cake for me. In addition to a powerful guttural growling style, he's also an excellent clean vocalist who manages to find the perfect balance between power and warmth - there certainly isn't any uninspired mandatory clean singing on Pitch Black Progress.

Although I always have a great time when I listen to Pitch Black Progress, it hasn't yet struck me as an album that will leave much of a lasting impression in the future. Everything is very well-written, but the rather formulaic song structures hold Pitch Black Progress back from being a truly excellent album. Still, that's not to discount all of its remarkably positive traits like the stunning musicianship, professional songwriting, and modern production values. Scar Symmetry are simply a high-quality band, and their striking sense of professionalism and consistency shines throughout all of Pitch Black Progress. This is a pretty impressive melodic death metal album, and fans of the genre should find plenty to enjoy here. I'd say 3.5 stars are warranted.
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