Holographic Universe

'Holographic Universe' is the final chapter of what I like to call the Christian Alvestam trilogy. The band did in no way 'lose it' after he left, but lets face it: he had some serious vocal talent. Now what can be said about this album you ask? Its definitely bigger and more diverse than the others, but not necessarily for the better. Don't get me wrong though, this is still a very well crafted album with spotless production values. There are some instant classics on this CD, but as a whole it just doesn't seem to match their magnificent first two albums.

Firstly, the band have clearly branched out further into the ideas of space and time, as is highlighted in the lyrical themes. Song titles like 'Morphogenesis' and 'Artificial Sun Projection' are appropriately named due to their spacey, futuristic riffs. This albums predecessor, 'Pitch Black Progress', took ideas from the debut and made them bigger and bolder. Once again we have that here but it would seem that it is TOO over the top sometimes. For example the choirs in the pre-chorus to 'Quantumleaper' sound almost a bit silly and out of place in an otherwise solid track. There are some jaw-dropping melodies on this record though, like the epic title track which takes the biscuit for the albums finest song. It combines death metal brutality with a beautiful melodic chorus, and some guitar solos that are almost reminiscent of Brian May (seriously!). But they seem to fit well with the song and it works. Songs like 'Trapezoid' have barely any growling at all, and it is nice to have a mixture of diverse sounding songs.

The major flaws on this record are that Scar Symmetry tried to be overly ambitious, and while certain elements work, some don't. The guitar work is sensational on some tracks and downright bizarre on others, which is a shame. 'Prism and Gate' is a shambles of a track, as it constantly changes from brutally harsh to very un-metal indeed, and the result is a song that sounds like two jumbled into one, almost contradicting itself. The drums are pretty solid on this record all the way through, as are the vocals. In fact the vocals steal the show, soaring to dizzying heights in places. The only real problem is that Christian's growling to clean ratio seems strangely placed in some parts. The exception comes with the awesome finale of the album. This is a song that has it all, and he really times it all perfectly here.

Overall this album is by no means 'bad'. There are some truly unforgettable tracks that match, or even surpass some of those on the old albums. However it is let down by some sickly, OTT melodies that strain so hard to be epic and 'out of this world' that they just sound odd and lifeless. I have a feeling that this is the last possible half decent album they could have made in this manner, before voyaging into all out absurdity. Buy it if you already follow Scar Symmetry as there is gold to be found here, but if you are just getting into them maybe start from the beginning. The Christian Alvestam Trilogy is the metal equivalent to the Godfather trilogy.

A marmite album for sure.