The Singularity (Phase I: Neohumanity)

To directly quote the closing statement for my earlier review of The Unseen Empire: "It makes a strong-enough case for the band's continued existence, which is about all us or they can hope for at this point." As expected, The Singularity (Phase I: Neohumanity) continues making relative strides in the post-Älvestam environment that finds the band actually breaking more innovative ground compared to the flaccid earlier output. The synthetic deck has been shuffled yet again, this time ejecting the more compact, bread-and-butter songwriting evident on the last two records and rotating in an audacious burst of pretense. The mere fact that The Singularity is supposedly only the first part of a trilogy is telling enough in and of itself, but even when one dials back and views the microcosmos of this album on its own, a clear sense of both ostentation and borderline superfluity become evident. Scar Symmetry are really trying to reach for the stars here, at the risk of their own peril no less.

This can in many ways be viewed as the black to the white of The Unseen Empire, featuring a number of well-structured, sweeping Venusian monuments to excess like "Neohuman" and the polarizing closer "Technocalyptic Cybergeddon," both breaching the eight-minute mark and frankly making stellar use of most of their given time. I really expected much of this to bore me to tears when I glanced at the tracklisting, but Scar Symmetry has wisely scaled back the stale metal constituent for a more striking, borderline melodic rock temperament that congeals vividly with the stabbing synths and Palmqvist's exuberant cleans. Much fuss has been made over the fact that "Limits to Infinity's" chorus sounds similar to Van Halen, and frankly the same can be said concerning "The Spiral Timeshift," as The Singularity is quite an upbeat, bouncy record on the whole. No, there is nothing as quick and cheerful as "Morphogenesis" or "The Illusionist" here, but I find some of these more evolving tracks equally arresting, as the band never necessarily disposes of their earlier appeals entirely. "Neohuman" is simply blanketed in clean vocals, and the chorus is easily the strongest here, but after roughly four minutes the song explodes into a showcase of skyrocketing leadwork that seriously belies the excessive runtime.

It is something of an expected shame that the band fails to maintain such high standards throughout, as the weaker tracks are more or less dead on arrival. "Cryonic Harvest" and to a lesser extent "The Spiral Timeshift" try to evoke something of a more clinical, undemanding guise, but seem to chase their collective tail for most of the duration. The last two tracks are both pleasant listens, but clear-cut obstacles keep one of them from sharing the spotlight. "Neuromancers" is certainly one of the heavier tracks here, and should satiate most fans of old. The refrain can't help but sound somewhat disjointed, however, and I keep pining for that subtle piano line that ties that memorable interval together to return - it never really does. "Technocalyptic Cybergeddon" sounds breathtaking opening up, almost like a Deus Ex-esque take on Omnium Gatherum's modern sound, but the band discards that great synth motif like a used wrapper and only truly revisit it once more during the remainder of the track. It morphs into an expected cinematic resolution by the end though, and need I remind you that the leads and solos are just ridiculously good? Both sugary and technically astounding, I find no qualms in claiming this as the band's greatest output in this regard since way back to "Chaosweaver" from the debut.

The mentioned deficiencies aren't that looming of obstacles, and one can feasibly remove the two weaker middle tracks and enjoy fluid consistency from cover to cover, but the brash truth is that The Singularity falls somewhat short of the greatness the band (and I'm sure the Holographic Universe castoffs that have come crawling back by now) want you to believe. Still, this very well may be my favorite output from these guys up to this point, as they finally batten down the hatches and deliver the melodic excess that we always hoped they would. I personally don't really turn to Scar Symmetry to wreck my neck, and any level headed metalhead who should expect such at this juncture is palpably ludicrous. This is melodic rock/groove metal not too far removed from what Solution .45 shat the bed with, but done with a finesse and picturesque scope that blows Älvestam's current outfit out of the æther. Wonder how long it will take for people to accept that one.