The Singularity (Phase I: Neohumanity)

When I first learned of Jonas Kjellgren's departure, I was bummed. Being a huge fan of two-guitar bands - dueling solos, being able to play two guitar parts live, all the other perks of having two guitarists (all of which Scar Symmetry more than utilized) - I initially anticipated a watered down songwriting process, for Scar Symmetry to somehow be weaker because of their loss. There was no way they could maintain their signature sound with the other songwriter out of the mix, the songwriter who wrote much of the heavier material at that. To further fuel my skepticism, it was announced that Per Nilsson would handle a large portion of the work for developing this album, writing all of the music combined with handling production and tracking every single guitar track entirely by himself. This isn't to say I expected this album to suck, I just thought there was no way that Scar Symmetry's 6th outing would be as top-notch as the rest of their discography that I knew and loved with such extreme respect.

Holy FUCK was I wrong.

The material on this album sounds more like Scar Symmetry's signature sound than any other album they've ever released. I'll go so far as to say that this may very well be better than Holographic Universe, an album that I highly regarded for having their best musicianship and their best vocal work (which I'll harp on in a minute). This album excels in that it really sticks to the fundamentals and core elements of what Scar Symmetry does best: lots of melodic vocal lines and poppy but epic-sounding choruses combined with groovy, brutal, and sometimes even technical aspects of death metal. The songwriting keeps it simple for the most part, but when complexity is welcome it goes apeshit and throws in just the right amount of tech and prog, so that way the music is fresh and interesting for each song.

As far as the musicianship goes, I'd say it's standard Scar Symmetry fare: simple for the most part, but complex when it can be. It's hard to go into particular detail, because even though the band's sound doesn't evolve in a particularly large way, their sound is so dynamic that each album organically and spontaneously forms its own sound without them even trying. Two band members who really shine are vocalists Lars Palmqvist and Robeth Karlsson. Although their vocal tone hasn't changed drastically from the previous two albums, something about this album really shows that they've grown as vocalists. I'll even go so far as to say that they actually give Christian Alvestam a run for his money; Christian's vocal performance on Holographic Universe was godlike, but this album may very well be Lars & Roberth's Holographic Universe.

Lastly, the lyrical concept of this album (as well as the Singularity trilogy as a whole) is, as you'd expect from drummer/lyricist Henrik Ohlsson, eloquently worded and very thought-provoking. Where a number of lyricists congest a song's meaning with unnecessary poetic prose, making it hard to decipher what the song is about, Henrik is infinitesimally more poetic than any of those lyricists AND it's still easy to tell what he's writing about (in this album's case, transhumanism, which is a very interesting topic; if you don't know what it is, look it up). Hell, Henrik's primary language isn't even English, and he's not only a much better wordsmith than I could ever dream to be, I've also learned about MANY incredible things because of his lyrics. He's very easily the best metal lyricist in his field.

I only have one complaint about this album: IT'S TOO SHORT!!! I didn't have a problem with The Unseen Empire only having nine songs because those songs averaged about five minutes a pop, but even with this album having a 10 minute song, it still seemed like short sex to my ears. I don't know what Per & Co. have planned for The Singularity: Phase II and Phase III, but I sincerely hope it involves a longer track list...perhaps 12-13 songs like their first four albums?

I'm sorry I couldn't go into superb detail like I normally do on reviews, but I didn't feel like discussing every little minutia of the album's music. I'm just going to close this review with saying that The Singularity - Phase I: Neohumanity is a brilliant album that not only is the pinnacle of the band's discography, but also the best possible way to kick off a concept album trilogy that you can bet your 401K I'll be paying very close attention to.