Review Summary: Pitch Black Progress is very Symmetric In Design, yet it manages to Deviate from the Form enough to keep its listeners from feeling like Slaves to the Subliminal.
Scar Symmetry are a band who managed to make a name for themselves in a very small, but respectable section of the metal community. While their music is of unquestionably great quality, they are still very largely overlooked when compared to many of the other bands of the melodic death metal scene. When they were formed, each member of the band had previously been a member of the Swedish metal scene, coming from many different bands of different styles. Scar Symmetry however specifically focused on creating music with a technical and melodic death metal sound very heavily influenced by the likes of Dark Tranquillity and In Flames. Scar Symmetry were unique however in their incorporation of power metal elements into their sound.
Upon releasing their debut, 2004's Symmetric In Design, the band was immediately compared to another very well known Swedish melodeath band, Soilwork. These comparisons were very understandable and fairly large in number. Both bands play in similar keys, with guitars primarily in drop B tuning. Both bands incorporate subtle traces of electronics into their melodic brand of Swedish death metal. Both bands utilize a mix of ferocious death growls and smooth, melodic clean vocals. As an additional comparison, both bands are fronted by vocalists lacking seriously in the hair department, but who both are among some of music's finest vocalists. It almost makes me wonder if Scar Symmetry's original name was "Scary Similarity... To Soilwork."
Pitch Black Progress was actually the album that got me into Scar Symmetry. Being recently introduced to the Swedish melodeath scene by Soilwork, I had heard about Scar Symmetry for quite a while, but it took a while for me to properly sit down and listen to them. After almost exhaustively listening to every Soilwork album I owned for months, I decided to take a listen to "The Illusionist," and I was quite amazed upon listening to it. What really made it stick out in my mind were the vocals of Christian Älvestam, which were like nothing I had heard before. Never had I heard a vocalist who was able to go from such astonishingly brutal growls to hitting so many notes, high and low, so smoothly. After being hooked on that song for a couple of days, I decided to dig a little deeper and checked out "Oscillation Point." After hearing that song's amazing vocals and epic chorus no more than just once, I was hooked. The very next day, I took a trip to the nearby heavy metal store and picked myself up a copy of Pitch Black Progress, and I am more than happy that I did.
Right from the get go, Scar Symmetry let every listener know that they mean business on this album. The masterful use of the heavy verse/melodic chorus style of songwriting makes this album incredibly varied, and the continuous changing of keys within and between songs is a nice touch. It also helps that most of the songs are at least fairly long in length. Nothing on this album is any shorter than 3 minutes, and the album's longest song, "The Kaleidoscopic God," is a bit more than 7 minutes long. Sure, none of the songs are Opeth or Dream Theater level as far as length, but the amount of great musicianship they are able to fit into each song is not far behind.
While they can reach into both extremes easily, Pitch Black Progress is all about balance (or more fittingly "Symmetry") of heaviness and melody. This is apparent in every aspect of this album, especially the vocals. I can't talk enough about how impressive it is that one man can go from growls that would make Satan *** his pants to cleans that are almost poppy in their delivery. It's easy to see why the band needed two vocalists to replace Christian after he was foolishly fired from the band. Some may claim that Christian is not a great vocalist due to his use of vocal effects, but these claims are far too harsh. Rather than doing what many pop stars and rappers who wish they could sing do and flooding his voice with effects, draining all musical value and identity from it, he uses them subtly to make his already amazing voice just a bit better. It may seem like a bit of a stretch to say this, but Christian is one of, if not the best metal vocalist of all time, right up there with Björn Strid and Mikael Åkerfeldt. The instrumental side of this album also is one of the most amazing things I have ever heard, rivaling Sylosis and Revocation with how technical and well written it is. Per Nilsson's guitar playing is easily the biggest instrumental standout, incorporating sweep picking and tapping along with melodic power chords. Per is definitely one of music's most underrated guitar players, and hearing a single solo would be enough to convince anyone who knows anything about music.
Many of the songs on this album are fan favorites, and some of the band's most well-known tracks can be found on here. "The Illusionist" and "Oscillation Point" are of course huge standouts, and it would be impossible not to mention the title track, "The Kaleidoscopic God," "Slaves to the Subliminal," and "Retaliator." Unfortunately, Pitch Black Progress does slightly start to drag with the song "Abstracted," which is a great song, but it just feels a bit too filler-y when caught between "Dreaming 24/7" and "The Kaleidoscopic God." The same could be said for "Mind Machine," which appears between "Slaves to the Subliminal" and the album's title track. But aside from this very slight drag, there are really no outstanding problems with this album. There are plenty of outstandingly good things about this album, but there are about as many problems with this album as there are hairs on Christian Älvestam's head.
Pitch Black Progress is one of those albums that is just as good the first time you listen to it as it is the fiftieth. It's one of those rare cases where it never gets old, yet it doesn't take any time to grow on you. Whether you're a seasoned metal listener or someone who is just discovering heavy music, this album will appeal to you in some way or another. It's incredibly technical and precise in its execution, yet it allows enough melody in to keep it from sounding like a typical instrumental wank fest (Something which has become far too common in heavy music.) On top of all of that, Christian Älvestam's godlike vocals make this album a truly special and unforgettable experience. With that said you may be wondering, "where does this album rank among the rest of Scar Symmetry's discography?" It's certainly better than anything after Holographic Universe, but whether it's better or worse than either of the albums surrounding it (Symmetric in Design and Holographic Universe) is very debatable. I would personally consider it their best work, because while it doesn't have as many amazing individual songs as Holographic Universe, I feel as though it is more cohesive and flows better overall. Whether that's true or not though, this album is without a doubt worth owning and worth listening to... A lot. Scar Symmetry's Pitch Black Progress gets a 4.5/5. So don't just keep Dreaming 24/7 about having a new band to listen to. Go ahead and Deviate From the Form and take a listen to Pitch Black Progress.
