Scar Symmetry
Scarred For Life

09.05.2008

There’s not much to say about this band except that they’re very good. Hailing from Sweden and featuring in their ranks former members of several extreme metal acts, the most famous of them being Carnal Forge and Theory In Practice, Scar Symmetry became a household name in the metal circles in 2006, when their second album “Pitch Black Progress” saw the light of day via Nuclear Blast Records. The Swedes explore the paths trodden by their fellow countrymen In Flames, yet they draw in a billion of other influences to create very melodic and catchy, yet heavy music with excellent vocal delivery and tons of energy. Drummer Henrik Ohlsson called us to offer further hindsight on the band’s brief but exciting history and share some hopes for the future…

I’ve checked the background of the band members and found out that you all played in very many different bands before the formation of Scar Symmetry. In your opinion, what makes Scar Symmetry different from your previous bands? How did it mange to attract so much attention so quickly?

I don’t know, but the main difference between Scar Symmetry and our other bands is that Scar Symmetry is more melodic and a little catchier. We all come from the death metal background, where we never really focused on melody so much. (laughs) That’s why we started Scar Symmetry in the first place – just to explore different kind of territory musically.

How did the five of you actually meet and formed the band?

We all met in the studio of Jonas (Kjellgren), one of the guitarists. We recorded all Scar Symmetry albums in that studio, but before Scar Symmetry was formed, we recorded in his studio with other bands. Jonas asked me when I was there if I wanted to form a new band with him. And it started from there, he asked other musicians whom he had known before and who had recorded in Jonas’ studio at one point or another. That’s how we came together.

When you first get together as Scar Symmetry, did you have any kind of concept for the music you are going to play? Or did the style of Scar Symmetry develop naturally in the course of playing?

Well, we had an idea to make something more melodic than we had done in our other bands. But we didn’t really have a clue how it would sound in the end. Only when we recorded the first album we realized what our songs were like. It was really a case of us working together, and the reason why the band sounds as it does is all the different influences that the band members have.

There have been no line-up changes in the band since the beginning. How do you manage to find a common language, especially as every one of you is experienced and has a huge background?

I think it has a lot to do with the fact that we all have specific roles in the band. We know that I will write all the lyrics, for example, and Jonas and Per (Nilsson, guitar) split the composition duties, because they both like to write songs, and Christian (Alverstam, vocals) then does most of the vocal lines. Since we know what we’re doing in the band, we don’t really have to argue about it.

What is the role of Nuclear Blast in the band’s progress? In your opinion, how much has your label helped you? Are you 100 percent satisfied with the job they do?

We certainly noticed a difference when we signed to Nuclear Blast. But I think we would have signed to one of the bigger labels anyway, because Metal Blade was the first to get interested in us after we did the first album (“Symmetric In Design”, 2004). But Cold Records wouldn’t let us go, because Metal Blade wouldn’t pay Cold Records the amount of money that Cold wanted. So Nuclear Blast stepped in instead. They helped us a lot, because when the second album was about to come out, we went on our first tour, so they have really done a good job promoting the band. They are the reason why we have experienced a lot as a band in the past two years. We’re really happy to be signed to the label, it’s the first time that we are signed to a big label in our careers, except for Jonas, who did that previously with Carnal Forge. For the rest of us it’s a unique experience being signed to one of the biggest labels in metal.

It’s great, but I’ve heard from various bands who were signed to Nuclear Blast and then left the company that it’s better to be a big fish in a small pond than to be a small fish in a big pond. Is there anything you can say in response to such comments?

Yeah, I definitely understand what they mean. When we released our second album, we were a top priority at that time, so we didn’t have any problems. But I can understand that if you’re being assigned a lower priority, it’s not that fun. (laughs) You wanna be up there among the ones in whom they really put a lot of money and effort all the time. And if you experience that your album doesn’t sell as good as the previous one, I can definitely understand that you want to leave the label and find the people that believe in you more.

You are about to release your second album for Nuclear Blast with a very intriguing title “Holographic Universe” and a very intriguing cover. Would it be correct to say that the band is interested in science research related to outer space and the development of the universe and stuff like that?

Yeah, the title “Holographic Universe” comes from a concept of intelligent universe that they have in science and philosophy. Science has a lot to do with it, but it’s more of alternative science, the stuff that not many people know about or have interest in these days.

The title track of the new album is probably the longest one you’ve ever written, it lasts more than eight minutes. What other surprises do you have for the people who are familiar with your previous albums?

I think they’ll find that most of the things have evolved since the previous album. We tried to keep all the key ingredients that we had on the first two albums, but add something more. But I shouldn’t really say what we’ve added, because that will spoil the surprise! (laughs) There’s definitely some new ingredients in there, it’s not like we’re recording the same album over and over again.

“Pitch Black Progress” was a very successful album, I personally gave it 10 out of 10 points in my review. Was it difficult to create a follow-up to such a great record?

We feel more and more pressure all the time. When we did our first album, we didn’t expect anything special, because it was just another album, like the ones we had done before with our other bands. But then things took off with the first album, and when we went on to record our second album, there was some kind of pressure. And naturally with the third album we’re thinking more and more about what we’re doing. When you actually record the album, you just think about playing the songs, and only afterwards you start thinking, “Will they like this one as much as they liked our first or second album?” Questions like that exist, of course.

You are responsible for the lyrics in the band, and it’s not very usual for a drummer to be a lyricist. So how did you end up in this position? Was it your desire to speak out and share your ideas and views with the people, or was it something else?

I’ve always written lyrics for the bands I play with. The guys knew that, they were familiar with the lyrics I had written for other bands, and I guess they liked it and wanted me to have that role in Scar Symmetry. I like writing lyrics, so that was not a problem to me, on the contrary, it was good news. Well, it’s probably unusual, but it happens from time to time that bands have a drummer who writes lyrics. So it’s not like it never happened before. (laughs)

OK, and where do you draw inspiration for your lyrics?

In everything that’s unusual. (laughs) It has to be mind-blowing stuff that’s rooted in reality, but certainly not something that a common guy who just lives in the material world could relate to. You have to expand your mind a little bit to grasp what the lyrics are all about. They’re based on the philosophy that’s been around for thousands of years, but also on new science that’s coming in, it’s pointing at the same direction as Eastern philosophy. I think that’s really interesting that after a long evolution the science starts to come to the same conclusions as the old philosophers. (laughs)

Apart from being the drummer, you used to be a vocalist in the techno-death/thrash band Theory In Practice…

Yeah, I was both the singer and drummer.

Do you ever miss singing? Have you considered singing something on a Scar Symmetry album?

No! The reason for me starting to sing in Theory In Practice was that we couldn’t find a vocalist at that time. It was more like an accident than anything else. (laughs) It was fun at that time, but I don’t really miss it now, because I think those who are singing better should do it.

By the way, what happened to Theory In Practice? Why didn’t you continue after the third album?

We didn’t really feel that we were going anywhere. The basis of the band started to go in different musical direction, and it was best just to quit the whole thing, start new things and go our separate ways.

Is there any chance that you will do one more record one day?

It was really good that we evolved as musicians when we played that kind of style, because it was really demanding. But it’s hard to be a really progressive death metal band, because there’s no way you can make a living out of music, so to speak.

Have you heard the stuff that Peter Lake, your bandmate in Theory In Practice and Mutant, is doing with Mekong Delta? If yes, what do you think of it?

Yes, I heard some songs. Mekong Delta is definitely continuing the style they played in their earlier years, and it’s really fun, because Mekong Delta was a big influence on Theory In Practice in the very beginning. It’s cool that Peter ended up in the band, they’re doing pretty cool stuff.

Over your career, you have played nearly all kinds of extreme music – death metal, black metal, and so on. And what did you begin with? What kind of music did you play in your very first band?

My first real band was a death metal band! I was born n 1975, so I grew up in the 1980s when heavy metal was really big. That was my first passion, but I didn’t play any instrument at that time because I was too young. When I was 15, that’s when death metal exploded, it was 1990, and when I heard the first Morbid Angel album, I was like, “Yes, this is the coolest shit I’ve ever heard!” (laughs) That’s why I wanted to play this kind of music when I was old enough to play in a band.

What are your current musical interests? What music do you listen to in your spare time?

I still listen to a lot of metal, I really try to keep myself updated. I listen to a lot of the stuff from the 1980s that I like when I was young. I still like it, because it’s more than music now, it’s a lot of memories, and you get that feeling of being a youngster that doesn’t really know anything. Back then members of the bands were like gods, you didn’t really think of them as real human beings, they were like superheroes. I sort of miss that in the metal scene today, because it’s so watered down. I would like it to be like in the 1980s. (laughs)

You are currently engaged in two other bands – Altered Aeon and Paradigm Shift. Can you say a few words about them?

Altered Aeon is more of a thrash-based band. There’s a lot of thrash metal in it, but we have death metal influences as well, we try to play everything that we think is cool. It’s a little bit more aggressive than Scar Symmetry. Paradigm Shift is me and Per from Scar Symmetry, we have a singer called L.G. Persson from The Storyteller. That’s more like progressive metal in the vein of Symphony X.

I heard that you also have a very “heavy” dayjob – at a steel factory. How do you manage to combine so many musical activities and work at a factory?

(laughs) Well, I don’t know… If you have a really huge interest in something, you just make the time for it, I think. It gives me so much to play with different people who are in the same state of mind that it’s really vital for me to do it. I’m prepared to do almost anything to be able to play that much.

What are your own expectations from “Holographic Universe” as far as both creative and commercial success are concerned? In your opinion, how far it will take Scar Symmetry?

Of course, I hope for the best. I hope that we can climb one more step on the ladder, become bigger and be able to start making enough money to just play music. That’s the ultimate goal, for me at least, because the truth is that I don’t really wanna do anything else. (laughs) What I wanna do is to play music, and that’s when I’m the happiest. Of course, commercial success has a part in it, that’s one of the expectations, but I also really want to be able to play the material live, I’m really looking forward to that. And I’m really excited about hearing what the fans of the band think about the album.

Such Swedish bands as In Flames, Soilwork and Arch Enemy are now enjoying big success in the U.S. You also toured there and I’ve read some excellent reviews of your performances in that country. How much are you going to focus on the American market? Do you plan any special activities there?

It’s not really up to us, because when it comes to the tours, it’s up to Nuclear Blast to arrange everything. The band really enjoyed being in the United States, that was one of the biggest experiences for us when we had the chance to go there for the first time. That was like a dream come true, because it was something we had always thought about – going to the States and playing there. For the band it’s really cool to be there, but whether we will focus on the American market or not, it’s not really up to us. It’s something that businessmen think about.

Are there any plans to do a video in support of the new album?

We’re actually discussing it right now. We have a concept for the video, but there’s no set date when we’re going to film it, I think we’ll know that in the coming week.

Are you satisfied with how the video for “The Illusionist” turned out?

Yeah, that was a really cool experience, because we had the opportunity to go to Serbia to film it. I think the film crew really did a good job with it, and they have done several other cool videos, for instance, for Deathstars.

A lot of your labelmates are coming to Russia for a few gigs, even young bands such as Sonic Syndicate have already played a show in Moscow. Have you ever received any proposals for coming to Russia, and what are the chances of seeing you here one day?

We have never actually gotten a proposal to go there, but we would be glad to it if it came up. That’s a really unknown territory for us, we’ve never been there on vacation or anything like that, and we’ve definitely never played there. It will be cool to see that part of the world as well!

Scar Symmetry on the Internet: http://www.scarsymmetry.com

Special thanks to Alexei “KIDd” Kuzovlev (Irond Records) for arranging this interview.

Roman “Maniac” Patrashov
April 17, 2008
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