Scar Symmetry – Per Nilsson

Sweden’s Scar Symmetry is a band that has led a very eclectic, diverse career. Beginning, I’m told, as an “experiment”, Scar Symmetry was the vision of a small few who sought to create their own unique take on melodic death metal, but “without the boundaries” that restricted so many other bands in this genre. They aimed to draw upon all of their influences without stifling this notion purely based on the idea that it wasn’t consistent to the subgenre (e.g. elements of power metal). And of the many brilliant and creative minds that assembled to forge what became Scar Symmetry’s early iteration in 2004, in particular was one whose creativity and artistic expression is all too fluid in his music. I speak here of Per Nilsson, guitarist and founding member of Scar Symmetry. Alongside his already admirable credits such as being a certified member of Mensa International, and playing alongside his other bands such as Kaipa, and, since January 2013, The Absence, Per is someone who continues to grow from strength to strength. And with Scar Symmetry’s latest release, ‘The Singularity (Phase 1: Neohumanity)’, for the first time in the bands career and his own, Per served as lone producer and composer for the record, and solely mixed and mastered the entire release. And as Per proudly mentions later, “In a way, I feel my career so far has almost led up to this moment”. With all that being said, it was my great privilege to recently speak with this kind and unassuming man on behalf of Metal Obsession.

The latter part of 2013 was rather turbulent for Scar Symmetry. Upon former guitarist and founding member Jonas Kjellgren’s official leave from the band in August due to scheduling conflicts with his other bands Raubtier and Bourbon Boys, it led to frustration among the other members of Scar Symmetry, particularly Per, as well as drummer and chief lyricist, Henrik Ohlsson. But it was following this that the band had a type of revelation. ‘We [had] to come up with something new and fresh,’ Per began. ‘We can’t just shoot out album after album. We have to do something different, something special.’ This led to the early creative stages of Scar Symmetry’s ambitious sixth album. Interestingly enough, as Per told me, the album had originally been thought of as a “trilogy of EPs”. “We started talking about different concepts,” Per commented, “and landed on the idea of writing about what’s going to happen beyond technological singularity.” Soon enough, however, as the scope of the project grew, and Henrik’s “three-part synopsis” for what they’d labelled ‘The Singularity’ became more elaborate and detailed, Per realised, “there’s no way we’re going to make this happen on three EPs. We have to make to make three full-length albums.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NsFx6iVOaA

When asked about Per’s relation and/or fascination with the concept of ‘transhumanism’ – as well as its role in the lyrical setting of ‘The Singularity’ – and things such as science-fiction, he was honest in his definition. “A lot of these [aspects] are becoming real. Some of these things are even real today. It’s technology that actually exists. And some things are what you predict to happen. So it’s not really that far-fetched, but on the other hand, the semantic being that it’s very much like science-fiction. And that’s where we like to keep our lyrics; back in the ‘shadowland’, the ‘in-between’, real, hard, and absolute fiction. Some of our previous albums – some of our lyrics – bordered on the absolutely ridiculous. And I don’t think we went too far out for this album. But I’m just the same as everyone else. I’m a big Sci-Fi fan.”

One of the great and important aspects about Per’s relation to the project is the fact he took over sole duties for creating the album. I asked him how he felt about transitioning into the role where the onus all now sat on his own shoulders. His response was dignified. “From stuff I’ve done in the past – producing other bands, and also, co-producing Scar Symmetry albums – I feel like I’ve ended up in the right place somehow. I mean, being left as the sole songwriter, that wasn’t hard or weird or anything. If [anything], it was easier to be the only guy to write songs because I didn’t have to connect my ideas to someone else’s. They didn’t have to be filtered. So I can really stretch my imagination and write the sort of music I’d like to hear.”

‘The Singularity (Phase 1: Neohumanity)’ out Oct. 3 via Nuclear Blast Records

As Per neared the final stages of tracking, he started to think the mixing side of things. And began to question if he himself were qualified or experienced enough to make it work. After passing out sample songs to a variety of different individuals, including the band’s long time mixer who’d worked on their previous records, Per came to the conclusion he needed to do it on his own. “He made a mix of the song for me, and it sounded really good. But I could tell he wasn’t feeling the music the way I saw it.” Per noted. “And so, even though it sounded perfectly fine, it wasn’t up to my vision. So I made the decision that ‘I’m going to see this through’ and make the mix and mastering myself. Because in the mixing, there’s a lot of creative decisions to make because this album is so incredibly layered. [And] with that much information, it becomes a creative process to decide which stuff to have in the foreground and what to have as a support. So I just knew I had to do this myself!”

Over the years, Scar Symmetry has seen a great deal of change. Through lineup changes to shifts in musical direction – whether great or small – and other aspects that have helped define who and what Scar Symmetry is today. But Per feels that, despite all, these changes have been for the better. They have helped Scar Symmetry as a band to “become more focused in our creativity” and to “share a unified vision of where we want to go”. And as Per goes on to declare: “I’m exactly where I want to be music-wise with this new album.”

Managing to fit in one final question, I asked Per whether our great southern land could see Scar Symmetry tour here sometime soon. “I really hope so. We’ve had a few offers lately. I’m hoping we can find a way to make it. Perhaps in the second half of 2015, it could be a sweet possibility to come to Australia. We’d love to come!”

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