SCAR SYMMETRY HIRE… TWO NEW SINGERS??
Tuesday, October 7th, 2008 at 5:20pm by Vince Neilstein
A couple of weeks ago I cried myself to sleep after Scar Symmetry announced they’d parted ways with their versatile, talented vocalist Christian Älvestam (pictured, front). Would the Swedish “Death Jovi” masters go the way of luminaries Van Halen* and AC/DC, continuing to bring the hits for years to come with a new frontman on board, or would they crash and burn as an echo of their former selves ala Skid Row? The answer remains to be seen, but today’s announcement that two vocalists have been tapped to fill the shoes of just one is a testament to how skilled Älvestam is:
“We’ve used both growls and clean vocals in our music since day one, and with each album we’ve pushed the envelope of what you can do vocally in a metal band to the point where a lot of the songs on ‘Holographic Universe’ would be hard if not impossible to sing live. So the question is: Is it really possible to push the vocals even further and manage to perform everything live?
“The answer is YES! Instead of hiring a new singer, we decided — some of you might already have figured it out by now — to recruit TWO singers! The idea of having two vocalists in the band is something that’s been in the back of our minds for a long time, and after auditioning and rehearsing with two of Sweden’s best vocalists we’re thrilled, excited, stoked-beyond-belief!!!
The two chosen vocalists will be Roberth Karlsson (ex-Edge of Sanity, ex-Facebreaker. Who? I don’t know either) — who will handle “lead growl vocals” and backing clean vocals — and Lars Palmqvist, a relative unknown who will handle “lead clean vocals” and “backing growl vocals.” Overly specific role designations and fun Swedish-sounding names aside, I guess this is a pretty good thing for SS — I’d rather two vocalists get it right than one struggle to come close. And from the looks of the audition video clip posted below, both men seem quite capable of their respective charges. Skip to about 0:50 for the good stuff. Let’s just hope they can bring it live; we’ll find out soon enough.
Check out Scar Symmetry’s latest video for “Morphogenesis” as well. It’s bad ass, and likely the last video of Christian you’ll see until the inevitable “original lineup” reunion. And lastly, why haven’t you picked up Holographic Universe yet?? It’s incredible.
-VN
*For the record, I’m firmly in the “Halen” camp when it comes to Van Halen vs. Van Hagar. Sammy never kicked ass the way DLR did — but regardless, the band kept on chugging and managed to continue their string of huge albums, yielding some of VH’s best songs in their own right.
You’re funny, Vinnie. Comparing Scar Symmetry to VH and AC/DC is somewhere akin to comparing a gnat with an eagle. (I guess the Skid Row comparison would be a swallow.)
For a moment there I thought like, Roberth Karlsson?Oh no, isn’t that the guy from Sonic Syndicate? Fortunately it’s not him phew, it’s good news they found two new ones so quick, i am very curious at how it’s going to sound live or audio
Well, it sounds like a good idea. It also sounds like one of those ideas that sounds great at the time but then you find out that eating dog food out of a bum’s asshole may lead to less than desired digestive problems.
All reminiscing aside, I do agree with the fact that two guys taking over and doing a good job would be far better than one guy failing. Hopefully they take this opportunity and do something positive with it. I’d definitely hate to see them go.
I dunno man….I just don’t know. I didn’t think the clean vocals sounded good enough. The growl was close enough to be Scar Symmetry but I didn’t care for the Lars’ voice as much. Maybe it’ll be better on the next album.
Christian Alvestam! :( i just hope these 2 guys are on par if not better than Christian alone!
So, uh, why couldn’t Sikth just do the same thing, again?
*sniff
I was thinking they might need 3 guys to actually replace his douchebag posing in pictures. NO WAY that guy in the picture is the singer.
This sounds like a really good idea. Not only will it be easier to pull off the songs live but this adds so much potential for vocal innovation on their next albums! That’s something to get excited about!
Anyone else here the club music at 1:55? Hehe, Scar Symmetry partying to Timbaland :)
All I can utter now – those two are fucking awesome!
Talented and versatile he may be, but Christian’s “come HITHER” look is a bit forced, no?
Holographic felt to me like it was an hour of trying to rewrite “The Illusionist” and perhaps “Kaleidoscopic God.” As much as I love, love, love the sound of Älvestam’s voice, this band does need a change, because they’re just going to rehash if they stay with him.
I’d love to know more about the terms of his leaving. But I guess it’s “personal reasons,” huh?
[...] Scar Symmetry hire two new vocalists to take the place of [...]
The fact that they had to hire TWO vocalists to replace one truly is a testament to the talent of Christian Alvestam. I just hope that Alvestam’s depature isn’t quality music’s depature too.