…Star Trek fan fiction
Review by Dan O’Brien
Release date: 3 October 2014
The art of a concept album is a difficult mix to pull off. You can go one of two routes, the Song for the Deaf approach which sees the albums tracks tied together by a singular narrative whilst not losing sight of the fact that this was meant to be an album in the first place. Or a band could go down the Rush 2112 route where the concept overtakes the album and though the music might be impressive most people have been left behind by the album’s narrative.
I fear melodic death metallers Scar Symmetry may have crashed face first into the second option with their new album The Singularity, Phase 1: Neohumanity, the first in a three-part conceptual album trilogy focusing on humankind interacting with artificial intelligence following the setting up of an artificial brain company. Now just from the premise alone the warning signs that you are heading kicking and screaming into the world of science fiction worthy of Doctor Who should be flashing and in truth they would be right for doing so.
The narrative, which is pretty incomprehensive runs through an album, which at points is made up of pretty decent at times melodic death metal; however this match is quickly destroyed by an influx of power metal keyboards to the mix. This pretty much kills what enjoyment I had of the album from the start as the synthesized sound pierced through the death metal wall like a machete and inflicted a barrage of annoying bleeps and screams throughout the rest of the record.
Though at points containing some good death metal riffs, The Singularity, Phase 1: Neohumanity is a concept album that is killed almost stone dead by its own concept. The album has promise but the narrative kills what praise I could give it with its incomprehensible B move style. Sadly the band set out to deliver a profound album and has produced what Crack the Skye would have sounded like if it was written as Star Trek fan fiction.
4 out of 10
Track listing:
- The Shape of Things to Come
- Neohuman
- Limits to Infinity
- Cryonic Harvest
- The Spiral Timeshift
- Children of the Integrated Circuit (instrumental)
- Neuromancers
- Technocalyptic Cybergeddon
