Progressive death metallers SCAR SYMMETRY, recently released their much anticipated fourth outing, "Dark Matter Dimensions", and with this effort they have provenance and for all that the band and its distinctive sound are here to stay. The new album has received rave reviews all over the net, and continues to pull in new fans as the band presents its new lineup to the greater masses of the Metal community.

"Dark Matter Dimensions" comes to us only a little over a year after your last effort. How hard was it for the band to keep their spirits up with Christian leaving so soon after the release of "Holographic Universe"?

"It wasn't hard to keep our spirits up because we had to kick Christian out in order to secure the band's survival. The vibe was getting really bad in the band around the release of 'Holographic Universe' and we simply had to do something about it. You can read all about it in our statements on the internet. So once we got a new lineup together we were actually more inspired and hungry than ever!"

Can you describe the vocalist auditioning process? How long into the auditions did it take until you found your replacements?

"We auditioned singers on and off but when Roberth and Lars came to the studio we immediately clicked on both a musical and a personal level. It was one of those moments when you go: 'Alright! This is it!' So we tried like five singers before Roberth and Lars came in for audition and we also had some people from other countries who were in established bands that wanted to join. But bringing in someone from another country was never a serious option for us since it becomes a little bit problematic with such long distances."

Can you describe what the new guys bring to the table? How has the chemistry within the band changed since hiring them?

"They've brought their awesome voices and personalities to the table and that's exactly what we needed. The chemistry is very harmonic now since the new guys are such easy-going and cool people, we're like brothers from different mothers basically. So we've gone from a situation where everyone in the band was more or less frustrated to a situation where we're all on the same level."

"Dark Matter Dimensions" is a very important effort for the band. Can you talk about the overall sound of the album? How does it differ from previous works, and what elements remain intact?

"This album is more in-your-face and organic sounding compared to, for example, 'Holographic Universe'. We felt that we lost some edge and aggression on the previous album, mainly because of too much clean vocals, and we wanted to take all of that back on 'Dark Matter Dimensions'. So with the new album it feels like we're back on track and we've taken the necessary steps forward while still keeping the trademarks of our sound intact. I think that 'Dark Matter Dimensions' is more Metal than anything we've ever done and it has more attitude than any of the other albums."

The new album has been out for a few weeks now, how have fan reactions been?

"The response has been amazing! Some people were suspicious about the new lineup and some even counted us out totally, but I think we changed the attitude of most of those negative people with the new album. We had a great response from the crowds when we did the European tour in November and I think that the fans know by now that we are still an awesome band. So we're pleased with the reactions of the new album and we feel that we're a better band than ever."

Is it true that one of the reasons for the split with Alvestam was that SCAR SYMMETRY wanted to be more of a touring band? Do you expect to be doing a lot more shows as a result of the new lineup and material?

"I mean, we've been a touring band since 2006 and we just wanted to continue that path and grow bigger and better with every year. But it seemed like Christian didn't really want to do that since he started to turn down tours and individual shows for no apparent reason. This behavior started around the release of 'Holographic Universe' and we felt we had to let him go in order to continue being an active band. If we hadn't done that we would probably have disbanded by now... We simply weren't on the same level anymore and what we did was the best thing for everyone involved."

SCAR SYMMETRY is a moniker that seems to be increasing in popularity with each release. What is it about your music that you believe resonates most with fans in the Metal community?

"That's hard to answer. We create music that we like and we try to do our best to write good songs and keep a high quality on everything from instrumentation to song structures to lyrics. We never limit ourselves and that means that we have a wide spectrum of influences and that in turn allow us to write all kinds of songs and still make it sound like SCAR SYMMETRY. That makes the music interesting and never boring or monotone. I guess that has something to do with our growing fanbase. We are also very passionate and sincere about what we do, which is important. But we still have self-distance and we don't take what we do TOO seriously. That's why can keep a big dose of humor when we play our music. We're not the most evil Metal band in the world and we don't try to be either. I think people appreciate that."

The last two efforts have had a more progressive atmosphere to them. Can we expect this to continue on future releases?

"I'm not so sure you can count on that, but it's really too early to say anything specific about the next release. We'll always keep the progressive element in our music but whether it will surface more of less on the next album is impossible to tell at this point. It depends on how we feel when we write the songs for the next album and where we are mentally at that point in time. But right now I feel that we might go for something a little bit different next time around...and that's really all I can say about it."

Any other thoughts on the future?

"Yeah, well, we're just about to release a new video. It'll be the second video for this album. We're planning to shoot a third video around New Year's Eve. We'll continue supporting 'Dark Matter Dimensions' through live-shows and we're still doing interviews for the new album so I think that the future is looking good for the band. We're looking forward to go out on the road again and meet our loyal fans that keep supporting what we do. We really appreciate our fans and we are very aware of the fact that we would be nothing without them. Thanks!" [FIN]