Sometimes you look at an album’s cover and you know what you’re going to get. Others make you think. This nicely-packaged album suggested something psychologically deranged but progressive, something angst-ridden but carefully crafted. That bit of fun over, I read up on Scarred and learned that they are from Luxembourg and this is their third album over broadly a twenty-year period. The other things I read were that this is a concept album with sections re-emerging “much like a Pink Floyd album”. I learnt that it is Death Metal based with melodic, atmospheric and psychedelic elements. Better listen to it, then.
Unexpectedly the start is like a Burzum soundscape with an extra-terrestrial dimension. This transforms into a lush and technical scheme. Death metal at its core as advertised, there’s an electronic buzz driving it along. But this is heavy and urgent, and not unlike Darkane at this moment. The scene transforms again as the dust settles and a lingering atmosphere descends over us. A choir reinforces the ethereal nature. “Mirage” is a hefty statement, as too is “A.D…Something”, the nearest we have had so far to pure death metal. It’s not the sludgy type. It drives forward with a deep pungent riff, develops progressively and then the clouds darken again. “Prisms” gives us an instrumental atmospheric break from this death metal assault, and transforms nicely into the stomping melody of “Merry-Go-Round” – a hint of Soilwork here, I thought. By this stage the album has taken a turn into darker territory, without losing sight of its progressive-death core. “Nothing Instead” is one of the more interesting tracks, structurally and atmospherically. As “Prisms” before it, “In Silent Darkness” provides an atmospheric boost and stimulated me more in truth than much of the rest of it. It’s more than a filler or a link. Instead, it develops a rich rhythm not unlike Opeth. “A.H.a.l.a” captures this album a little bit for me – a straight line death metal assault is interrupted by an electrifying and spine-chilling passage with what sounds like a Native Indian chant. The title stands for “As Happy As I Am”. I was enticed into checking the lyrics, which are enigmatic and deeply disturbing. “Lua” provides a gentle antidote, before we turn to deathly dinginess. A reflective section takes us into Opethian vibes and it has become exciting. The urgent, energetic mood then told me that “Petrichor” had something important to say – the corollary of this is that other parts, while technically interesting imbued in me a sense of going through the motions. It’s not so easy to keep focus and intensity for 56 minutes and here’s evidence of it. “Petrichor” itself has a theme which anyone following progressive music will recognise: “Run Endure Survive … I’ve been swimming circles round my false self”.
I did as suggested and listened to “Scarred” continuously from beginning to end. The styles and moods change, which is fine, but I can’t say I really felt continuity. I didn’t find it joined-up and it didn’t really live up to the billing that I read. On the credit side, I was as if Scarred the band were experimenting beyond the core death metal style. And the more experimental it was, the more interesting it was as a listening experience.
(7/10 Andrew Doherty)
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