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Melodic Swedish death metallers Scar Symmetry recently released their third studio album titled ‘Holographic Universe’ via Nuclear Blast Records. The band’s latest album has received praise from metal critics around the world since its release last month and has helped push Scar Symmetry further onto the global metal map! Forming back in 2004 the band has grown from strength to strength, and early on a gathering of crazed fans in Europe and North America helped spread the word to the rest of the world that Scar Symmetry were here and that they meant business. The band’s debut album ‘Symmetric in Design’ was released in 2005 and was followed up soon after by their smashing melodic metal masterpiece ‘Pitch Black Progress’. Although the album didn’t receive commercial chart success, the album sold very well and kept Scar Symmetry out on the road with bands Dark Tranquillity, Soilwork and The Haunted.
A little over two years on, the band returned to the studio to record what is being hailed as Scar Symmetry’s most musically diverse album to date. ‘Holographic Universe’ shows just how much the band has grown musically since their last release and with bone crunching tracks like ‘Timewave Zero’, ‘Fear Catalyst’, and ‘Morphogenesis’ it is easy to see just why metal fans are rushing out to get the band’s latest album! I recently had the pleasure of catching up with Scar Symmetry’s thunderous skins-man Henrik Ohlsson to discuss the band’s latest album, growing up in Sweden, his drumming abilities and influences and much more.
Join us in ‘The Three-Dimensional Shadow’ as we discuss the ‘Holographic Universe’ with Henrik Ohlsson.
INSIDE OUT: Hey Henrik, I want to thank you for taking the time out to answer these questions for our readers today. How are things going mate?
HENRIK OHLSSON: Everything`s great, thank you very much. The new album is finally out, couldn`t be better!
INSIDE OUT: Mate, I want to congratulate you on the release of ‘Holographic Universe’! There is no doubt that it’s the best work you have bought out to date, no doubt you were all happy with the outcome?
HENRIK OHLSSON: Yeah, we`re very happy with it. I think we managed to get even more catchy and yet at the same time we`re also more progressive than ever. Balancing those components is a tough balance act but I think we managed to do it pretty well.
INSIDE OUT: I agree! Looking back over the recording process now, is there anything you would have changed?
HENRIK OHLSSON: Nah, we don`t really think like that. Every album is what it is and it`s like a monument over where we are at a specific point in the band`s evolution. As a band and as a musician you tend to evolve in some way all the time but that doesn`t mean we want to change the past, cause without the past we can`t be what we are today. We`ll just try to do an even better job next time around!
INSIDE OUT: How did you push each other musically and creatively to get the best results possible for the new album?
HENRIK OHLSSON: Jonas, our guitarist and producer, kind of pushed us all to perform as good as possible but other than that we tried to keep the creative flow as natural as possible. If you push too hard you become too conscious of what you`re doing and from a creative standpoint that isn`t necessarily a good thing. The reason for that is simply that you start to over-analyze what you´re doing and it`s better to have an “it`s only rock`n roll”-attitude in the back of your mind and just go with the flow. Personally I felt really inspired throughout the recording and I think this was the most fun Scar Symmetry-album to record so far in our career.
INSIDE OUT: ‘Pitch Black Progress’ was released back in 2006 and since then you have been promoting that album out on the road. Approximately eighteen months on how hard is it to get motivated to piece together ideas for new songs before hitting the studio?
HENRIK OHLSSON: It`s never been a problem to come up with material in this band, the ideas just keep pouring out. So we were really eager to enter the studio again because two years is a fucking long wait for us, we`re used to record a new album every year.
INSIDE OUT: In a few words can you tell us the first thing that comes to mind when I mention the following tracks from ‘Holographic Universe’…
Timewave Zero: One of my favourites! It has sort of a power ballad quality with death metal influences and progressive elements thrown in here and there.
Artificial Sun Project: The 80’s heavy metal hymn of the album. We have one of those on every album, “Obscure Alliance” on “Symmetric in Design” and “Oscillation Point” on “Pitch black progress”. And now “Artificial Sun Projection” on “Holographic Universe”!
Quantumleaper: Some King Diamond-vocals that apparently raised a few eye-brows... I love King Diamond. And the song is awesome. An up-tempo composition for those about to rock!
Fear catalyst: A groovy tune with some unexpected turns, it may not stand out as much as the tracks above but it sure has its place on the album.
INSIDE OUT: ‘Quantumleaper’ is by far my favorite song on the new album, is it too early for you to have a stand out track?
HENRIK OHLSSON: My favourite songs change all the time but my current faves are “Timewave Zero” and the title track, “Holographic Universe”.
INSIDE OUT: How much involvement did you have in selecting the tunes which made the final cut on the new album?
HENRIK OHLSSON: We recorded thirteen songs and one was left out, but I didn`t decide which one to exclude. I think Jonas or Christian did that.
INSIDE OUT: Henrik as a drummer did you approach ‘Holographic Universe’ in a different way to previous releases?
HENRIK OHLSSON: No, not really. But the situation was kind of different because we had toured a lot before entering the studio this time, so the band was more secure and sure about how to do things. It feels more like a band nowadays and we`re used to play together and all that, when we recorded the first two albums we had never toured and well... I think we did like three shows between “Symmetric...” and “Pitch black...”. When we went to the studio this time we had done two European tours and two US-tours, plus a bunch of festivals. I think you can hear that we`re a tighter unit and better musicians than ever on this album.
INSIDE OUT: There is no doubt that you’re an amazing drummer! How long did it take you to lay down all the tracks for the new album?
HENRIK OHLSSON: Well, thank you! It took a little over a week, nine days maybe. Something like that!
INSIDE OUT: Mate I want to speak to you about life on the road… Can you remember the hardest time you had as an opening act?
HENRIK OHLSSON: Yeah, the hardest time was probably on the first tour, “Neckbreaker’s Ball”. We were really inexperienced with the whole touring thing and on some dates they printed the wrong time on the tickets so people thought that we started playing thirty minutes later than we actually did. And our playing time was around 25 minutes... That meant that the audience came in during the last two songs, which sucked big time. But we still had a blast on that tour, everything was so exciting and new since it was our first tour. So even though there was some misunderstandings regarding the time schedule we had a good time.
INSIDE OUT: Over the last few years the metal scene has been thriving in Australia and we have been seeing many of the world’s greatest bands touring here, some for the very first time! Are there any plans in the works for a Scar Symmetry Australian tour?
HENRIK OHLSSON: We actually talked about going to Australia a year ago, but something got in the way. We went on our first US-tour around that time and the schedules collided or something like that. But we`ll come over as soon as we get a good offer, no doubt about it.
INSIDE OUT: Henrik, you have shared the stage with so many great bands. Who have you enjoyed touring with the most?
HENRIK OHLSSON: We’ve had a great time with all the headliners that we`ve toured with. Especially Hypocrisy, Soilwork, Dark Tranquillity, The Haunted and Katatonia have been great to tour with.
INSIDE OUT: Tell us, what is your most embarrassing onstage moment?
HENRIK OHLSSON: Well, once the “drum-cage” that held all the cymbals and toms collapsed during a show and that was kind of embarrassing. But then again you learn a lot from experiences like that, you learn to improvise whatever happens [laughs]. The thing you don`t do is stop playing, that`s a big no-no. Another embarrassing moment happened during the last show of the “Metal for the masses”-tour, the road crew decided to re-arrange my cymbals during the last song and I just sat there playing and couldn`t do a goddamn thing about it... But we managed to get through the song anyway. A lot of shit happens during the last show of a tour, lots of practical jokes etc...
INSIDE OUT: [laughs] I don’t doubt that mate! Henrik, as a drummer, do you do anything specific to warm up and prepare for a show?
HENRIK OHLSSON: Sometimes I listen to the click-tracks and play along with them before the show, that way I get to play the whole set before we actually enter the stage and if I can play the songs with only click and keyboards as support then I can be pretty sure that I know the songs by heart. But I only do that if we haven`t played live in a while. Other than that I just do some stretching and some warm-up playing by sitting on a chair and hammering in the air basically.
INSIDE OUT: When the time comes to work out the set list, do you find it hard to choose the right songs, I mean, there will always be fans who want to hear the old stuff and the occasional obscure song and of course you have to play some new tracks. Do you find it hard to make a set that is for fans of all eras?
HENRIK OHLSSON: Well, we pretty much know which ones that are good live-songs, at least those from the two first albums. Now we have a new album out and we`ll have to try that material and see what works best in a live-situation. Sometimes people THINK they want to hear a song like, say, “Dreaming 24/7, but since that isn`t a good live-song people tend to just stand there and watch when we play that particular song. We want the audience to go crazy when we play our material so “Dreaming 24/7” was a song we excluded from the set when we had tried it a few times. But I think we have a good balance in our set-lists, there`s faster songs combined with heavier stuff and we always play songs like “The Illusionist”, you know, songs that everyone seems to like.
INSIDE OUT: Is there one show that you'd recall as the worst show you have ever played?
HENRIK OHLSSON: Yeah, during our first US-tour we played in a city, or a town is maybe a better name for it, which name I won`t mention to protect the...innocent.
INSIDE OUT: [Laughs]!
HENRIK OHLSSON: Anyway, the crowd just stood there watching in total apathy and the apathy remained from the first band to the last! I mean, I can understand if some people don`t really care about the opening act but to not even react when the headliners enter the stage...what is that?
INSIDE OUT: [laughs] Yeah man that is a little out there! Since the band formed you have played with many amazing rock and metal bands. Who is the one band you would like to hit the road with?
HENRIK OHLSSON: Judas Priest! Or some other eighties heavy metal giant. If that isn`t possible for some reason then Arch Enemy would also be cool to tour with. Or perhaps Avenged Sevenfold.
INSIDE OUT: Mate, we have hit that part of the interview where our readers want to find out more about the real you! What was the very first concert you attended and how much of an impact did it have on you musically?
HENRIK OHLSSON: The first show I went to, that wasn`t a local show, was Kreator on the “Coma of Souls”-tour in 1990. Death was the support act (without Chuck Schuldiner! The so called “Fuck Chuck”-tour...). The guitarist in Death at that point was Walter from Rotting Corpse and he actually drove our tour-bus in the States in 2007! How cool is that? Anyway, seeing Kreator back then was amazing, I was so inspired by the whole thing and it is something that I remember to this day as a very cool experience.
INSIDE OUT: What have your parents thought about the music you played?
HENRIK OHLSSON: They actually like Scar Symmetry, aside from the death metal-vocals, otherwise they haven`t really understood the music that I`ve been playing throughout the years. I mean, I`ve been playing mostly extreme metal and my parents can understand bands like KISS and appreciate that kind of music but nothing more brutal than that. So they`ve been very supportive but they just can`t understand death metal. That was probably one of the reasons why I started playing it [laughs].
INSIDE OUT: [Laughs] Tell us about your upbringing in Sweden… were you the “Weird long haired kid in school”, did you aspire from an early age to become a drummer or were your goals very different?
HENRIK OHLSSON: In the eighties, when I grew up, heavy metal was the shit and everyone liked that kind of music. So it wasn`t that weird to have semi-long hair and enjoy bands like Kiss, Mötley Crue and W.A.S.P. But during high-school when death metal entered my life I guess I became sort of a weird long-haired guy dressed in black, you know. Cause Morbid Angel, Deicide and Obituary was never meant for the “normal” people, if you know what I mean. But at the same time that was what made it all so special, when you`re fifteen years old you don`t want to be normal. And well...I still don`t want to be normal. I`ve always been very fascinated by music and I`ve wanted to be a musician for as long as I can remember, and when I was around fifteen years old I knew that drums was the instrument for me because I had played drums for a couple of years and I was pretty good at it.
INSIDE OUT: What is the one album that changed your life?
HENRIK OHLSSON: When I was eight years old I heard Kiss “Lick it up” and that`s when I knew that metal was the music for me. Later on I heard Morbid Angel “Altars of Madness” and that album blew away all the musical boundaries, when I heard that album I understood that you can do anything with music.
INSIDE OUT: There has been so many highlights in your career, what would you say have been your greatest achievements to date?
HENRIK OHLSSON: Well, going to the United States for the first time was definitely a huge achievement. That`s something that I`ve been dreaming about for many, many years.
INSIDE OUT: Who have you been surprised to learn is a fan of you work?
HENRIK OHLSSON: I`ve been surprised by the fact that our fans can be forty five years old or ten years old, we have such a wide spectrum of fans and that is so cool. So judging from that I`m more surprised when people DON`T like our music than when they do like it [laughs].
INSIDE OUT: What’s the craziest rumor you had ever heard about yourself and or the band?
HENRIK OHLSSON: That we sound like Soilwork [laughs]! That`s a crazy rumor right there.
INSIDE OUT: [Laughs] yeah it is, you can certainly tell the difference between you both! Mate, tell us something about the other guys in the band that we may not know!
HENRIK OHLSSON: Christian is a nurse and Kenneth is a garden-designer, how about that? The fact that Per is an amazing cook is also a little know fact. And Jonas, well...he doesn`t really have any secrets. I mean, we all have secrets that we can`t tell you about but...you know what I mean!
INSIDE OUT: [Laughs] yeah I get ya! I want to ask you a few quick questions in regards to drumming. I too have been drumming for a few years and was inspired by drummers such as Eric Carr, Charlie Benante and Igor Cavalera. Who inspired you to pick up the sticks?
HENRIK OHLSSON: Eric Carr was definitely an inspiration for me as well in the beginning! And well...Tommy Lee and Mikkey Dee was also an inspiration as well as Lars Ulrich in the early days. I`ve always liked drummers who has a bigger role than usual in bands. But later on drummers like Sean Reinert and Snowy Shaw took it all to a different level for me playing-wise.
INSIDE OUT: Using only five words: How would you describe your drumming technique?
HENRIK OHLSSON: Chaotic, playful, with lots of improvisation. This may not be the descriptions that people expect from me when they listen to Scar Symmetry but I am restricted to a certain extent when I play with Scar Symmetry compared to how I played in Theory In Practice or Altered Aeon for example, I`ve learned to use more of a groove-based playing in this band because this band is more about groove than technicality. But my natural style is to play chaotic and confusing [laughs].
INSIDE OUT: Describe your dream kit to us?
HENRIK OHLSSON: I don`t know...three bass-drums, ten toms of different sizes, two chinas on both sides and maybe ten more cymbals of different kinds. An ice-bell and a gong would be nice. I`m thinking arena and eighties heavy metal when you say “dream-kit”, ok? I won`t disclose name brands since I`m currently negotiating endorsement-deals.
INSIDE OUT: That’s fine mate, sounds like a mean kit! These days it seems many drummers are just trying to outdo each other by playing faster than the last and most no longer have a unique signature sound. What advice do you have for drummers who are trying to come up with their own unique techniques in a genre where so much has already been done?
HENRIK OHLSSON: Don`t rely upon theory so much, I think that “schooled” drummers often sound boring without much imagination in their playing. And I know what music-schools are usually like...they`re often boring without any sense of imagination! Play with intuition and “feel” instead and you`ll see that a signature sound emerges without effort. And play a lot! Create songs by yourself and record them every now and then, because then you`re practicing without really knowing it. It never gets boring that way.
INSIDE OUT: Henrik, if you were to stop playing tomorrow, what would you be doing?
HENRIK OHLSSON: I would become a spiritual guru.
INSIDE OUT: Just before we wrap it up mate the new album ‘Holographic Universe’ is out now and you guys will be hitting the road soon to promote it, what else lies ahead? Do you guys have a Dvd on the way? Are you already writing for the next album?
HENRIK OHLSSON: We`ve talked loosely about a DVD but nothing`s confirmed at this point. Jonas has already written some new riffs so there`s definitely new ideas for songs already. We`ve recorded a video for the song “Morphogenesis” a few weeks ago and that one should be available on the internet very soon!
INSIDE OUT: Mate, lastly a question I ask of everyone I interview… What is the one band you never want to hear again and why?
HENRIK OHLSSON: Metallica. That`s the name that comes to mind, but it`s not really true since I like some of their early albums. But I think they`ve lost everything that made them good back in the 80s...
INSIDE OUT: Mate to be honest I have to agree with that myself! Henrik, thanks again for taking the time out to answer these for our readers, I wish you all the best out on the road and hope we see you in Australia very soon. Do you have any last words for our readers?
HENRIK OHLSSON: Cheers to all the Australian fans out there, your support is very much appreciated! Hope to see you on the road someday!
© Cameron Edney July 2008
Not to be published in any form without written permission.
The latest killer Scar Symmetry album ‘Holographic Universe’ is out now via Nuclear Blast / Riot Entertainment!
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