Scar Symmetry: Per Nilson
Brent C. is new to the WTD Mafia. He’s pretty green as a writer, so we decided to task him with his first ever interview. Scar Symmetry’s man behind the riffs, Per Nilson, seemed willing to help Brent break his interview cherry. Scar Symmetry’s new album, Pitch Black Progress, is out now on Nuclear Blast. It’s a damn fine release…from what we hear. Maybe NB will hook us up with a copy to review (hint, hint).
White Trash Devil: Hello.
Per Nilson: Hello, this is Per Nilson from Scar Symmetry.
WTD: Ok, well let’s get right into it then…
Per: What is this “White Trash Devil”? I tried to log on, but my browser is down.
WTD: Oh, we’re an online metal zine.
Per: Oh, ok!
WTD: So, how’s life?
Per: Very Good! I just came home today, I’ve been recording a demo with a new band?
WTD: Which new band?
Per: No name yet, but with Henrik and the vocalist of “The Story Teller”.
WTD: First of all, congrats on the success of Pitch Black Progress. Everyone in the world loves that album.
Per: Yes, for some reason. (laughs)
WTD: For those who don’t know, who is Scar Symmetry and what are you all about?
Per: Scar Symmetry is basically prog melodic death metal band.
WTD: Y’know, a lot of people roll their eyes in boredom upon hearing a new melodic death/thrash metal band. What do you have to offer that other bands don’t?
Per: Great melody! A lot more of the melodic parts, sometimes we’re so melodic, we’re not even death metal anymore.
WTD: I just gotta say though, you released that follow up in such a short time span since you released the first one, how’d ya do it? Did everything just click?
Per: Yeah, it was just inspiration, it wasn’t hard at all. It’s not just me who writes though we all contribute equally! Me and the other guitarist basically write the music. Jonas writes the vocal melodies and Henrik takes care of the lyrics. We wrote most of the songs in just two weeks.
WTD: Two weeks? It turned out great though.
Per: Thanks, I think so too.
WTD: Now don’t get me wrong, I thought Pitch Black Progress was amazing, but are you 100% satisfied with the results? If you could change anything about that album, would you?
Per: No, nothing, I am totally satisfied. With Symmetric In Design, I was 97% satisfied, but this time, 100%.
WTD: I know it’s early, but are there plans for a new album and if so, what can we expect from it?
Per: No, no plans yet. Maybe sometime next year though.
WTD: Can you see Scar Symmtery changing their sound a little?
Per: Yes, perhaps a little but not too much. We can still explore the style that we’re in and the sound but go further. We have so many different components and we can do a lot of cool stuff with it.
WTD: How’s Nuclear Blast treating ya?
Per: They are treating us like kings. (laughs) They have been absolutely amazing for us so far.
WTD: You guys have been clumped down as melodic death metal, how do you feel about that?
Per: Well, a lot of the time we are definitely melo death but there are some parts of our music that just cant be labeled. But still it’s mostly death so its appropriate.
WTD: How’s the Neckbreakers Ball tour going?
Per: Oh, that was in April.
WTD: Oh…well, how did that work out for ya?
Per: It was an awesome experience. All the guys in the other bands were great to hang out with, it was really nice to se Soilwork and Hypocrisy play every night, they put on a hell of a show.
WTD: You guys are touring with some of the biggest bands in metal right now. I gotta know, who do you find awesome? Is there anyone you would like to tour with?
Per: Yeah, I would like to tour with Symphony X!
WTD: Yeah they’re great.
Per: It’d be cool to hang with them every night and watch them play. But it might be better for Scar Symmetry to tour with Metallica or some big band and get exposed to bigger crowds.
WTD: How did the video shoot go for “The Illusonist”?
Per: It was an experience because we had to go to Serbia to shoot it. Serbia is kind of a poor and isolated country after the wars, so it was kinda weird. The production team was Serbian, that’s why we had to go there. They took us to the recording studio which was situated in the industry area and uhhh… (long pause) I can’t find the right word. You can see everyone is so poor though and it was a heartening experience. And then, you have the studio with the blue screen that we performed with…
WTD: Are you making a living off of the band or do you have a day job too?
Per: We all have day time jobs, we haven’t seen any money at all. Hopefully it will change. I don’t think there are a lot of bands out there today that make lot of money. Even big bands still have a hard time.
WTD: A lot of people say you sold out on Pitch Black Progress by incorporating too many modern elements into it, what do you think of that?
Per: I don’t know, I don’t even know what parts on the album are modern, we just write what we like.
WTD: I always wondered, what exactly does your band name symbolize? Does it even have a meaning?
Per: Yeah, it has some kind of a yin-yang shit going on. It’s Henrik who came up with the name. I’m not too familiar with that stuff.
WTD: Pitch Black Progress seems to have a much darker sound than your previous album, was this what you were aiming for?
Per: Yes. But also, there are parts of Pitch Black Progress that are happy too. I think the new album goes further in both directions. It’s more melodic and yet more aggressive.
WTD: Going into the studio, were there any differences in recording compared to last time?
Per: Not really, no major ones. we used two speaker cannons for the guitar instead of one. Just small stuff like that.
WTD: Which track are you most pleased with from the new album? Any track you’re disappointed in?
Per: The first five tracks came out great. That’s why their at the front. I also think that “Kaleidoscopic God” came out great, it has lots of shit going on.
WTD: It sure does!
Per: And I’m not really disappointed with any of the tracks, they were all good.
WTD: What’s the best song you ever listened too?
Per: “The Accolade” by Symphony X! It has so much going on.
WTD: You’re an excellent guitarist…you’ve got skill! For those of us who want to know, can you give a brief biography of yourself…influences, what bands have you been in…
Per: I’ve been playing for twenty-two years, and I’m influenced by Kiss, Yngwie, Metallica, and in early 90’s I started liking Martey Friedmen and Greg Howel…rock and jazz fusion players.
WTD: Outside of music, what other interests do you have?
Per: Not many…I’m into cooking. I like cooking nice meals now and then, but basically guitar.
WTD: If you could punch anyone in the world, who would you punch in the face?
Per: ...
WTD: I know, it’s a weird question.
Per: I’ve done 100’s of interviews, I get questions like that. On my last interview I answered George Bush.
WTD: I totally agree, that guy should get knocked out.
Per: But not very hard, I’m a peaceful person.
WTD: What do you hope will become of Scar Symmetry? What do you hope the future holds?
Per: I hope that we could make it to the next level with a bit of money rolling in so we can quit our day jobs and get some income, but I don’t think we’ll ever be millionaires. But it would be cool to be able to concentrate 100% on the music.
WTD: What are your thoughts on religion?
Per: I think it offers comfort and stuff like that to a lot of people, but it’s also the cause of so many of the bad things in the world like wars, because of religion. You shouldn’t take it too seriously.
WTD: Any plans on touring the North Americas someday?
Per: No plans right now but, but we’d LOVE too come over there. Where are you right now?
WTD: Canada.
Per: Oh well that’s great, we’d love to tour there too!
WTD: So you said there was a new band going on with you and Henrik. The new band, what’s it like?
Per: It’s kind of like a more straight forward Symphony X but more straight forward.
WTD: Signed to a label yet?
Per: No, but it’s always been a dream for me to have a band like that! I guess sooner or later we’ll do an album.
WTD: Ok, you’ve got a few seconds left, say anything you want!
Per: No, I have no comments.
WTD: Alright, thanks for the interview, good luck with the band and everything else!
Per: Thanks, you take care.
Link: scarsymmetry.com
Brent C. | 06/28/2006