Establishing the mood with a dramatic and visceral guitar soundscape, expanding with textured drums and melodic intrigue, Scars open World Breathing Fire with instrumental mastery and a bold, death metal sound. The Norwegian band shares the somewhat conscious and fantastical lyrics, “A light in the shadows, a distant hope, a place where there is no evil, no lies or games, and no more pain…”
We immediately connect with the concept of the song and the journey that Scars are taking us on. For sure, there is a sense of darkness here, but also a longing for something better. In that sense the song feels super zeitgeist, and although presented through the lens of death metal, there is something deeply consciously astute here.
The band describes a world where greed has become a dangerous spell and power rests in the hands of mad kings. This is highly representative of our current shared reality. It’s a picture that feels super familiar. Yet rather than surrendering to the chaos, we are invited to search for a place where wounds can heal and hope can still exist. It’s dramatic and cinematic but intentional.
As the band put it, the song moves from “the longing to find somewhere wounds can heal to a world burning around us.” That really captures the experience. Fans of Machine Head, Testament, Lamb of God, Gojira and Trivium will find lots to connect with here.
For a sync placement, we could imagine World Breathing Fire landing in a film like Mad Max: Fury Road, The Dark Knight, Children of Men, The Matrix, Dune and V for Vendetta. On television, it could fit well into The Last of Us, Peaky Blinders, The Walking Dead, See or Black Summer.
Hailing from Fredrikstad, Norway, we learn that Scars were formed in 2013 by vocalist and guitarist Ole Olsen. The current line-up also features Lars Stian Havrås on bass and backing vocals, Robin Larsen on lead guitar, and Geir Olsen on drums and backing vocals. World Breathing Fire is the title track from their fourth album, arriving on 27 November. Across eleven tracks, the band is set to confront greed, abuse of power, religious manipulation, loss and the struggle to keep going.
Needless to say, World Breathing Fire is a powerful reminder of our current state of being, and we have added the track to our New Music Spotlight playlist and our TIMELESS and TRIPPY playlists, whilst we anticipate the band’s upcoming album release, and explore their already growing discography.