Massive Scar Era is a metal band with Egyptian oriented influences, introducing pre-colonial Egyptian music to the sound while celebrating the Egyptian identity. The band’s sound features a violin which heavily utilizes Egyptian scales and microtones which according to the band’s bio, does not follow the guidelines set by the Cairo Music Conference (1932), held during the British Colonization of Egypt. As political as that may all sound, Massive Era Scar are musically unique and interesting and that’s exactly what their new EP “Color Blind” is all about.
The obvious comparison to new sensation Jinjer is going to be made, let’s get that out of the way right now before the elephant in the room takes up too much space here. But aside from the fact that Massive Scar Era have been around for well over 10 years, the band have also got more of a prog rock sound than the heavier stylings of metalcore and such. With a dab of Dream Theater, and some hints of Lacuna Coil and Nightwish, plus the addition of some unique features with stringed and percussive instruments makes this a fascinating listen.
The first track of this EP, “Color Blind” was accompanied by a music video earlier in the year and it’s only fitting as it incorporates a lot of what you will hear on this recording through each track. Starting with stringed notes and strong melodic vocals, it comes across as a little poppy in the beginning before things switch up and the band pulls what could be considered a “Jinjer”, made famous by the blend of heavy and growling vocals by the Ukrainian metalcore act and which catches many listeners by surprise. Here the prog element is more at the heart of the bands core sound rather than a straight up clean/heavy rhythm which makes their approach a little more seamless and less fractured than the usual metalcore bands. It also doesn’t come across with any shock factor, it just kind of makes sense in a way and while it’s a little more dramatic sounding than melodic rock, it’s also more palatable at the same time.
“Unfollow” comes in right after with double kicks jumping into action right away as the violin plays the backbeat to it’s rhythmic tones. It’s the use of the violin here that really makes it’s mark with the middle eastern sounds driven by the instrument that play a major role in this Dream Theater-ish track, the elements of prog and melodic rock combined result in a thrilling listen. The growls take a backseat and only come in sporadically but just enough to make it well noticed and that continues into “Oblivious“, a melodic prog rock song with a nice groove and hooky rhythms. Cherine Amr’s vocals is a main focus point here as she delivers her best performance on this release with memorable melodic lines that stick in your head incessantly.
A short instrumental piece featuring an Egyptian flute acts as an interlude before the final song closes the EP out, a breathing, tribalistic soundscape that sounds like it could be found on some mellowed out stoner rock album. The finale comes in the form of “Rogue“, which despite the harsher vocals kicking in this last track, is more of a melodic affair with some flavored proggy moments heading towards the latter part of the song, but also driven by the heavier vocals. It rounds out this EP nicely and gives you something in the way of craving a little bit more of the band which is what any band should be striving for. “Color Blind” is a good way to sink into the band initially and has huge potential to open up some fantastic opportunities should this find it’s way to the right people.
TRACKLIST
Color Blind
Unfollow
Oblivious
Interlude
Rogue
