In 2014, the first album in Scar Symmetry’s ongoing Singularity trilogy imagined a near-future where artificial intelligence is the world’s biggest business. In the nine years since, Boston Dynamics and ChatGPT have tip-toed humanity ever-closer to Skynet. Here, the band’s response to dystopia drawing nearer is a refreshing dose of normalcy. Phase II is precisely what fans starved of new music for almost a decade would want to hear. It’s the same mix of prog, melodeath and power metal that the band have built since 2008’s Holographic Universe, where flamboyant choruses, virtuoso solos, growled verses and the odd Meshuggah-ish guitar chug are the core components. On Scorched Quadrant and the title track especially, Scar Symmetry sound as victorious as ever. ■■■■■■■□□□