Secret of Darkness dropped us a mail recently pointing us at their recently released album, Secret of Darkness. A band we’ve not heard of before? Of course we’re interested!
Hailing from Prague, Secret of Darkness brand themselves as melodic death and you don’t need to listen to the album for long to hear both the melody and the death. Opener and title track “Blacksun Rising” is instrumental and very “melo” for most of its length… and then the abrasive guitars kick in as it flows into the first track proper, “Structures Of All Existence”. With a pre-recorded and distorted “radio” playing in the background, there’s an edge of industrial to this song before it slams with the guttural vocals coming to the fore.
The speedy battery of the drums, vocals from Hell and technical guitars make for a great mix. This song really shows off everything that Secret of Darkness are about.
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There are ten tracks on this package, and they’re all along the same violent path. That’s not to say we’re lacking variety here. “Brave New Disaster” needs plucked out as an example. Those screams at the start… verging into black metal! It’s probably my favourite track off the album, in fact. Definitely the most varied. “Pointless Roam”, nearer the end, comes second. It’s the last minute or so, it just has a different tone to the other songs and the only bad thing about it is that it ends just when I’m really wrapped up in it!
Production is superb as well. This is the band’s third album, so they’ve had time to hone things and find a good production crew. It’s paid off. Every note, every drum beat is crystal clear. The little bits of distorted vocals play their part and aren’t overused. Everything thumps where it should thump and squeals where it should squeal.
A very professional release. Recommended, and they have some great digipaks available on their Bandcamp as well as streaming in all the usual places.
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Blacksun Rising is out now
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