SOUL SECRET – Closer To Daylight (2011)
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Italy was one of the first European continental nations to pick up on the first group of progressive rock bands in the early seventies, and they produced more than their fair share of homegrown bands in the genre. So it should not be surprising to see the same thing occurring with the prog metal style.
One of the latest offerings is the young band Soul Secret, who released their debut CD in 2008.
After several tours and some line-up changes (new vocalist Fabio Manda and Claudio Casaburi on bass) the group went into studio to record “Closer To Daylight”, to be published on November 21.
Soul Secret is another bright representative of classic contemporary Prog-Metal, but they go far beyond that tag.
These Italians sound like very good disciples of American living legends Dream Theater and Fates Waring, having scrupulously learned the peculiarities of their style and the subtlety of their performance technique as well.
On “Closer To Daylight”, Soul Secret have taken these influences and have crafted and refined them in a way that would fit their own identity and forge their own sound. Apart from being creative, it also has great re-playability.
There are many elements here that sets apart the band from the typically Prog-Metal sound that will appeal listeners with more melodic approach.
For one thing, the keyboards are not underplayed or left simply in a supporting role. This recording is plenty of awesome synth solos strewn throughout the disc.
Of course, as well you have the meandering feeling you seem to get from this kind of music through hard-and-edgy avalanche-like arrangements, acoustically-driven interludes, dramatic transitions, technically complex-yet-flawlessly-performed both rapid and swirling guitar and keyboard leads (let alone an excellent ensemble playing in general), where there are no lack of clever themes. Both the guitars and keyboards come together fairly well without either of them following the same pattern.
Soul Secret’s music is, as mentioned, squarely in the progressive metal genre but the eight tracks on “Closer To Daylight” also betray a certain depth and variety that I think will appeal to a wider fan base.
The band wisely blends relatively short songs with 7-8 minute tracks and a 16+ minute epic (“Aftermath” is terrific, featuring Subsignal’s Arno Menses fantastic vocals). Each of the longer compositions has enough creativity though to stop most listeners from hitting the skip button on their CD players half way through each track.
The songwriting, for the most part, is commendable and impressive. Sure, Soul Secret rides Dream Theater’s ‘Images and Words’ formula throughout their music, but it’s so well done and enjoyable you can easily overlook it.
The instrumentation is stellar, the vocals colorful and very strong, some melodies truly memorable and the arrangements are really well put together, supported by a good production and mix.
It all adds up to a winner for Soul Secret, a more than welcomed new force to the melodic progressive metal scene.
Recommended.
1. Checkmate (5:51)
2. River’s Edge (ft. Marco Sfogli) (6:48)
3. If (3:48)
4. The Shelter (7:52)
5. Pillars Of Sand (9:09)
6. October 1917 (3:34)
7. Behind The Curtain (8:46)
8. Aftermath (ft. Arno Menses) (16:43)
Luca Di Gennaro – Keyboards, Synths and Programming
Fabio Manda – Vocals
Antonio Vittozzi – Guitars
Claudio Casaburi – Bass
Antonio Mocerino – Drums and Percussion
Arno Menses (Subsignal) – Vocals on 8
Marco Sfogli (James LaBrie Band) – Guitar on 2
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