Description
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjIxQAfN9n5egHmlKp2szdw
Promo Papersleeve
Sleeve: Mint Condition
Media: Mint Condition
This is the third album from this Italian power metal band. Secret Sphere play in a similar territory to Rhapsody, HammerFall, Manowar et al but this band up the keyboards and feature some truly amazing choral work. In fact it takes a few plays to get into the album as first listen you think oh no, not another fast paced power metal album! Opener Rain features the trademarks of power metal – fast drums & keys with gloriously OTT guitar solos, complete with a high pitched vocalist. There is some very nifty piano playing on this track as well. More Than Simple Emotions features female vocals and sounds like Paradise Lost meets Sisters Of Mercy – nice! Surrounding utilises choir effects and the latter part of the song veers into A.O.R. territory. That’s the beauty of this album in that it throws plenty of musical changes at you. Ballad time, with Scent Of A Woman which again features a very talented female vocalist and it trundles along at a steady pace. Life Parts 1 & 2 start gently, with acoustic guitar and mellow vocals before building into a heavy ending. Keep playing the last track as it has the hidden music of someone playing what sounds like a Bontempi organ and lots of manic laughter. So: well worth the effort, a definite grower of an album. Very skilfully played throughout and the choral arrangements are something else! The genre of power/symphonic metal continues to produce top rate releases like this one.
Line-up:
Antonio Agate: Keyboard
Andrea Buratto: Bass
Luca Cartasegna: Drums
Paco Gianotti: Guitar
Aldo Lonobile: Guitar
Ramon Messina: Vocals
Guest Members:
Nadia Lanfranconi: Vocals
Marco Mesemi: Vocals
Vera Quarleri: Vocals
Gabry Selvaggio: Vocals
1. Rain 05:26
2. Still Here 03:01
3. 1000 Eyes Show 05:45
4. More Than Simple Emotions 04:01
5. Surrounding 05:53
6. Desire 05:16
7. Virgin Street 69 04:15
8. Runaway Train 04:24
9. Scent of a Woman 04:44
10. Life 1 (Walking Through the Dawn) 01:53
11. Life 2 (Daylight) 08:41
Total playing time 53:19
Promo Paper sleeve
Sleeve: Mint Condition
Media: Mint Condition
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5.0 out of 5 stars Italian metal at its best!!
Italians know their metal quite well.
In this CD I couldn’t help noticing the amazing musicianship, fine song writing and, the thing that convinced me to get this cd (while I casually heard only one song while browsing my Sam Goody store, and I think the song was Runaway Train, my God that song totally rocks!) was the powerful melodic vocals, which, to my personal opinion, sound a bit like Michael Kiske from Helloween, but with more melodic interpretation and ALWAYS good.
The band doesn’t sound like Helloween as much as they did in their two previous efforts, and they seem to have gained a huge amount of talent since their latest release.
High quality class/power metal with some accent prog-metal and heavy low tuned guitar riffs which reminded me of Nevermore.
Yes, yes, there is a little bit of Kamelot and Rhapsody (both great bands) in it too, although I like Secret Sphere better, as they seem to demonstrate more personality and versatility in their arrangements, composing and in the vocal melodies especially. Just a purely technical note, I would have given more attention to the solos, maybe more production to guitar sounds (the leads, not the rhythm sounds which already sound good).
To my advice, those of you who like metal, melodic or heavy, have to have this CD.
Every single song stands up on its own, my favorite is definitely Runaway Train (have I mentioned that song totally rocks? I know I did!), with an amazing, beautiful chorus and unbelievable vocals….a very rare gem, for a picky musician like myself. I can never get tired of the darn song! Very uplifting lyrics too!
Also very good are Rain, More Than Simple Emotions, Desire and Scent Of Woman.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Secret Sphere is just amazing!!!
To all who does not know SS they are a very talented band from Italy. Their music is just painfully beautiful. Great chorus, catchy melodies, complex arrangements and with incredible vocal Lines. The music resemble lots of influences from bands like Dream Theater in the Images and Words era, a bit of Labyrinth, Rhapsody and one of my favorite Italian bands Athena. Very talented musicians comprise this band. Great material. Fav songs include 1000 Eyes Show, Rain, More Than Simple Emotions(Great melodic solo), Surrounding,and Runaway Train. Very well in simple words if you like power metal mixed with Dream Theater riffings you get this monster of a release. Great job guys!!!
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5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent disc
I just discovered this band. Boy are they good. This is my favorite of all their discs that I have heard. I have the last four of the five. Their new ranks up there too. All the playing is top notch. The clown who gave it one star doesn’t like good metallic metal. Not a bad song in the bunch. The last song might be my favorite even though the horns in it threw me for a loop.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Well-Kept Secret
Secret Sphere are an Italian power metal band that are very similar to early Labyrinth. The songs are mostly midtempo, well-written and well-performed, and tend to have a somewhat ‘romantic’ feel to them (warm production, synths for atmosphere, flowing guitar work, etc). If you’re expecting something akin to Rhapsody, you’re in the wrong place. The songs on this album are consistently good, except for the juvenile and glammish ‘virgin street 69’, which is really out of place on this album. Overall, a very good album for fans of melodic power metal like early Labyrinth or Magnitude 9, just don’t expect blazing speed and fist-in-the-air headbanging anthems (if you want that, check out bands like Hibria or Dragonforce.
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