Soul Secret
Babel

The fourth album by Italian progressive metallers Soul Secret looks to be a high flying one, with an attractive artwork and an interesting storyline about a city of gods and ends in the hardest of times. That would all appear exciting, but there is always that risk of Newton’s law hindering their highflying ambitions. And they certainly have the tools to create something magnificent, with great atmosphere, skilled musicianship, strong melodies and great vocals this album certainly has something to offer – but not as much as the cover and the story would lead you to believe.

It is difficult to create good progressive metal and very few really succeed, many fail and many end up doing albums that feels a bit indifferent. This is an album that ends up being towards the latter, an album that feels a tad indifferent to me. Sure the sound is great, the production is of the highest quality. Their skills and virtuosity is impressive and the atmosphere makes the album seem worthwhile. But atmosphere and sound only takes you so far and this album goes way too far, it is well over an hour long and that to me is way too long.

Though my text may seem somewhat on the negative side, I still think that this is an album worth checking out if you like the progressive stuff. The atmospheres are great and there are some good and clever stuff throughout the album but on closer analysis the album lacks a bit of substance, or depth if you prefer that word. Kind of like watching a Star Wars movies or Avatar, lots of surface but not that much substance and that is hurting this album – it is not as good as it looks. I can’t help but feeling that this album should have been better, like I am listening to an album by a band that isn’t quite utilising all the skills they have.

In the end I think fans of progressive metal should have a look at this album, it has something to offer. Though it may not be as good as the best bands in the genre, they have some great atmospheres and melodies that makes it a good listen and unless you are really looking you will not really notice that little lack of depth and that Newton’s law stops this album from flying as high as it had the potential to do.

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