Album review : SECRET SPHERE – Blackened Heartbeat

Frontiers [Release date 10.11.23]

Blackened Heart is the tenth studio album from the EU’s Power Metal poster boys, Secret Sphere.

It’s also the second with original vocalist, Roberto Messina, who reunited with the band on 2021’s Lifeblood, after an 8 year absence.

Driving force, guitarist/writer/producer, Aldo Lonobile has again sharpened his songwriting pencil and fine tuned his skills at the mixing desk.

When we reviewed Lifeblood we commented that the album’s instrumental opener, ‘Shaping Reality’ “blurred the boundary between classical music and rock/ metal”.

This time, Lonobile leans back into his acoustic guitar in a Classical Gas moment, bringing an unexpected texture to the album’s intro.

It’s in total contrast to what follows. He’s not (and never has been) a musician who favours the slow burn. When he lights the fuse leading to ‘Bloody Wednesday’ and ‘Confessions’, a blitz of power metal, dark and operatic at the edges quickly follows, with the massed voices rising and falling as the drama unfolds.

Antonio Agate’s orchestrations add considerable depth to the music, giving songs like ‘Aura’ and ‘Captive’ a symphonic spin

Messina is right at home delivering on Lonobile’s theatrics, whether his voice is chewing the scenery (One Day I will) or soaring over the nearest mountain top, (Blackened Heartbeat).

We’ve not said much about the “Concept” here. The nature of the performance is such that the narrative from track to track is not easy to pin down. What we do know, with considerable certainty, is that the galloping beats, much wailing from the backing singers and scything strings of ‘Dr.Julius’ make it the album’s standout track by a considerable distance. ***

Review by Brian McGowan

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