Southern Lord

The Secret come from Italy and I heard they played a mixture of black metal and grindcore. This isn't true.  What they play is some form of metalcore that might have brief, superficial, passing similarities on the surface to black metal or grindcore, but isn't really black metal or grindcore at all. In essence, this just means they're playing darker, faster, heavier metalcore and hardcore. But metalcore is still metalcore.

Everything falls into place as what I would call a standard metalcore performance, albeit faster, heavier, darker, etc... as I said above. Nothing too interesting. They're playing by the books, but implementing a little bit of extremity to the edge to trick a listener into thinking this is something far more exciting and dangerous than it is. This isn't to say, however, that the performance is cheap and poor. Each person in the band performs their part adequately, collectively concocting an album that is aggressive but has the forced and unconvincing kind of fake aggression often associated with metalcore, that brings the angry sound of hardcore to the uh... "heavy?" sound of metal, but misses something along the way. There will be moments that strive to sound like they could go somewhere or almost pass as decent, moody passages, or brief moments of slow, stretched out attempts at building up a dark atmosphere that may be reminiscent of modern day North American black metal acts, but they always make sure to remind you that this is a metalcore album at heart, nothing more. Not my cup of tea. 

The sound of production is nothing to complain about, but nothing noteworthy or remarkable. It's just there, and that's that. When I think of black metal meeting with the speed and savagery of grindcore, I think of legends like Conqueror, not this. This is nothing exciting, or new, or intense. It doesn't push anything beyond the previously achieved extremes, and does a poor job of bringing any fresh offerings to an already rather stale sound. It's modern sounding metalcore that doesn't do anything and is content in its stagnance. Though, as far as modern "metal" or "heavy" music goes, it's not anywhere close to being as bad as abhorrent garbage like Bullet for My Valentine, Avenged Sevenfold, or Whitechapel. The Secret still have more in common with hardcore and even metal than these wretched, unforgivable bands. But it doesn't make them very enjoyable to this guy (me). But for anyone into metalcore, I don't suppose you can go wrong with Solve Et Coagula. If it is good metal you seek, I do not suggest The Secret.

4/10