The Secret
Agnus Dei

November 2012
Released: 2012, Southern Lord
Rating: 3.0/5
Reviewer: Metal-Rules.com UK Team

The Secret are a 4 piece black metal band from Italy. After forming in 2003, they have released 3 albums, with “Angus Dei” being their latest offering. This album is their heaviest to date.



From start to beginning this album was certainly heavy. Nearly every song on the album has a different aspect to it while still sounding like it belonged to the same band. There are samples of what can only be described as a priest chanting (“Angus Dei”), a 70’s punk sample (“Darkness I Became”) and even a throwback to a bit of Mayhem style thrashing (“Seven Billion Graves”).



While most of the album has a strong, thrashy mosh pit sound to it, there is one part which sounds like a doom metal record (“Heretic Temple”). I love doom metal as much as the next Goth but I found this a little boring to be honest. I think that this may be down solely to the fact that that style of music is not their strongest point. They should stick to what they are obviously good at: good old mosh pit metal. For any fans of Metallica, you will certainly like “Obscure Dogma”. The riffs sounds like a complete rip off but the song is good all the same.



The production quality and sound of this record is spot on, the sound is pretty clear and everything sounds in tune. I do feel that the band should have tried to make the record flow a bit more rather than try and do something completely different for each record. It is however a pretty good album, perfect for getting ready to go to a gig too!



Review by Lianne Alice