Skip to main content

The Secret – Lux Tenebris


The Secret – Lux Tenebris
Aug. 2018 – Southern Lord Recordings



8 years after the release of the masterful Solve Et Coagula, and 6 after Agnus Dei, The Secret return with a short EP, and what they've lost in chaos they've gained in focus.

The introduction to Solve Et Coagula, Cross Builder, was my favourite part of the record, and since Agnus Dei they've been distancing themselves from their simpler past and developed a more mature, blackened style. Despite this, The Secret is still as aggressive as before – it's as if they took a grinding approach to writing black metal, with production putting the drums further up front and playing dark arpeggios with a tone reminiscent at times of the legendary Boss HM-2.

Their songwriting has taken a turn for the better, with much more dynamic and contextually surprising composition. Building crescendos like none other, before slowing down, building into arpeggios and reconstructing a previous riff – this is the kind of song structure that was lacking in their previous endeavours. More reserved drums help immensely – gone are the days of d-beats and constant blasts, they heyday of the doom metal beat has arrived. Giving more breathing space to the guitars, but also the bass, which tentatively plays outside the root notes from time to time, makes for a more interesting, diverse listen, and reinforces the actual blasts when they do arrive.

Frightening, sombre leads were always a strength in The Secret, and Lux Tenebris shows they're aware of it, indulging in two multiple-minute long sections evoking the most terrifying images. The album cover inspires visions of primitive beasts, antediluvian powers and the fate of dead civilizations at the hand of said beings – the same visions conjured by the reverb-soaked riffs beginning and ending the EP.



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Sulphurous - Dolorous Death Knell

Sulphurous – Dolorous Death Knell December 2018 – Dark Descent Records 90s revival and cavernous death metal started gaining popularity about two years ago, with bands such as Phrenelith and Pissgrave being propelled into quasi-mainstream success thanks to a couple of public figures introducing their audiences to an otherwise relatively underground facet of death metal. Dark Descent Records have certainly capitalized on said revival, signing giants of the genre like Blood Incantation, Spectral Voice, and previously Chthe’ilist (and Mitochondrion to a certain degree). As with any other cavernous death metal record, the production is the first thing you’ll notice – it’s all suffocated, as if the amps were draped in thick curtains. Few effects and no triggers are applied to the drums, giving the whole package a very live/practice room aspect. Despite the apparent muddiness of Dolorous Death Knell, everything’s quite audible – even the lower registers somehow retain ...

Five the Hierophant – Over Phlegeton

Five the Hierophant – Over Phlegeton Dark Essence Records – 2017 There's a rare breed of album which instantly becomes a cult classic, and I can confidently say Over Phlegeton is one of them. Experimental, weird, bizarre, none of these words come close to describing just how extraordinary and interesting this record is. If I had to draw parallels with another band, I'd say it's a heavier, more mature version of Mamaleek, with many similar elements such as the ethnic percussions or non-traditional scales, but with a much darker visage and more detailed composition. There have been incredible avant-garde metal albums using unconventional instruments, but none have been so tactfully used as the saxophone is on Over Phlegeton. Played as a full instrument and not a token nod to some jazzy experimentation, Five the Hierophant explore the extremeties of what the sax can do – from screaming leads floating above the guitars to wailing voices in the wind, passing by hear...

Crawl – Necrotic Fear

Crawl – Necrotic Fear April 2019 – Anomalous Mind Records Crawl is a one-man project I stumbled upon in 2018, after the release of their split with Leviathan, opening with the irate At the Forge of Hate, which might have been the heaviest side on any Leviathan split ever. Necrotic Fear continues the tradition of whipping the listener in the face with bass strings, but for pacing's sake the album is broken up by sinister lulls like the alcoves on the cover, providing refuge from the wind tunnel that the other songs seem to imitate. Everything from the art to the drums is distorted, almost feeling like a more noise based project than a metal one, and we're in the territory of the non-riff, where feedback and drone are how hatred are expressed. Let's go with blackened sludge. The opener and closer are similar in that they both showcase a more subtly menacing approach, akin to dark ambient, but in different ways. Paralyzed, I Awaken... is a melancholic dirge, th...