BABEL

Soul Secret are an Italian progressive metal band based in Naples who released their debut album "Flowing Portraits" back in 2008, with Mark Basile (DGM) as guest singer. This is the only album of theirs I had heard prior to this, and remember thinking it was an incredibly strong debut. Obviously, I wasn't the only one as it led to them playing with the likes of Pendragon, Vanden Plas and Subsignal. They have been through a few line-up changes since then, and are now back with their fourth album, a concept telling the story of Sam and Adriel who are sent in space to find God, helped by logOS, an on-board computer providing cutting-edge technology to the mission. When they finally find the City Of Gods, they find it empty...

This album is full of strong songs, but I found the concept and spoken links were getting in the way of my enjoyment of the music, and after the first few plays it was getting harder and more difficult to get into the music. That is a real shame, as there are some strong performances on here. The vocals are superb, and there are some djent influences in the music at times, which is certainly a departure from the norm in terms of progressive rock. Possibly it is necessary to see the full release, and I only have a digital download to gauge my opinion on, but for me this just doesn't have the impact and power of the debut, and I expect bands to keep improving, not taking a retrograde step, which is a real shame.

It is light, pleasant, melodic progressive rock with some interesting influences, but not challenging or interesting enough for me to maintain my focus throughout, and the additional elements that have been put in that link that album are superfluous and over the top (although even I must smile when the code word is "Pendragon