Опубликовано: 13 сент. 2013 г.
Banda: Secret Sphere
Disco: A Time Never Come
Año: 2001
Pais: Italia
Genero: Melodic/Symphony/Progressive Power Metal
Formacion:
Antonio Agate - Teclados
Aldo Lonobile - Guitarra
Paco Gianotti - Guitarra
Roberto Messina - Voz
Andrea Buratto - Bajo
Luca Cartasegna - Bateria
Tracklist:
01. Gate of Wisdom (00:39)
02. Legend (06:13)
03. Under the Flag of Mary Read (07:21)
04. The Brave (07:14)
05. Emotions (01:25)
06. Oblivion (04:31)
07. Lady of Silence (05:34)
08. The Mystery of Love (06:51)
09. Paganini's Nightmare (Theme From Caprice#5) (01:03)
10. Hamelin (04:42)
11. Ascension (00:56)
12. Dr Faustus (08:08)
Great concept and a powerful album
Granted. This isn't Therion or Blind Guardian but these guys' second release is just incredibly good and it absolutley surpasses their first attempt, Mistress of the Shadowlight.
For those who don't know this italian band, Secret Sphere started playing the usual cheesy fantasy power metal with a lot of speed, catchy songs and keyboards but without reaching the level of Rhapsody in terms of ridiculous storytelling. Moreover, this album is amazing in terms of concept/story.
The entire album is a fusion between the music and the intrincate story, they both run to create an unique aura I couldn't find in too many albums. From the beautiful and superb cover art to the mystical feeling of several songs -the two instrumentals of the middle and probably the last pair. Everything, including the band members with their (in my opinion, ridiculous) poses, achieved a dream-like effect. It's a huge contrast with the excessive gayness of their next album...
Divided in four chapters (each one featuring songs), "A Time Never Come" tells the story of Aurienne, a girl that finds a strange magical sphere when she's affected by a mortal illness. Hide behind a viking shield and seek for another shore if the excentric fantasy isn't your taste. Each song represents the "voyages" she has with The Sphere, who is also a vital part as it acts as the guide and storyteller through the lyrics.
As the songs start to play you notice that Aurienne is assimilated to several characters, like she's seeing things from their point of view or travelling through time, amplifying that dream-like effect that is helped by the keyboards and bombastic choruses/arrangements. As an example, Aurienne turns to witness (or to be) William Wallace in the second chapter (The Brave) and the whole song has the proper heroic tone.
So the music here goes to the usual heavy riffs and solos of the genre to the massive keyboard explosions and instruments that are a bit odd in the metal scene, like the saxophone in the song "Emotions". Roberto Messina (the vocalist) got better at singing (and speaking english) so you never notice anything out of place from him. Ergo, the musical side earns a 100% despite we are talking about power metal [with all the prejudices this implies ;) ]. These guys did their job pretty well. Hell, even in terms of length the album doesn't last more than the necessary! The only long song is the last one so you don't have to tolerate one boring mega-long tank after the other.
So after all that praise and good comments you start wondering what made me lower the score a bit?
Well, I am not sure if this was their fault or a problem of the record label but someone screwed it up bad in the booklet and the part that should be as important as the music/lyrics (I'm talking about the story behind these "Chapters") is written in some sort of new way of corrupted english. Scary as it sounds, the spelling and grammar used in the small part that acts as intro (and it's ridiculously placed at the end) is so bad written that will make you laugh, especially if you are english (I'm not but still I know it has a bunch of mistakes!) Despite this little issue that can be easily forgivable, we are talking about music here and everything has been brilliantly done. The last track stands out as it's perfect to close thi strange voyage and the chorus is damn catchy (damn you, Secret Sphere and your catchiness...!)
You don't usually see this type of complexity and weirdness, both musically and lyrically. Give it a chance.
Web:http://www.secretsphere.org/site/?p=101
Disco: A Time Never Come
Año: 2001
Pais: Italia
Genero: Melodic/Symphony/Progressive Power Metal
Formacion:
Antonio Agate - Teclados
Aldo Lonobile - Guitarra
Paco Gianotti - Guitarra
Roberto Messina - Voz
Andrea Buratto - Bajo
Luca Cartasegna - Bateria
Tracklist:
01. Gate of Wisdom (00:39)
02. Legend (06:13)
03. Under the Flag of Mary Read (07:21)
04. The Brave (07:14)
05. Emotions (01:25)
06. Oblivion (04:31)
07. Lady of Silence (05:34)
08. The Mystery of Love (06:51)
09. Paganini's Nightmare (Theme From Caprice#5) (01:03)
10. Hamelin (04:42)
11. Ascension (00:56)
12. Dr Faustus (08:08)
Great concept and a powerful album
Granted. This isn't Therion or Blind Guardian but these guys' second release is just incredibly good and it absolutley surpasses their first attempt, Mistress of the Shadowlight.
For those who don't know this italian band, Secret Sphere started playing the usual cheesy fantasy power metal with a lot of speed, catchy songs and keyboards but without reaching the level of Rhapsody in terms of ridiculous storytelling. Moreover, this album is amazing in terms of concept/story.
The entire album is a fusion between the music and the intrincate story, they both run to create an unique aura I couldn't find in too many albums. From the beautiful and superb cover art to the mystical feeling of several songs -the two instrumentals of the middle and probably the last pair. Everything, including the band members with their (in my opinion, ridiculous) poses, achieved a dream-like effect. It's a huge contrast with the excessive gayness of their next album...
Divided in four chapters (each one featuring songs), "A Time Never Come" tells the story of Aurienne, a girl that finds a strange magical sphere when she's affected by a mortal illness. Hide behind a viking shield and seek for another shore if the excentric fantasy isn't your taste. Each song represents the "voyages" she has with The Sphere, who is also a vital part as it acts as the guide and storyteller through the lyrics.
As the songs start to play you notice that Aurienne is assimilated to several characters, like she's seeing things from their point of view or travelling through time, amplifying that dream-like effect that is helped by the keyboards and bombastic choruses/arrangements. As an example, Aurienne turns to witness (or to be) William Wallace in the second chapter (The Brave) and the whole song has the proper heroic tone.
So the music here goes to the usual heavy riffs and solos of the genre to the massive keyboard explosions and instruments that are a bit odd in the metal scene, like the saxophone in the song "Emotions". Roberto Messina (the vocalist) got better at singing (and speaking english) so you never notice anything out of place from him. Ergo, the musical side earns a 100% despite we are talking about power metal [with all the prejudices this implies ;) ]. These guys did their job pretty well. Hell, even in terms of length the album doesn't last more than the necessary! The only long song is the last one so you don't have to tolerate one boring mega-long tank after the other.
So after all that praise and good comments you start wondering what made me lower the score a bit?
Well, I am not sure if this was their fault or a problem of the record label but someone screwed it up bad in the booklet and the part that should be as important as the music/lyrics (I'm talking about the story behind these "Chapters") is written in some sort of new way of corrupted english. Scary as it sounds, the spelling and grammar used in the small part that acts as intro (and it's ridiculously placed at the end) is so bad written that will make you laugh, especially if you are english (I'm not but still I know it has a bunch of mistakes!) Despite this little issue that can be easily forgivable, we are talking about music here and everything has been brilliantly done. The last track stands out as it's perfect to close thi strange voyage and the chorus is damn catchy (damn you, Secret Sphere and your catchiness...!)
You don't usually see this type of complexity and weirdness, both musically and lyrically. Give it a chance.
Web:http://www.secretsphere.org/site/?p=101
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