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Soul Secret - Flowing Portraits CD (album) cover

FLOWING PORTRAITS

Soul Secret

Progressive Metal


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Mellotron Storm
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars SOUL SECRET are a young Prog-Metal band from Italy and "Flowing Portraits" is their very impressive debut. When they went into the recording studio to record this album their singer was unable to perform for health reasons but they were very fortunate to get former MIND KEY singer Mark Basile to bail them out. Man this guy can flat out sing, in fact i'm so impressed that i'm on the hunt for some MIND KEY.This album was mastered by THRESHOLD guitarist Karl Groom. Tons of tempo and mood shifts on this one with plenty of fire power to go along with the amazing vocals makes this a must have for Metal fans out there. By the way the keyboardist would make Derek Sherinian proud i'm sure.

"Dance Of The Waves" opens with some cool samples and lots of spacey atmosphere. It kicks in around a minute and it does really kick in. Haha. Vocals follow as guitars grind away relentlesly.The calm with piano after 4 minutes is blown away quickly. Check out the vocals followed by a ripping guitar solo. Killer sound 7 minutes in. "First Creature" has a powerful intro with piano. Vocals come in quickly as it settles. Crunchy guitars and a heavy sound follows as contrasts continue. Plenty of guitar fire 3 minutes in. "Inner War" opens with piano as vocals join in. It kicks in before 1 1/2 minutes. Nice. A heavy, melodic soundscape is the result. Great section 2 1/2 minutes in with lots of crunch and incredible vocals. It settles with piano before 4 1/2 minutes but not for long. Hell yaaa ! Blistering guitar before 6 minutes. Check out the vocals a minute later.

"Learning To Lose" is a brighter more accessible tune. A fuller sound before 1 1/2 minutes. Scorching guitar 4 1/2 minutes in. Crazy synths late. "Regrets" is a cool song with acoustic guitar, synths and reserved vocals. It does get fuller but then settles back. I like the guitar on this one. "Tears Of Kalliroe" is the almost 17 minute closer. A dramatic and powerful start with some orchestration for over 3 minutes. Drums and synths take over. Here we go before 4 1/2 minutes ! They start to rampage ! Vocals after 5 minutes. Unbelieveable ! Check out the stampede 11 minutes in. All hell breaks loose after 13 minutes as he spits out the lyrics. We then get an emotional ending to this furious ride.

Highly recommended and a solid 4 stars.

Report this review (#211505)
Posted Thursday, April 16, 2009 | Review Permalink
b_olariu
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars Soul Secret is a italian progressive metal band formed around 2004 who established quickly from a DT tribute band to a solid and respected band in this field. They released so far two albums, prepare for a new one to come this year. The debut saw the light in 2008 named Flowing portraits. Well, this what I like about prog metal, quirly parts, duels guitars/keybords, inventive drum chops and one hell of a great vocalist Mark Basile from DGM and Mind Key done a fantastic job here. This is on par with their second offer, and I mean solid as hell prog metal. Something that worth mentioning is that the album was mastered by the master Karl Groom the head and the guitarist of famous Threshold. As I said this is the type of prog metal I like, clean production, complex arrangements, all is here for a real treat for listners. A piece like Inner War can only bring joy while listen, this is prog metal as must sound this type of music, complicated and catchy in same time. All pieces are awesome and show big potential right from the start. Soul Secret is one of my fav prog metal bands and they never disippointing me , I'm looking forward for their new album to come. For Flowing portraits easy 4 stars, great prog metal that must be more recognized world wide.
Report this review (#1112112)
Posted Saturday, January 11, 2014 | Review Permalink
kev rowland
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR
Honorary Reviewer
4 stars This 2008 release was the debut album from this Italian prog metal band, who originally started out playing Dream Theater covers back in 2004. They have certainly come a long way since then, as this is far more commercial and direct than anything to come from the Americans, but still displaying incredible virtuosity. While the harmony voccals may not always be absolutely spot on, the result is something that feels more 'real', and far less contrived. The interplay between guitarist Antonio Vittozzi and keyboard player Luca Di Gennaro is an absolute delight, while bassist Lucio Grilli and drummer Antonio Mocerino lock it all together. What is somewhat surprising is that singer Mark Basile, who is key to the overall sound and success of the album is here only as a session singer (formly with Mind Key, he is now active in DGM) ? the band's singer Michele Serpico was unable to record due to ill health, and he was replaced after they had been in the studios so Mark was only brought in for this album.

One of the things that is readily apparent is the quality not only of the songs, the vocals and overall performance, but also that of the production. So, it wasn't much of a surprise to see that although it was originally recorded in Naples, it had then been mastered by none other than Threshold's Karl Groom, and certainly some of the crunching riffs could have been laid down by the Thin Ice guitarmeister himself. It contains plenty of space, and the songs flow and move as if they are a living breathing being, effortlessly going from one melody to another, but always with real feeling of passion and depth.

This is an incredibly powerful album, very nearly flawless, and if one is into prog metal of any type then this should be played immediately, if not sooner.

Report this review (#1691111)
Posted Thursday, February 9, 2017 | Review Permalink

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