Mistress Of The Shadowlight

Italy is becoming the center point for symphonic heavy metal these days, thanks to bands like Rhapsody, Labyrinth, Domine and many others. A lot of bands are forming back there in Italy, but only a few come out of the crowd - Secret Sphere is one of those. What would you think if I'd told you that a band that actually sounds like Rhapsody, Stratovarius, Labyrinth, Symphony X plus a special touch of their own (making it sound very original in the same time) exists ?? Would you like a band like this ? I guess so, and this band is called Secret Sphere. Actually it would be insulting to say they just mixing those styles... cause it's certainly not the case, but you can sense that these bands inspired them a lot and they perfectly found a way to write music of their own. The symphonic part is omnipresent in the form of piano and violins mainly (most of them synthetic) but of course they are far far away from Rhapsody orchestrations, but they still add a something special to the songs. We can also sense a strong classical influence in the melodies, which are actually Secret Sphere strong point. These melodic songs transport you all the way through, alterning fast and heavy with slower moments and the only thing that stop this album from being a masterpiece is it's poor production.... we are far away from the above mentionned bands in sound quality (not heavy/clear enough)... don't misunderstand me, it doesn't sounds so bad but somehow it could be alot better nowadays... too bad. The vocalist is also a bit "light" in a certain way of speaking... In the end, these italians are very talented and they will probably correct these problems on their next album (that's what we wish for them here at MR). And to tell you the truth I'm impatient to hear more from Secret Sphere !!! White Skull vocalist appears on the last song (called Secret Sphere) for just a few words only... kinda cool, but I would prefer having a real duet since she's got a great voice. Anyway, a new star is born, and it's first name is meoldy.... a pretty good album for all fans of melodic music.