Secret Sphere surely play a very special and refreshing style of Metal. I had a hard time making up my mind about the style of the band. It's an interesting blend of Power Metal with symphonic and progressive elements. Given the fact that the keyboard is very much involved in the songs I settled on Symphonic Power Metal.
This is the bands third release, and Scent Of Human Desire takes quite a few listening to get into.
Contrary to the other albums, this one is not a concept album, different themes are touched upon, and special attention seems to be on themes in the direction of desire, love, everyday problems and passionate feelings.
The beginning of
Rain with an atmospheric keyboard and a shattering heavy guitar riff is simple great music, and overall this is an extremely well written song. The melodic and well-sung chorus really ties the song nicely together. The underlying keyboard and different piano parts makes the song a bit complex, which is a great element. The minor details in the music here and there really just makes things even better.
Still Here is a faster and more aggressive track. Great detailed drums and a tight rhythm section is central focus points.
More Than Simple Emotions is a more ballad type of song. A big plus is the great piano parts that make a great underlying mood in this fantastic track. The catchy chorus is sung with great in-felt emotion, and the female vocal part fits in nicely. There is just something drawing about the great melodies in this one.
Surrounding I find a more average song. It has some nice melodic lead guitar stuff. On the other hand I don't find the "happy" mid-section chorus break really to fit in, a bit too odd-sounding in my opinion.
The main chorus is not really that exiting either, but there are some tight grooving passages to enjoy.
Runaway Train features some great keyboard atmospheres, and some very heavy guitar riffing. The vocals are very varied in character, perfectly soothed to the different parts of the track.
We find some hard grooving rhythms in this one, once again a harmonious chorus helps tied the ends together. A cool melodic guitar solo and some great piano passages makes the song just that more exiting. Through the whole record the bass delivers a solid, tight and grooving performance. In this song that is easily heard, nice varied passages and lots of depth.
Life Part. 2 - Daylight is a mid-tempo song, which features some alternative instrumental parts (Trumpet) towards the end. An above average song with some cool jamming passages and varied changes, nothing really capturing though. It seems that a thin line through the song is partly missing, the varied passages are otherwise performed with great skill.
Some elements hold the record a bit back in my opinion. One of them is that I miss a couple more fast songs where the band really puts everything into it. I really think the bands masters all types of songs; there are just a couple of mid-tempo songs that lack a spark or fire to get them really interesting. Some longer track would also have made things even better I think, given the fact that the band mixes between many different passages with such great flair.
One of the most positive things about the album is the extremely well played and detailed drums. There are great passages and nicely incorporated parts everywhere.
The guitars are also of high standard, very heavy and grooving in style and with some melodic lead parts.
Being in perfect harmony with the heavy guitar and the main flow of the songs is the well-played keyboard. It helps create great melodies and especially underlying atmospheres; I think that the style and the way the keyboard is used are extremely fitting.
The vocals are mostly very good, even though they come out a bit odd in some passages.
The sound quality is very good; the drums are packed with depth and the guitars are raw. Overall the instruments are well fitted together and their sound fits the musical style well.
Overall this album combines a nice mix of different approaches and types of songs. The result is a very diverse, well-played and pretty innovative release.
Written by
Tommy Monday, June 23, 2003
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