HeavyHardMetalmania: Secret Of Darkness: (IN)HUMANITY For Those Who Follow The Darkness Of Heavy Music

Here we are again one month later and as it should be here it is the newest and fresh album of the month article packed with melody and death for you to enjoy the dark secrets of good metal.

Secret Of Darkness is the name of the quintet that unleashes a hybrid sound between Melodic Metal, Black Metal and Death Metal that can be called by Melodic Blackened Death Metal but not always they played this wide range style… so what about we go back in time?

The band was born in 2005 in Czech Republic with the two guitarists David and Karel as the creators. Several months later Jirka (keyboards) and Honza (drums) joined Secret of Darkness. The quartet performed several instrumental shows due to lack of a vocalist and to gain live experience.

After a long search they finally found vocals in Vojta throat and by the same time the bassist Tomas S. also joined the formation. With a complete lineup the band played tens of shows in Czech Republic as well as abroad.

Their first EP “And The Dark Begins” was released in 2008, containing six tracks of melodic dark-doom metal. Consequently, the band had further shows on the agenda, e.g. alongside HOLLENTHON and FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE.

2009 and 2010 were years marked by personnel changes in the band due to many common reasons such as difference of opinion. Tomas S., Honza and Jirka gradually left SoD and were replaced by drummer Ondra and bassist Tomas J. not everything was negative and in the same year (2010) a prominent Czech metal label MetalGate Records proposed an album deal offer to SoD, which the band accepted and signed.

In June 2011 the band recorded in a professional studio SOPA its debut album entitled “(IN)HUMANITY” scheduled to be released by Fall 2011. Further live shows and festivals appearances followed with e.g. SODOM, ROTTING CHRIST, FREEDOM CALL, PARADISE LOST, ILL NINO, DEADLOCK, FIREWIND, PESTILENCE, etc. In October the debut was unleashed in digipack format.

2012 was the year of live shows not only in their home country but also abroad. During the (IN)HUMANITY tour 2012, SoD performed in Norway and Germany, as well as appeared alongside such acclaimed bands as SEPULTURA or PRO-PAIN. After guitarist Karel and bassist Tomas J. decided to leave the band. Almost immediately afterwards however, Johnny comes in, taking over the guitar, and Deemon (Mater Monstifera, Eleament) joins as live session bassist.

Now the debut (IN)HUMANITY is going to be released outside Czech Republic and it will see the light of day via MetalGate Productions in July 2013.

(IN)HUMANITY is one of those albums that can easily catch your attention with lots of energetic metal containing simple melodic but catchy death metal riffs in fast rythms, dark environments, clean guitar phrases and much more and therefore the reason why i was surprised with the lack of information about it in blogs and sites. I can say that i really enjoyed myself listening to this ten-tracks work it´s worth every single minute of your time in my humble opinion.

I´m not going to lie the sound sometimes is a cliche and some songs can be repetitive after a few times listening to it but is almost impossible for a band to break this hard barrier with a debut. To mature and transcend to a higher level of sounding needs time and experience and i really think that with this time and experience these guys can evolve and surpass this negative point. For a band the debut is a very important step to its future in terms of defining sound personality and giving the listener the idea of what can be expected and in this case i think we can expect good things from Sod.

For those who follow the darkness of heavy growls, the heaviness of fast death metal and melodies coming from the blackest depths Secret of Darkness is here for you with rampage songs like “The Sovereign”, “No Night No Day” and “Khatarsis” (bonus track) and with a more melodic side with songs like “Destroyed Illusions”, “On The Other Side”, “Desolated Dreams” and “Self Insurrection”. In the end the album is a good work to hear as a whole with some good details and arrangements and it will not get boring as you travel through it.

For a debut (IN)HUMANITY isn´t that bad in fact and using proper words (IN)HUMANITY is very good.

One melee with the words, ideas and its paradoxes... albuns that are news, the reviews at "HeavyHardMetalmania.net", always with its watermark, Pedro Ribeiro, with love for beer... sorry, music from an early age, he studied piano and singing from 7 to 14 years, then, devoted himself to the study of the guitar for 5 years. "The wisdom is found in the extremes, all extreme Metal here!"