The Secret - Lux Tenebris EP

Labels: Southern Lord

Formats: Vinyl/Digital

Release Date: 31 Aug 2018

Tracklist:

1. Vertigo

2. The Sorrowful Void

3. Cupio Dissolvi

Seemingly out of nowhere, Italy's The Secret are returning to the fray with their newest EP "Lux Tenebris". Following the long six-year period of silence from the band, they're playing selected shows across Europe again in support of the EP, which comes out at the end of August via Southern Lord on a single-sided 12" with a silkscreened b-side. Their black and heavy sound has brought with it a mass of followers since the release of their debut "Luce" back in 2004 and this new EP has extra poignancy as it marks fifteen years since their initial formation.

The aim of opening song Vertigo is to induce similar symptoms to that of the condition it shares it’s name with. Dizziness inducing bass and noise create an atmosphere that makes you nervous. The Secret are clearly heading in a darker and more experimental direction with their sound and this proves it as they build the intensity together. It never quite explodes into the raging beast that you might be expecting but it does leave you on the edge of your seat with a sense of anticipation, that is almost overwhelming. Black metal meets grind and ambient noise. 

The Sorrowful Void is no less terrifying with it’s undercurrent of hissing feedback and repeating riffs that burst into life providing the explosiveness that you know The Secret are capable of. This is them at their grinding best and where Wake (Canada) are showing North America how it’s done, The Secret are doing the same for Europe. I know that drawing comparisons are often pointless and subjective, but I think that this particular one is accurate. 

After the dramatic ending to The Sorrowful Void, it’s left to EP closer Cupio Dissolvi to carry the momentum on and it does so effortlessly. It’s a longer song and is woven together with The Secret’s driving heaviness and passages of quieter introspect. The song’s second half is dominated by black metal instrumentation, which turns into a mid-paced march filled with anger and hostility. If this EP is a barometer of the future of The Secret, it looks like it’s going to be bleak (in a good way). After it’s release, we’ll start to wave the summer goodbye and this will no doubt be the solace we need during the dark winter months.

You can stream The Sorrowful Void below via The Secret's Southern Lord bandcamp page below:-

Lux Tenebris can be pre-ordered on both vinyl and digital formats above too.

The Secret - https://www.facebook.com/the.secret.lux.tenebris/
Southern Lord - https://www.facebook.com/SLadmin/