Secret Sphere
The Nature of Time

The sphere takes on the nature of time in their eight album in a career a little marked by the passage of time, twenty years have passed since they begun – plenty of time to learn about the nature of time. And five years since their last album, one that was pretty good and the same can be said about this one. Good but not outstanding is how I have come to think of this album, and impressive vocals. I think vocalist Michele Luppi is the biggest asset of this band; he just has a great voice for this kind of music.

Melodic metal with some progressive touches, excellent production and great vocals – a small evolution of what the band have done before. There are no surprises and have you heard Secret Sphere before you will know how this sound because it does sound quite a lot like their previous work(s). With almost an hour of playing time I would say that it is a tad on the long side considering that it isn’t the most varied album I have ever heard in my life. Perhaps it could have been a little bit shorter to make it a little bit more dynamic, which probably would have lessened the impact of the album walking down the same path as most.

It is a good album, it has good songs and is easy to like and easy to take in. I think many will like this album but at the same time I doubt that they will consider it a timeless classic. Some youtube commenter described them as a cross breed between Styx and Dream Theater, two very influential bands that I really like, it is a comparison that I feel is a bit off. Said two bands have broken new ground and done some outstanding things, something Secret Sphere has yet to accomplish. And this album (like the predecessor) is similar to what they have done before, an excellent production with brilliant vocals but with songs that aren’t as good as the performances.

The Nature of Time has its benefits, it is an excellent production and a rather enjoyable album that feels like it could have been better. I think they need to stray a little bit outside the established paths, find some own directions and make something that doesn’t sound like a polished version of something else. Fans of Italian metal and of melodic metal will like this album, so if you are one of those you should really check this out. It is good but nothing that will stand against the nature of time, most likely it will not be remembered when the year shall be summarised in December.

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