Southern Lord is proud to announce the newest members of its coven, brutal Italian group THE SECRET.

In a statement by Southern Lord this week, label owner Greg Anderson stated: “These days it’s extremely rare that we receive a demo submission that blows us away. This was the case with the demo THE SECRET had sent us. Their sound is relentless, uncompromising and extremely lethal. Anti-melody, pro-cacophony!”

Born and shaped in 2003 within the motionless city of Trieste, Italy, THE SECRET come to life as an output for rage, darkness and negativity, combining elements of crust/grind, primitive black metal, dark soundscapes and monolithic riffs that take the listener by the hand through a hallucinated trip towards a foggy and yet invisible tomorrow. After their 2003 Goodfellow Records debut album Luce, the band went through countless lineup changes before finding a new incarnation in 2008 when their second full-length Disintoxication was released. Since then the Goodfellow label has unfortunately ceased to exist, and THE SECRET have now found shelter within Southern Lord’s bleak caves.

This April THE SECRET will enter Godcity Studio in Salem, MA with producer Kurt Ballou to record their Southern Lord debut Solve et Coagula, their sonic interpretation of a total loss of faith in social system, religion, personal redemption and every institution.

You are forewarned of an approaching monolithic steamroller whose destiny is to flatten all in its path!

The Secret on MySpace.

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Genres: Hard Rock, Heavy Metal
Label: Mortal Music

With no prior knowledge of this band until one day during my casual perusing of the review section of Blabbermouth.net, I immediately thought that Stygian was most certainly a hellish black metal or brutal Satanic death metal band. Nope. These four rockers had me duped with their brimstone cage of a name… but was I disappoint with what I heard? Not at all.

In Fury Rising, Stygian combines heavy, chugging riffs with waaay out there drum rolls and flourishes to create something that will appeal to both mainstream audiences and a few open minded dregs as well. Vocalist Frank Leary has a voice that’s just perfect for this type of hard rock outfit; kinda wild (as heard in Unstrung Hero) with enough of a clean vibe to pull off the odd ballad (My Regret). He sounds like a mix between James Hetfield during his Tom G. Warrior fandom of James Hetfield days (Oooh! Huuh! Yeah!) and vocalist from once popular and possibly once relevant Systematic, Tim Narducci. And drummer Steve Bacchia, honestly does feel a little out of place at times, choosing a more dense sound that his fellow band mates. Needless to say, his efforts are highly appreciated!

Overall: Don’t turn your nose up at this band or this album. It’s definitely worth a listen. You can buy into the non-hype if you wish, but I still say Stygian is worth your time!

8/10

Originally posted at E-MetalSpace

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Genres: Black, Ambient
Label: Self Released

Our good friend Noctuaria of the Italian black metal outfit (and one of the best bands to ever submit anything to E-MetalSpace) Nebrus, comes back at us with a new project with the moniker, Flusso Delirante Persecutorio and it’s debut album, Visioni Di Morte.

Now, this is my first real experience with minimalist/ambient black metal… Ok, that’s a lie. It’s my first foray into this genre that I’ve come out actually, factually liking the experience I had with it. It follows the loose formula well with long periods of half silence that are interrupted strange noises such as; a ticking clock, footsteps, creaking, something that kind of sounds like the beginning of the THX sound test, moaning, chanting and of course, Noctuaria’s patented brand of creepy as hell, yet somehow arousing vocals (mostly as a raspy whisper this time around).

Overall: If you’re a fan of this genre, you probably won’t find anything new here, but it’s executed well enough for you to get a kick out of it still. What’s more is that it’s as creepy as anything Stalaggh has put out, but nowhere near as shitty. Check it out and help support some of Italy’s most talented musicians.

8.5/10

Flusso Delirante Persecutorio on MySpace

Originally posted at E-MetalSpace

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Genres: Hardcore, Metal
Label: Self Released

Being a tremendous fan of their live show, I couldn’t wait to hear Endless Rage’s demo on my own time, in the comfort of my own living room. And I’m happy to say that Endless Rage lives up to their reputation and their name! A torrent of violent riffs and brutal ‘core-roars engulfed my room of living and transformed it into a one man, one dog and two cats circle pit!

Influences range from Lamb Of God to Cannibal Corpse to Amon Amarth and it shows in the melodic, yet crushing rhythms that inhabit each and every neck snapping song! The vocalist has a powerful yell that you know is rage (and beer) fueled. Sometimes, he kinda sounds like Bender covering a Pantera tune. (Reinventing His Shinny Metal Ass?) Meanwhile, the leads are distinct and have the tendency to go all over the place in a good way. Soaring high and chugging through your skull!

Overall: Endless Rage is every bit as good on compact disc as they are live! You many still even suffer a concussion anyway! …when you trip over your cat and smack your head on your desk… fucking Odysseus…

9/10

Endless Rage on MySpace

Originally posted at E-MetalSpace

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Genres: Black, Death, Doom
Label: Self Released

Anytime the word “Autumn” appears in the name of a band, I know that quite a few people tend to be a bit cautious. Apparently “Autumn” conjurors up images of mallcore or pitcore kids with whiny vocals, trendy tattoos and coke bottle lenses and black, squared geek-sheik rims… *shudder* flopping about on stage like a bunch of seizing land dancing trout.

Fortunately, As Autumn Calls is the furthest thing from any of that. This Canadian duo of melodic metalers bring a frigid arctic chill with them that they packaged, produced and labeled as, Emotionless. Equal parts, melodic, doom and black metals, Emotionless is a tortured, yet beautiful example of musicianship. This EP has an overall dark tone, but you can’t help but feel yourself getting pulled in several mood related directions. Mixing echoes of clean vocals and ocean floor scraping growls with an ethereally melodic guitar, As Autumn Calls did everything they could to make this three song EP anything but Emotionless.

Overall: A powerful piece of melodic metal, cloaked in a black cape and seated behind the wheel of an eighteen wheeled hearse. A funeral procession with a smoke stack!

9/10

As Autumn Calls on Myspace

Originally posted at E-MetalSpace

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