Trieste, Italy’s crushing quartet The Secret are set to drop their upcoming Solve Et Coagula full-length via Southern Lord Recordings this September 28th.

The twelve hellish hymns embodied in Solve Et Coagula were captured by Kurt Ballou (Trap Them, Converge, Cursed) in his infamous Godcity Studios, resulting in cavernous, earthmoving tonal supremacy. Each song preaches of loss of faith in all forms of religion and politics and a vile outlook on humanity as a whole. The album runs rampant with dismantling breakdowns, gargantuan, swelling riffage and jackhammer blastbeats, all empowered by the most shredding vocal attack.

While surely reminiscent of Converge, Cursed and labelmates Black Breath, The Secret integrate as much influence from filthy politi-crust acts, as well as psychotic metalcore into Solve Et Coagula’s metallic surge. But no matter how you try to compare or categorize this highly lethal Italian export, the end result is certain; this is the sound of humanity’s failure and defeat, embodied as pure aural rage.

The Secret have previously unleashed two full-length releases on now defunct Goodfellow Records (2004’s Luce and 2008’s Disintoxication), and have undergone countless lineup changes and setbacks over the past few years. The current lineup is inarguably the most devastating and concise to date, making Solve Et Coagula their most lethal assault yet.

Tracklisting:
1. Cross Builder
2. Death Alive
3. Double Slaughter
4. Where It Ends
5. Antitalian
6. Weatherman
7. Pleasure In Self Destruction
8. Eve Of The Last Day
9. Pursuit Of Discomfort
10. Bell Of Urgency
11. War Desire
12. 1968

The Secret on MySpace.

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Genre: Hardcore, Metalcore, Deathcore
Label: Independent

This demo was given to me by Travis Neal of Divine Heresy after their show earlier this month. “It’s my bass player’s new band. He plays guitar.” he said. I replied with a simple, “Cool.” But then… I asked it… “Wasn’t he in Nile?” Travis kind of cocked his eyebrow up and said, “Yeah. Makes you wonder why he’s with us, doesn’t it?” I laughed.

This demo is actually rough cuts of some songs off of their upcoming debut album, I Just Want To Get My Life Straight With God. And Jesus Christ, let me tell ya! These guys are all over the goddamn board! Death metal growls that give way to metalcore screams that bleed into clean semi-whining and a few indescribable styles in-between! The same kinda goes for Mr. Joe Payne’s axe grinding; death metal riffs and morph into hardcore chugs and even some Behold… The Arctopus-ish mind shredding! *Whew*

The overall feel of this demo is that of indecisiveness as to what the fuck they want to commit to as a band. It works for a demo, but I’m not entirely sure if the album itself will be able to hold up the same. I’m still excited as all to hear it though…

Truth be told, they kind of cheaped my loyalty with a Walter Sobchak sound bite… “This is what happens when you FUCK A STRANGER IN THE ASS!!!”

Overall: It an awesome mess of genre fucking death/metalcore/hardcore/schizophrenia… I like it, you probably will too.

8/10

Pain After Death On MySpace

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Genre: Metalcore
Label: Metal Blade

So the wife and I are in HMV last night. We were going to pitch half-and-half on a 2 for $25 deal. She chose Rammstein’s Reise, Reise, and I got Arma Gathas. No particular reason other than the facts that Metal Blade put it out, and I’d never heard of Arma Gathas before.
And so after hearing Dead to this World, I’m glad I picked up the album. It’s not the most spectacular album I’ve ever heard, but it sure as hell isn’t boring either. Fast riffs that hearken more to German thrash than Swedish death metal coupled with hardcore vocals with a voice reminiscent of Phil Anselmo are the order of the day with Arma Gathas.
It’s a fun album, upon hearing it, but when you actually listen to it, it takes on a lot more meaning. Being a concept about the possible end of humanity, the lyrics are a damn grim reminder of what humans are, and what we are capable of.
I’d recommend this CD to fans of Hatebreed, Exodus, and Pantera.
7 out of 10.

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Genre: Death Metal, Deathcore, Metalcore, Hardcore, Prog, Punk, 8-Bit, Etc…
Label: Independent

If it’s one thing I appreciate about running this little operation (among the MANY things, that is), it’s when someone says that they’re going to send me something and then about a week later, I get SOMETHING in the mail!!! It’s like Xmas at the mailbox! (In this case, it was Fxmas! Ha!) This is more of a thanks to Fxzero and all of the other bands that give me a heads up about them sending me something in the mail and then following through.

Anyway, the review is as follows:

Starting things off with a Shao Kahn soundbite from the epic flop known as Mortal Kombat Annihilation, doesn’t exactly instill me with much in the way of confidence in this EP. Then the tunes actually begin… a heavy (deathcore-y) bass, mixed with some crushing (death metal/melodic metalcore-ish) guitars and the insane ramblings of a roaring mic wielding madman (with a hardcore meets metalcore approach) kick up the sonic maelstrom that is the opening track; Pizza For Dinner. Queen Elizabeth (or Track 3 if you really care to know) is a stunning blend of NY hardcore (in string form as well as some of the beats) and crusty prog… Repeat: NYHXC + Crusty Prog + Death Vocals = Mind blown and pants jizzed!!!

Lastly, the Outro to this six track EP (something I’d normally gripe about) is a doozy of a fun little Easter Egg. It’s starts off with what sounds like a little jam session and then, like a left hook from Amazo, a bleepity-bloodily rendition of the battle score from Pokemon chimes in and plays this mind-boggling EP out and into my collection of awesome metal!

Overall: A dizzying mix of metalcore, death metal, prog, hardcore and even some 8-bit shit and punk! It’s a little overwhelming in some spots, but it bound to find an audience in alienated nerdlings with bad complexions and crippling social ineptitudes… like me!

9/10

Fxzero On MySpace

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Genre: Thrash, Hardcore
Label: Slaney Records

The Greek, thrash entities known commonly as Convicted, have been causing heads to bang and fists to pump since 1998. Their sounds attests to this since it’s full of a heavy grooves and gruff, hardcore vocals (much akin to that of Derek Green. Like eerily…). So, they’re thrash, but not that classic 80’s stuff that’s like a drug to most of us. More of a Gothenburgy-thrash/core mishmash.

I’m not going to mince words with Convicted sophomore album, it’s pretty mediocre. None of the tracks really standout and the album itself seems less energetic than a thrash album should be. There are a few fun parts, namely the gang vocals in Fuck Off And Die and the chorus in album opener Cop killer (and no, it‘s not a Body Count cover… *shudder*). Other than that, this album is pretty forgettable.

Overall: I don’t know. Maybe I can’t get past the fact that this album reminded me of shit era Sepultura… I believe that Convicted as a band have some thrash in their soul. It’ll just take a little bit more time to pull it to the surface.

5.5/10

Convicted On MySpace
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