Released: 2008
Before you even get to indulge in the sheer excess of Italian symphonic power metal that is Secret Sphere’s latest album, you get to revel in the sheer vileness of its cover. Two average-looking girls dressed up like skanks and posed in front of a background of lurid greens that looked to me like it was a leftover from MediEvil (after this initial impression, I actually took a closer look at the sign over the uglier chick’s head and it does indeed have Sir Fortesque on it!). I’ve seen some dodgy-looking power metal album covers (like the one from Highland Glory with a dude in a kilt standing on a mountain-top, holding a baby over his head), but this one is possibly the worst. As horrible as it is, it was compelling enough for me to listen to the music to see how bad that would be, and it’s surprisingly OK.
This could be because I’m warming to power metal, but it’s more likely that Secret Sphere are just rather good at it. While it’s true that their sound is completely homogenised and follows the same Helloween-worshipping template of thousands of others, these guys simply do it with considerably more spirit than those busloads of soulless copyists. The melodies are prominent, but not so saccharine that they leave an aftertaste and the symphonic sections sound like there was some thought put into them. The songs are long enough that they can only fit eleven of them into the 51-minute playing time but not so long or elaborate that you find yourself wishing they’d hurry up and get to the point. “Feed My Fire” is a good pop-laced hard rocker that would make be a surefire metal club hit and the power ballad “The Butterfly Dance” was not quite as awful as I expected it to be.
Sweet Blood Theory isn’t a bad album as these things go. Fans of the style will like it, non-fans won’t be converted, and everyone can go away happy. Except the graphic designer. He deserves to be shot.
This could be because I’m warming to power metal, but it’s more likely that Secret Sphere are just rather good at it. While it’s true that their sound is completely homogenised and follows the same Helloween-worshipping template of thousands of others, these guys simply do it with considerably more spirit than those busloads of soulless copyists. The melodies are prominent, but not so saccharine that they leave an aftertaste and the symphonic sections sound like there was some thought put into them. The songs are long enough that they can only fit eleven of them into the 51-minute playing time but not so long or elaborate that you find yourself wishing they’d hurry up and get to the point. “Feed My Fire” is a good pop-laced hard rocker that would make be a surefire metal club hit and the power ballad “The Butterfly Dance” was not quite as awful as I expected it to be.
Sweet Blood Theory isn’t a bad album as these things go. Fans of the style will like it, non-fans won’t be converted, and everyone can go away happy. Except the graphic designer. He deserves to be shot.
- Evil or Divine
- Stranger in Black
- From a Dream to a Nightmare
- Bring On
- The Shadow of the Room of Pleasure
- Welcome to the Circus
- The Butterfly Dance
- Sweet Blood Theory
- Feed My Fire
- All These Words
- Vampire's Kiss
Rating: 65%
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