Upon pushing play, The Secret’s 2018 Lux Tenebris EP contorts in the listener’s mind like a monster of epic proportions. The three tracks on the release aren’t for the fainthearted or the newcomer. They pack a gut punch of unnerving sonic horror that truly, few bands can accomplish. Think about it — when was the last time that a heavy band made you feel uneasy like you were watching a gripping horror movie with little to no warning of their intentions?
The members of The Secret are the puppet-masters of this modern visceral horror tale. Their musical intensity does not let up throughout the EP — which, if you know The Secret, is a perhaps familiar quality. The intensity isn’t mind numbing; instead, there are the perfect bursts of texture to turn it into the exact opposite. You can feel this music — and that’s barely a figure of speech. Every note hits.
The band does frame their work on Lux Tenebris in a fashion that, at least at first listen, sets it apart from some of their other material. The EP opens with a lengthy, brooding, almost doom-metal esque part, and that texture — which has, to be sure, popped up elsewhere in The Secret’s discography — pops up again later on Lux Tenebris. The choice to include the “slowed down” parts — a phrase used very liberally, because the band is always intense — only ups the ante of the release. There’s that much more of a metaphorical fall down to hell via the parts that “ease” you into the brutally spinning core and mark it at various other points. It’s not as though the doom-esque parts represent a respite or a side venture.
The band’s prowess certainly doesn’t only rest with how Lux Tenebris is framed, though. The band sounds as though they have little to no sonic qualms whatsoever, blasting their way through their work with an intensity that is well beyond the lowly world of genre classifications. Their music will get into your mind in a way that few other artists can. There are few “subtle nuances” — everything is laid bare. For the right listener, that’s a thrilling fever dream of an experience.
5/5 Stars
Listen to Lux Tenebris below.
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