Secret Sphere Members Discuss New Album, "Lifeblood"
The Italian melodic metal masters are back with a great new release. Plus, rock and metal recommendations.
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If there’s one word that best describes the new album Lifeblood by Italian symphonic metal masters Secret Sphere, that word would be ‘fun.’ The ninth Secret Sphere release (not counting the 2015 re-release of A Time Never Come), which comes out Friday (March 12) on Frontiers Music SRL, features 11 tracks of proggy metal goodness and includes the welcome return of original vocalist Roberto Ramon Messina.
The band’s lineup includes Messina (vocals), band founder Aldo Lonobile (guitars), Andrea Buratto (bass), Gabriele Ciaccia (keyboards), and Marco Lazzarini (drums). Lonobile and Buratto have been with the band from the beginning, nearly 25 years ago. Messina started with the band in 1997, but left in 2012, citing musical differences, before returning for the new album. Ciaccia joined Secret Sphere in 2009, stepping in for Antonio Agate, and Lazzarini replaced Federico Pennazzato in 2013.
The album’s beginning came on the heels of the band’s 2017 album, The Nature of Time. After promoting and playing live to support the album, Lonobile set to work in 2019 to start the next record but decided to shake things up after writing sessions began.
“It’s a strange story because we started to compose the album. I composed some songs in 2019 but then I decided to make a change inside the band,” explained Lonobile. “I talked with our previous singer, which was Michele Luppi, and I called Roberto to see if he was happy to come back to join together the band after eight years.”
Lonobile and Messina spent some time together and concluded that this reunion was something both musicians wanted and so Secret Sphere had its classic vocalist back. However, events surrounding the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic soon created new challenges for the band.
“But then in 2020, when we were composing the album, the pandemic situation really changed everyone’s life,” Lonobile said. “So, we had to compose the music just sending each other demos, through telephone calls, exchanging ideas. Also, the recording of the album has not been easy, because we didn’t really have the chance to record the album until I would say the end of May because of the lockdown. And in Italy it was a really strong lockdown. You were not allowed to do anything. The only thing you could do was go outside to buy food.
“When we finally had the chance to go into the studio to record the album, it was difficult as well, because we were not allowed to stay in the studio. Some parts of Italy were open and some parts of Italy there were restrictions. It was really really hard to face the recording of the new album. But we were so happy to be together again — to rejoin the original lineup of Secret Sphere — that we faced all the difficulties with many positive feelings. I think at the end of the day the result is really great. The production is really great in my opinion. I like the sound and like the songs. I like the work we did.”
Messina said he was happy to rejoin his old bandmates and the time was right.
“Aldo and Andy brought me back to Secret Sphere,” he said. “They asked me to, and I definitely agreed. I had my own experiences when I was away from the band, and they had their career with Michele Luppi. It was a great career, good albums, and good tours all over the world. It was two parallel streets that again decided to cross each other.
“I was at a certain point in my life when all the other projects I made were not enough for me. So, when they asked me if I wanted to (rejoin) the band, I had no doubts about it. We just decided which way we wanted to do this cooperation again. And it was more natural than we thought. The main motivation is passion and fun. Definitely.”
Messina said rejoining the band and working on the album together felt like nothing had changed since before he split from the band. Secret Sphere had the same spirit of cooperation, camaraderie, and inspiration as before and that comes through on Lifeblood.
Many bands in the melodic metal genre that are together for a long span of time tend to repeat themselves, but Secret Sphere does a good job on Lifeblood of sounding fresh to my ears. The album sounds like a Secret Sphere album while at the same time not simply rehashing previous riffs and melodies.
“This is possible because we have a huge musical background,” Lonobile said. “We used to listen to really, really many kinds of music. I love, of course, metal, hard rock, but also something coming from pop music, folk music — I even like a lot of country music. So, in my opinion, the more horizons you can have listening to music, the more input you have to put inside your music.”
Lonobile also said he’s been influenced by many of the other artists he works with on various projects and he tries to bring all of those influences to Secret Sphere. Messina, on the other hand, said he has been avoiding listening to music to keep his mind clear.
“With no other influences in the last few years, I probably managed to pull out something from myself,” Messina said. “So, something personal, something original, and at the same time I would say that this specific expression is defined as fresh. So, you can be fresh when you are true.”
The album opener, “Shaping Beauty,” is a short, slow-building symphonic piece that draws the listener into the album. Italy has a tradition of melodic and dramatic music — notably opera. “Shaping Beauty” builds drama and sets the stage nicely for the title track, “Lifeblood,” which immediately shows off the band’s chops and power, while at the same time worming its way into the listener’s ear. There is tremendous depth to this layered song. Imagine a mash-up of Journey and DragonForce and you might be in the neighborhood. And yes, it is every bit as fun and smile-producing as that sounds.
“I think that in the new album there are some direct songs, like “Lifeblood,”” Lonobile said. “It’s a power metal song, for example, with a little bit of progressive. But there are many other songs that are not really close to progressive (or) to power metal, like “Against All the Odds.” It’s absolutely not power metal. It’s a melodic rock song.”
Messina’s lyrical themes came from being isolated in the Abruzzi region of Italy during the quarantine period. The coastline and mountains and way of life there spoke to him and found its way into songs like the title track.
“If you have checked out the video, it is filmed in the mountains because it wants to express the power of nature, the power of life, of simplicity,” he said. “I think the most inspirational things are still nature, love, feelings. The drama aspect is something that is in the Italian veins, probably.”
Following the title track, “The End of an Ego” starts a bit more like standard AOR fare, but with a driving beat, intricate layers of keyboards, and clever guitar. “Life Survivors” starts out more AOR than metal, with a simple keyboard intro that gives way to a powerful and catchy riff, which leads into Messina’s emotional vocals. Then it quickly grows more symphonic and dramatic. Lazzarini’s drum work stands out on this track and it will have listeners involuntarily bobbing their heads in some places.
The album returns to pure power metal with “Alive,” which features perhaps Lonobile’s best solo on the record. It’s a soaring and triumphant song and one of the highlights of Lifeblood. The chorus is a catchy one, too.
As Lonobile mentioned above, “Against All the Odds” isn’t power metal. It sounds a bit like Arnel Pineda-era Journey with a bit more of an edge in the guitars and keyboard runs that could have been borrowed from Swedish proggers A.C.T. It also has a catchy live concert singalong “oh-oh-oh” section that will go over well on tour once the pandemic allows for such things again.
“Thank You” is an anthem with knife-sharp guitar riffs that could easily become a plodding AOR number in the hands of a less talented band. Instead, Secret Sphere makes it rock. It has a soaring guitar solo from Lonobile and keyboards from Ciaccia that straddle the line between the fun of A.C.T and the technicality of Dream Theater without straying too close to the showoff-y overplaying that sometimes plagues the latter.
Once again, Messina’s vocal prowess is on display during “The Violent Ones” — another of Lifeblood’s rockers. He is a terrific singer and manages to balance power with precision, even when hitting some impressively high notes.
Ciaccia’s keyboard talents come to the forefront at the start of “Solitary Fight,” showing off his tremendous chops, but in a melodic way. He can play intricate, lightning-fast runs, as he does here, but he never seems to be showing off so much as serving the song.
“Skywards” is a delicate ballad with acoustic guitar that almost seems jarring after the pyrotechnics of the previous few songs. There is a terrific power ballad-style guitar solo from Lonobile in it, however.
The album’s longest track is the closer, “The Lie We Love,” clocking in at nearly eight and a half minutes. It starts softly, almost as a companion piece to “Skywards.” It kicks into another gear about 90 seconds in, with a crunchy guitar riff, then the time signature changes, and it starts going through ebbs and flows — soft and hard, light and dark. Symphonic keyboards add warmth and depth to the proceedings.
At the end of the listening experience, Messina said he’d like the music to inspire the listener to take away something positive from Lifeblood and carry that energy forward into the world.
“We have always tried to communicate something once they are listening. Not only the best music we can offer. Not only good sound experience. It’s something that has to do with energy,” he said. “We would like (the listener) to be happy at the end, first of all, and when he’s happy, he’s going to make another person happy. It’s like spreading something positive. We wanted to reach something that has a positive experience to everyone.”
Secret Sphere has accomplished that goal. I cannot recommend this record highly enough for those who enjoy melodic and interesting rock songs. The band hits it out of the park with Lifeblood. It’s a fun listen full of outstanding musicianship, great production values (although, if I have a criticism of that, it’s that I would like a thicker drum sound), and melodies that stick with you long after you’ve stopped listening.
For more nuggets from my interview with Lonobile and Messina of Secret Sphere, including insight into the album’s beautiful artwork, why the band chose to do vocals in English rather than Italian from the beginning, the metal scene in Italy, and other topics, please watch the full interview video here.
Other Metal and Hard Rock Recommendations
Here are some of the other bands with new releases that I’ve been spinning a lot lately:
Inglorious – This five-piece band from England just released its fourth album, We Will Ride, which went to No. 1 on the Amazon hard rock chart — and with good reason. This is a band straight out of the late 1970s/early 1980s. There’s a touch of Whitesnake here, but the band has its own identity, and the songs are good.
Mason Hill – Hard rock is alive and well in the U.K. if the new album by Mason Hill is any indication. The Glasgow boys released their first full-length record, Against the Wall, recently and it’s a banger. They can write good songs and they can play. Learn more about them here. There’s a lot of buzz about this band and one listen to Against the Wall demonstrates why.
Kreek – This four-piece U.K. band just released its self-titled debut and, like Mason Hill, helped show that the classic rock sound isn’t dead. This is riff-based rock with infectious hooks and strong vocals. Check them out on Spotify or YouTube. I couldn’t find an official website for Kreek but they do have a Facebook page.
Crystal Viper – This Polish metal band has an interesting new offering on Listenable Records called The Cult. The band dives into the mythos of H.P. Lovecraft on its eighth studio album and mostly with good results. Singer/guitarist Marta Gabriel is talented and brings the songs to life. Some of the songs later in the album didn’t measure up to the first half of the album (for me, anyway), but overall this was a fun musical find and the title track is a blast. Oh, and the album’s cover artwork is stunning and creepy as hell, so this might be one to pick up on vinyl.
Metalite – A Virtual World is a little cheesy and a bit cliché, as music about technology can often be, but hey, this is power/melodic metal and that’s OK. The Swedish band’s music is great and the vocals by Erica Ohlsson are outstanding. This album won’t drop until March 26 and the band is on my radar for a future interview if I can make the timing work. You can check out their previous album, Biomechanicals, on Spotify. Here’s their website.
If you have any questions you’d like me to answer or any band suggestions you’d like me to explore, please reach out to me at michaelsrecordcollection@gmail.com.