Secret Signs - For a lifetime 3.5/5
Reviewed: 6-1-13
Tracklist:
1. Welcome
2. My theatre of sadness and pain
3. Words
4. Voice from the afterlife
5. Through the stars
6. Battle for the darkness
7. Secret Signs
8. Forgotten childhood
9. Searching for angels
10. Black stone fire
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Out of Spain, Secret Signs unleash their full-length debut 'For a lifetime', and it's another CD in the now massive female fronted metal scene. Its style is symphonic power metal, but there's plenty of gothic metal thrown in as well. The most obvious and general comparison is Nightwish, which indicates that it's comparable to numerous other bands too, and some that have come to mind are Imperia, Dotma, Coronatus, Niobeth, Arya, Overdream, Opus Doria, Lanewin, Visions of Atlantis, Atargatis, and so on.
The band is fronted by May Lucas, and I'd call her performance solid, as she does a good job, while not flooring me like some of the top vocalists in the style (Tarja for example). She reaches operatic range on occasion, but is mostly in the mid-range. There are also some male vocals, both clean and rough, and bands like Epica could certainly be mentioned as comparisons as well. That said, May dominates the vocal department, so if you're thinking this band belongs in the "beauty and the beast" category, know that there's only a few portions of this CD that are in that direction.
My favorite song is track 5 "Through the stars", as it's fast-paced and exciting, and May's vocals stand out in a good way. The only segment of the CD that I don't like is the beginning of track 8 "Forgotten childhood", as it simply doesn't seem to fit with the rest of the CD, but even that song ends up being good. Track 6 "Battle for the darkness" starts out slow with clean male vocals (along with May's), and it reminds me of some of Visions of Atlantis' stuff. So all of the songs are in the range of good to excellent, and in the end, this is a competitive and recommended CD to those who are constantly following the massive female fronted metal scene.
CLINT
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