The Secrets of an Island

Six Magics. Their first disk, "Dead Kings of the Unholy Valley" was a solid, although predictable albums that bordered on generic. I'm pleased to say that this band has taken their music in a new direction with this release. Boasting 17 tracks (Although only 11 of them are full-length songs) that depict a story about the Chilote Island that the band hails from; "The Secrets of an Island" is an epic album with some very intriguing music.

Secrets of and Island seems to be a fairly odd album at a first listen. After the short introduction track, the album just rips into the opener, "Chaos and Fury". The first 10 seconds of this song tells you a very large amount about Six Magics. The first vocals you hear are booming choirs that would make the members of Rhapsody squeal in delight, and almost every instrument is being played right off the bat. The guitar work is pure riffage, reminding me of Iced Earth and Manticora, but with less punch. The solos are pleasing to listen to, and have lots of variety. The rhythms are strong and always pushing forward. The music is laden with keyboarding, but almost all of it is an upright piano sound that gives the music a unique flavour. Very good piano/keyboarding.

The drumming is well executed. There's some double bass, but it placed fairly strategically, so the listener is never pummeled with huge amounts of it. However, the drumming is very intricate consistently throughout the CD. On a first listen, you may have to concentrate to find out just where the beat is. It's almost jazzy to a point, huge amounts of cymbal bells, and other things that go 'ring-ding' are used in the drumming, and it sounds great. Like the use of the piano sound, this style of drumming helps to keep Six Magics from becoming nothing more than a slight spin-off of Rhapsody.

The songs on this album are epic. Like, super epic. It competes with Rhapsody and Thy Majestie Real easily. The huge, spectacular choirs, the different voices add lots to the music, and create something interesting. Aside from the Choirs (Which are used in the CD to the point that they are almost annoying) we have the voice of Sergio Domínguez, who is the lead vocalist. His voice is good, but it's nothing spectacular. It works, and it's epic. That's what counts. Also, there are some female vocals in certain songs, such as "Brutal Sacrilege", and they take the role of a mother in most cases. In addition to the female vocals, some verses are made up entirely on growls that could easily be heard on some melo-black album! They're really cool, and give a nice break from the choirs. And of course, this album ends just like their debut did: An epic album-titled song that lasts over 10 minutes. Good stuff, I love long power metal songs.

Overall, this is a good example of an excellent sophomore release. However, a few niggles keep it from reaching the 90% range. Firstly, the choirs will rape your ears after about 5 songs. They can get really annoying. They're cool and epic and all but cut them down just a tad! This alone could totally throw off some listeners. Also, some of the styles may not click to well with some listeners. It seems to me that Six Magics threw caution to the winds when creating this album. They wanted to make something totally different, but they practically over-used almost anything that made them so different. Six Magics will probably be one of those bands that will either enthrall you, or offend you. I love this style, and it's very unique, so I can't give this a bad grade.

Killer Tracks: "Chaos and Fury”, "Caleuche (The Flying Dutchman)", "Goddess of the Seas", "Brutal Sacrilege", "The Basilisk", and "The Secrets of an Island".