Mistress of the Shadowlight

It wouldn't be much of a leap to say that Rhapsody (Of Fire) and Labyrinth started a pretty noticeable trend in the Italian scene, so much so that almost any band hailing from there that played power metal and had a keyboardist would sound like either one or the other. Among the earliest of the bands to follow in their footsteps was Secret Sphere, a band that actually managed to combine both of the former outfits' sounds into a near perfect 50/50 hybrid, drawing upon both a symphonic and progressive character while dredging up the same Iron Maiden, Helloween, and Malmsteen influences that had many thinking that the 80s had come roaring back to strike a final blow at its 90s antithesis towards the end of said decade. But curiously enough, Secret Sphere's debut album speaks to an almost cult-like persona, underscored by a very underground character that is not normally associated with this style.

"Mistress Of The Shadowlight" is a quintessential excursion into textbook symphonic power metal, preempting the eventual score of short-lived acts such as Landguard and more prolific and steadfast ones like Thy Majestie, and also coming in a package that is quite humble in comparison to "Return To Heaven Denied" and "Legendary Tales", the two albums the have the closest comparability to this one. The production is low-fidelity, thin, and somewhat mired in an almost demo-like character where the levels of sound are a bit uneven. Consequentially, the vocals come off as distant, in spite of Ramon Messina's highly proficient tenor (this was before he sounded like Robert Tyrant's doppelganger), and the instrumental backdrop is a bit drum heavy. It tends to muddle the album insofar as a first impression goes, though like a number of albums that are not as posh and polished as Hammerfall's "Renegade", it tends to grow over time before fully agreeing with the ears.

What this album lacks in production values it makes up for in strong musicianship with regards to all parties in attendance, as well as a solid approach to songwriting that tends to mimic the early Rhapsody (Of Fire) approach. Most of the work found on here is quite fast in tempo (enough to rival Gamma Ray at their speediest), and loaded up with flashy guitar and keyboard solos that ring true to the approach adopted from Malmsteen and Johansson by Luca Turilli and Alex Staropoli and stylized into something a bit less drawn out. "Age Of Wizard" and "On The Wings Of Sun" represent the most compact of this album's offerings and show a somewhat more traditionally oriented and slightly progressive approach to the paradigm, occasionally resorting to fleeting quiet interludes and simpler, Iron Maiden progressions rather than constant and overt Baroque/Classical themes a la Malmsteen.

As the album unfolds, hints are given of Secret Sphere's progressive tendencies, particularly when things get longer and allow for greater occasions for twists in the formula. "White Lion" makes no secret of being a bit on the technical side as it kicks off with a heavy amount of guitars sweeps and keyboard motives before settling into a driving speed metal dash. Much like with the shorter material, there are intermittent clean sections reminiscent of the same early 90s Fates Warning approach that Labyrinth has been bringing to the genre since a few years prior. "Secret Sphere" proves to be the busiest of the bunch and actually crosses over into Dream Theater territory at times with a difficult to follow barrage of technical changes. This is probably one of the slowest growers of this album, but it definitely proves to be among the band's more impressive compositional feats.

In much the same way as Crystal Eyes' early material and the early works of Dushan Petrossi with Iron Mask, this is the sort of album that speaks to a slightly older audience in the power metal world, one that came in when the style suffered a short-lived death in the early 90s and was resurrected via the mid-90s releases of Gamma Ray, Blind Guardian, and the eventual revival that would kick in a few years after "Land Of The Free" and "Imaginations From The Other Side" went into circulation. Fussy adherents who want to hear crystal clear production values and an equally misty and light sounding progressive sound in keeping with recent output from this band such as "Archetype" and the latest release "Portrait Of A Dying Heart" will probably not take to this. But for those who discovered this sound right when it was making the rounds circa 1998-1999 should be aware of this, as it presents a fairly unique middle ground between two dominant takes on what has since become a formidable scene in the continuing power metal revolution.

Later submitted to (www.metal-observer.com) on July 8, 2013.

Secret Sphere is one of those second-tier Italian power metal bands that you never hear about. Despite their expansive discography (seven albums at the time of this writing), they've never really caught on except among diehard Italophiles. I can see why - pick a random song from their library of tunes and you're just as likely to strike a fetid power ballad or uninspiring hard-rock experiment as you are a 1000-MPH power metal demolition derby.

This debut effort is the only Secret Sphere album that I would confidently label as "symphonic power metal". Their later albums display amounts of keyboard usage typical for a power metal band, but on Mistress of the Shadowlight, keyboards play a more prominent part. This is most clearly evidenced by a plethora of classically-influenced symphonic breaks which are strewn throughout the runtime of the disc. And unlike any other of the band's albums, the solos and melodies here are strongly neoclassical in flavor, something that Secret Sphere has totally abandoned. Why do power metal bands always forsake the best elements of their sound?

Released in 1999 as the band's first serious recording effort, you might be able to foresee the production issues that hamper my enjoyment of this album. The guitars are thin, rendering otherwise decent riffs totally impotent. The keyboards are thin as well, obscuring the good ideas present in their composition. There is no low end, so the bass kind of just twangs helplessly in the background. The only adequately-produced instrument is the drums; the bass drum is punchy (almost triggered-sounding) and the snare drum is properly loud, cutting through everything else to provide a strong beat.

Vocalist Ramon Messina takes a more straightforward vocal approach on these songs than he does later in his career, when he, judging by the disturbing amounts of crooning and wailing that slipped into his delivery, took a second job moonlighting as a singer of sappy love songs. Ramon's accent and style is unlike any other singer I've heard, so he is instantly recognizable, and I consider this performance to be one of the high points of his career. Most outsiders to the genre would consider Ramon another pin-dick power metal pansy, and I guess he is, but he's not any wimpier than the average power metal vocalist. He was probably the one member of the band that made Secret Sphere what they are, so now that he's out of the band, there's something missing.

Of course, if he's the one that pushed the band into writing that "Oooh baby I love you so much, here let me cut my wrists and we can blood-swap, you are my sexy demoness" crap which plagued their later output, I say good riddance. The lyrics here are fairly lame (RECALL OF THE VALKEEEEEEEEERIAAAAAA, FROM MIGHTY WORLD OF SKIES) but at least they don't put a permanent cringe on my face, and sometimes I even crack a grin when my ears are graced by such earnest hilarity.

The highlight of this album, with no doubt, is the songwriting. You could listen to the band's entire recorded output several times over and not find as solid a collection of songs as this. You would not even come close. The followup to this album, A Time Nevercome, is better-produced and features nearly-comparable songwriting, but every album past that point is just a shadow of those first two glorious releases. This is Secret Sphere without the taint of experimentation; in 1999, they played symphonic power metal, and only symphonic power metal. If it's not a ballad, it's played fast, and with a lot of solos of both the keyboard and guitar variety. There are little solo-like leads before the verses, during the verses, after the verses, any time the band felt like it, because at this point in power metal's evolution, that is what you did. The riffs are fast, there are no breakdowns, there are no chugs, and they understood that nobody listens to this style of music because they want to throw down to some heavy riffs, so it works perfectly.

There are no glaring flaws with this album other than the flat production. This is probably the only time that I wish a band would do a re-recording, because these songs would become so much more awesome with some meatier guitars and clearer keyboards. One other complaint I have is that the second half of the album lacks pretty heavily compared to the first half. This is explained by the fact that all the dick-shrinking ballads are bunched up in the last five songs, whereas the first three songs after the intro will just violently punch your nads with power metal majesty. However, even the ballads on this album are listenable (which cannot be said for Secret Sphere's later ballad attempts). If you enjoy power metal of Italian origin, this is a plentiful serving of melodic goodness which will sate even the most voracious appetite. For all others, this is a good introduction to the expansive and enlightening world of underground late-90's power metal.

Just don't expect to bang your head too much.

Oh, more happy wipi power metal from Italy! But wait. Don't run away in pain and desolation. What we have here is the first release of a quite strange and ignored band. This came out during the rise of Rhapsody and was sucked in the same wave as you can notice when you start to listen

"Mistress of the Shadowlight" isn't precisely one of those records that you will remeber forever. In fact, it fails to acquire the "epicness" required for your usual power metal band but, fear not, it has all that stuff typical of them: speed, nice riffs, catchy (too catchy in my honest opinion) melodies and, OBVIOUSLY, the fantasy lyrics which are a must.

The song "Recall of the Valkyrie" would deserve an entire review as it's quite creative, damn catchy, and features the funny fact that they pronounce "Valkyrie" as we pronunce it in spanish or italian ("Valkiria", with the last "i" sounding like the english "e"). Leaving the amusment fact aside, it's a nice tune but the ones that really surpass the rest are "Age of the Wizard", "White Lion" and "Secret Sphere", which features the battle between the hero and the Mistress of the Shadowlight.

Yes, you can run away in pain if you hate power metal driven by speed and fantasy. Now.

Well, if there is anyone left, the rest of the cd is quite regular and mediocre, featuring the typical ballad, etc, etc, too generic sometimes to be taken into account. The production and sound is ok, nothing new here. The singer has the usual high pitched vocals that, hpoefully, got perfected in later releases, both in terms of complexity and the english accent.

As a last comment, if you can still find this anywhere it would be a nice purchase as it, somehow, sounds a bit better than Rhapsody (it lacks all the cheesiness of the lame narrations and that fugly bla bla bla you have to tolerate in their late works). Again, while not the best it could be good to give it a try.