Goodfellow Records has been a springboard to hardcore and metal glory for numerous well-known bands. Premonitions of War, Every Time I Die, A Perfect Murder and XDiscipleX A.D. all had their start on the Massachusetts label, whose current lineup includes The Good Fight and Bloodjinn.
Enter The Secret and their new record, "Luce." Just under 40 minutes of the most intelligent, frantic heavy music this side of Converge, The Secret equally recalls former Seattle metal champions Botch and current Victory Records' standouts Between the Buried and Me.
What makes "Luce" such a special gem is that its overall impact never stops, but its music does find time to breathe, relenting only with the understanding that more is on the way.
The album's first track, "The Long Night of Mademoiselle Victorine Lafourcade," is the definitive introduction to the momentum sustaining breaks that The Secret does so well. The combination of Matteo Piatti's crashing cymbals and impressively tight snare drum is a perfect lead-in for vocalist Marco Coslovich.
Coslovich has the style of impossibly high-pitched screaming that hardcore nerds fawn all over. His screams tear at the speakers with an impact and without grating, something uncommon in the genre.
The Secret also keeps his vocals in the background, not only saving many of the songs from becoming overbearing, but adding to the attention demanded by the rhythm section and guitars.
"Luce" does certainly use many of the standard tactics employed by metal-influenced hardcore bands, from the artificial harmonics of Norma Jean to the mind-challenging guitar runs of Meshuggah. The record's breakdowns are neither innovative nor overly impressive, but they are adequate enough to not sound forced.
With shows on the horizon with Dillinger Escape Plan and Stretch Arm Strong as well as the release of "Luce," it would be very surprising if The Secret don't have the same national success as some of their Goodfellow predecessors.
Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Messina, from the RMBERS' Instagram page
