Secret Rule – “Uninverse” | Progressive Rock Central.com

OK, the secret of who will be the first metal band that I interview and review for the Citadel for Metal Fellowship series is revealed! The secret is the Italian band…Secret Rule! And yes, they will rule!

Secret Rule released their latest album, Uninverse, on November 24th. The album was promoted on tour, supporting Rage, in the UK at the end of November.

Secret Rule, was founded in 2014 by lead vocalist Angela Di Vincenzo, guitarist/producer, Andy Menario and former bass player Michele Raspanti. The following year Secret Rule, released their debut album Transposed Emotions. The music of Secret Rule is a blend of heavy guitar riffs, electronic elements, symphonic keyboard parts, and very powerful, yet catchy vocal lines. Their sound is unique and intriguing.

The current band line up includes: Angela Di Vincenzo, on vocals; Andy Menario, on lead guitar and loop sequences; Nicola Pedron, on bass; and Sebastiano Dolzani, on drums.

Their energetic performances captivate the audience’s attention, leaving them spellbound each time. During September 2017, Secret Rule released a music video for “The Song of the Universe”, their hit single from the third album, The Key to the World. The video was well received both by critics and fans, with over 2 million views on YouTube. In February 2018, Secret Rule, opened for Serenity and Visions of Atlantis on the Symphonic Metal Nights Tour. It was a huge success that brought Secret Rule to a higher level. For the month of May of 2019, The “7 Endless” debuted at 20° in the Japanese chart among the best imported albums for the magazine BURRN!.

Secret Rule has released seven albums, Transposed Emotions, (2015); Machination, (2016); “The Key to the World”, (2017); The 7 Endless, (2019); Against, (2020); “Quarantine: The Other Side of Us”, (2020); Mea Culpa, (2021); and The Resilient, (2022). They have performed with and have included such special guests on their albums, such as: Aylin (Sirenia), Stefan Helleblad (Within Temptation), Henrik Klingenberg (Sonata Arctica), Timo Somers (Delain), Sander Zoer (Delain and Leah) and Henning Basse (Mayan and Firewind).

Their songs reached the top 10 on iTunes rock/metal/all genres charts in countries such as Finland, Japan, Italy, Canada and Norway.

Over the years, Secret Rule has played a lot of shows in Europe, including headlining tours, sharing the stage with great bands like Delain, Beyond the Black, Xandria, Serenity, Kobra & the Lotus, Blaze Bayley, Visions of Atlantis, Semblant and Cellar Darling, and performing at festivals such as the Barcia Metal Fest, the Metal Fest Event – Femme, the 9° Camorock, Rock Castle Open Air, Rock Fest Prague, and Festo Die Hydra.

This is a successful female – fronted metal band and I am grateful to be reviewing their new album, and I will soon be interviewing them on December 10th, in the newly founded Citadel for Metal Fellowship. “Disorder”, is the first track on the album. It open slowly, with soft guitar as the sound and music develops. Then powerful choirs sing in Latin, “Judica, domine, noce me. Impera, libera, salva me”. Literally, “Judge, sir, command, deliver, save me!” Angela Di Vincenzo sings, amidst deep bass chords, “Everything is going towards chaos with no return. When the time will come. We’ll be accomplices of blessings from the sky. You remember what’s inside. The origin of lies. When the world will fall. Apart with every mind. Upheaval”. She has a great voice, which I would say is a great combination of the loud and powerful, vocal of Marina La Torraca of Phantom Elite, tempered well with the sweetness of Berlin’s Terri Nunn. This is an over 4 minute, high flying, opener with peak performance vocals and sledgehammer drums. Off to a great start.

The second song, “Equilibrium”, opens with orchestration, then excellent keyboards. Powerful bass, electric lead guitar and drums take over. Di Vincenzo sings “Broken. Stolen. Rusted over time. A mess is on your mind. I saw you frozen. Fallen. All your faith is gone. Watching the last dawn”. But later, her optimism returns as she sings, “Look! The wonder! Try to find your equilibrium. You can! Feeling your soul. Fly to the dark and say goodbye. Kissing the grave. Beyond the atom. You’ll find the start. Feel the embrace. You’ll see the universe around you!” She sounds so great, and renewed, “This silent world. Stainless and timeless. Is falling down. This is the end. There is nothing around you. Watching time roll on the dark waves. The silence is so loud. It blends with the fog. Cry your last tears. You’re reborn!” She brings back memories of one of my favorite female– fronted metal albums, Xandria’s Neverworld’s End. I do really like the sound of Angela Di Vincenzo’s voice. It sounds feminine, but direct and powerful.

“Shards of Time”, has a very cool video supporting it. Angela Di Vincenzo’s voice rocks well on this track. She sings, “Survived by dust and dark matter. Shards of time are getting. Lost in the universe. Stories and memories are fading. Past and future are melting. Into my dreams tonight. I can see my place inside this space. I exist here!” Then she sings, “I open myself to get out my pain. It’s my universe, what you’ll never get”. This sounds a little like something that would have fit well on my favorite Phantom Elite album Titanium. However, they have left that wonderful sound behind. Secret Rule is able to perfectly balance the heavy sounds, well with Angela Di Vincenzo singing the softer parts, like, “There will be a falling of stars. Leaving it dark all over. Phantoms will return to play. Violins tonight. One last cry. We’re writing another storyline. Before dying. The universe is in flames”.

“Gravity on Us”, opens quietly with percussion and keyboards. Then, the drums, bass and lead electric guitars circle like eagles, as the orchestration begins; with Angela Di Vincenzo singing, “I’m stuck on the ground. Oppressed, I can’t fly. It’s pulling me down. And everything feels so heavy to me. Something has broken. Beyond the sky. It’s time to get through. A new dimension. Like the angels we, the forsaken. Must open that door!” She sings, “Crossing the fire I’m reaching the edge. Burning my feathers. A shiver has run through my newest body. I cross the border. Beyond the sky. It’s time to get through. A new world!” Her voice is so unlike any other I’ve heard in metal. A great mix of heavy and feminine which is hard to find in this genre anymore. Thank goodness I found this band. There is still hope!

“Uninverse”, is the title track, and it is no wonder. The song opens with stringed orchestration, and some of Angela Di Vincenzo’s best vocals, “I’ve never fallen. But this night we will live the last one. Then we’ll go back to the dark. We’re all called in. And this night we will see the end of time. We’re going back to the unknown. We’ve fallen. And it’s time to leave our wild world”. After a cool electric guitar solo, she finally sings the closing lines, “D’you want to be free? Hold on to my hand. Together we’re leaving this place. For something better”. The orchestration at the end is wonderful.

“I Am”, opens with some very cool orchestration and keyboards. Di Vincenzo sings, “I got the place of your God, I reign. You’ll be the slave of this world, again. I am the master. I can control the sun, the rainfall. I can make you rich. Or let you die without a mother. I feel your weakness. I can control your will, your illness. I’ll be your hero! I want to be brave. But I live for myself. Remember my name. The time is over!”

“Time Zero”, opens with some very cool orchestration before some of the best metal electric buzz guitars roar over the soundscape. Di Vincenzo sings, “Raise your head now. Take a look around you. Can you see her sweet smile? Let her feel it. All your will to live. You’ll feel your first emotion. Screaming and crying. Time to be strong. This world is dying. You can’t go back. There’s no return. Finding your will. To kill all the demons. Waiting there for you. Now it’s your turn. I know. I’ll see you on fire. Nothing will stop you. Reborn from the fire!” One of the hardest tracks on the album, so far. Later she sings, “In the storm of life we’re reborn. Through dimensions from other worlds. We’ll survive the chaos. Find some peace within your mind. And pull out all your rage it’s poison. Cry your tears to purify. We’ll go back to time zero!” Male singers help with, “It’s time to let it go! 3, 2, 1, go!” Yes, over 5 minutes of power chords and fight song lyrics.

“Multiple Me”, opens with the coolest spacey keys, then, pipe organs. OMG thank you for those! Already one of the best songs on the album with those (Rollerball of the 70s), pipe organ notes. Di Vincenzo sings, “At the edge of my border. I fall or raise my banner. Two different Me’s. Two destinies, why?”, set to powerful electric grinding guitars. She continues, “The stories that I gather. Are teaching me a lesson. I can be everyone I want. I’m ready for the ascension. I join the vibration. To reach my paradise!” She concludes warmly, “I am here to show you. How to start to fly. In your heart. In your heart. Time to travel. Forgive your sins. In your heart”. Another powerful lead electric guitar solo, and then Angela sings, “Another dimension will catch my soul. And my destiny will be in my hands!”

“From Null to Life”, opens slowly with percussion and keyboards, with orchestration. A wonderful, cool keyboard opening. Then, the pace quickens and Angela sings, “You desire to control. Everything you see. In this world, on this earth. This universe. You feel superior. Playing with all life. You never mind. And you never think about tomorrow. Still, I feel you. Let me save your future. Let me do this right now!” She continues, “Keep a tight hold of my hand. Let me help you change your fate. Keep a tight hold of my hand. I watch you fall down. You can’t save yourself. I watch you fall down. Let me help you change your fate. Escape the flames. You’re in a corner. The clock is ticking slowly. My hands are on the wheel. I can’t let you fall down. The eternal pain of every man. Brings darkness everywhere. And you will be reborn. When chaos stops. The silent spell. The source of all things. An endless chain. From null to life!”

“Black Hole”, opens with deep percussion, drumming, and keyboards, before some of the best keyboards, that I have heard this year on a metal album. Angela Di Vincenzo sings her best lines on the album, “And the darkness within. Makes me unable. To discover myself. All my memories and dreams. Are blending together. Going through time. Passion. Keeps driving my heart. I’m in the silence. Another color is filling my heart. I am the silence tonight. In the darkness I fly. Dancing in the moonlight tonight. I wish to see you there. Tonight I want stars to fall. To show you. My real form with my emotions. I hear you in the silence. Calling my name again. From the light above. Mh, mh, mmmh!” A massive showcase for the lead singer and one of the band’s founders. She is amazing! A masterful album closer, and one of the best in metal this year!

“Uninverse – (Piano and Vocal Version)”, is an excellent addition to the album, as a piano and vocal version of the title track. You can really hear all the emotion and feeling Angela Di Vincenzo brings to her vocal delivery on this track. I enjoy this stripped down version even better than the original. Angela has a unique and powerful voice. So glad I found this band!

This is an amazing album! I am so happy that I reached out to Secret Rule, and requested to hear their album. Angela Di Vincenzo, is the find of the end of 2023, for me; in the female-fronted metal genre. Besides Marialena Trikoglou, from Mystfall, Angela is one of a kind. Angela has so much emotion and feeling in her voice. This band must be heard, and by more people. They will be my showcase band for the end of this year. I will interview them on the Citadel of Metal Fellowship, next week, December 10^th. Please be there to hear them describe this wonderful album, and the direction they hope to take in the future. I am hoping Secret Rule will continue on this advanced progression, that they have achieved, after releasing over seven albums. They have the experience, emotion, and most importantly they have the willpower to climb to the top of the charts. I can’t wait for their next album, while I continue to enjoy, a new Universe!

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