Review
The Secret
Agnus Dei

Southern Lord have been on a roll this year – Martyrdöd, Wolfbrigade, Eagle Twin and Acephalix to name but a few - and the fourth full-length from Italian masters of all out noise, The Secret, is a worthy addition to a roster that is always expanding and never diluting. Agnus Dei is pure, unadulterated fury and the bile and venom drips from the mouth of Marco Coslovich with a palpable sense of utter chaos. The Secret don’t fuck about and Agnus Dei pounds from beat to delicious blast with flame and fire and a noticeable rage. Not quite grind, or hardcore or black metal or anything you may hear rear its ugly head during the running time, The Secret straddle a multitude of sounds whilst staying coherent and deadly. Agnus Dei powers forth on sprightly riffs and panic-inducing flights of vocal prowess, sub-two minute tracks packing as much into their short time as humanly possible - “Violent Infection” and “Daily Lies” throwing down the proverbial gauntlet to everything that stands in the way of the spite and hate that emanates from this furious quartet.

The dastardly aggression of “Vermin of Dust” roils with a hateful melody; the bursts of sound dig ever deeper under your skin and settle there like a parasite, the swagger of the track consuming and enveloping you in shadows of misanthropic abhorrence. “Darkness I Became” follows with a violently stormy pace and The Secret continue to mine the vein of destruction for all it’s worth. Terrifyingly engaging, Agnus Dei draws you into a world of true negativity and slyly devours all sense of hope you may have for the future. Doomy progressions underpin the distressingly blackened landscapes of “Heretic Temple” and once again The Secret defy any chance you may have had to encapsulate their sound into any one genre before the frenetic "The Bottomless Pit" pushes its way forward with a mighty roar.

Agnus Dei is intense and utterly brutal and “Seven Billion Graves” ends this record in a punishing and dangerous manner. The Secret truly take no prisoners in their approach to the blackened side of many genres. Whilst many bands fall by the wayside in their attempts to encompass such feelings of claustrophobia and revulsion, The Secret do so with total pleasure and hostile finesse.