Six years ago I introduced you to their third studio recording 'The Key To The World' which was followed a little more than one year later from 'The 7 Endless', and the Italians of 'Secret Rule' have been busy since, as 2020 saw the release of two albums, 'Against' and cover album 'Quarantine: the other side of us' recorded during the covid period which were themselves followed by two other studio recordings 'Mea Culpa' in 2021 and 'The Resilient' in 2022 which makes about one album every year because it is the turn of 'Mea Culpa Live Acoustic Session' to be released in 2023.
And for this new opus which is a bit special, they revisit 'Mea Culpa' in acoustics and make us rediscover the compositions of the 2021 album in a very different atmosphere from the original. Like many formations that had disconnected electric instruments during the Covid period, this more refined reinterpretation puts even more emphasis on the singing of Angela Di Vincenzo' and it is the less energetic titles that stand out the most: we will not go to side of 'Black Swan' which shows another very endearing facet and 'Whore' in which the piano/voice duo is filled with beautiful emotion, just like 'Welcome To Hell' which benefits from a much slower tempo than the original which turns it into a very beautiful ballad and which is followed by another ballad 'Lost' also very successful. The other faster compositions are not left out and we can mention 'Blunder' which opens the album with its memorable chorus, the catchy 'A New War' and 'The King Has Fallen' but also 'Mother Heart' which shows a face much more refined than the original while conveying good energy.
In summary, the Italians of 'Secret Rule' show that they have the talent to surprise us by offering us this very beautiful acoustic album which allows us to offer a completely different version of the original which should please not only to the fans but also to a wider audience because all the compositions all have very catchy melodic lines... | |
