UNDER THE PLEDGE OF SECRECY was formed in 2005 in Germany "with an experimental approach to create a unique mixture of various styles with focus on hard music." Following the release of an EP in 2008, the band were able to release their debut "Black Hole Mass Evolution" in 2014. The album contains nine tracks. If the opening scorcher "Achilles" is any indication of what the album might bring, we are in for the apocalypse. There is a burning intensity here, like a reaper trying to suck your soul from your body as it clings on for dear life. "I am helpless and alone, drifting off to sea" is one of the lyric lines that might help you understand. "Convoluted" has a relentless energy and guitar riffs that sound like advanced mathematics. At one point, it pauses just long enough to bring in some semblance of order but the chaos reigns for the most point. When the Titans in Greek Mythology roamed, the Gods themselves scattered, as they were no match for the destruction that ensued from the "Rise Of The Titans."

In "One/Eyed/God/Prophecy," the intensity might best be described from one of the lyrics which reads "stripped shores reeking of sulfur and burning flesh roasted from the bones with skulls still screaming." It is the antithesis of order and law. The title track, "Black Hole Mass Evolution," talks about "being chosen for your rage and for the fury you hold within." The brutal and dissonant sound describes what that rage and fury would sound like it you could extract it and unleash that pain. "Smith Island" is the first track that takes a more lumbering pace and sports mid-tempo darkness from the eerie and haunting guitar notes, and anguished vocals that spew forth the venom of the soul, in bursts of burning fire. "The Breakeven" is a one-minute instrumental that features some guitar harmonies in a short-lived track that I would have liked to have heard some more of. Something about the chord patter was very intriguing with a promise of mystery.

"Black Forest" speaks of a deep, inner turmoil that cannot be remedied, and threatens to drive you to insanity or death, whichever comes first. The brooding heaviness and cold sterility is like looking into the eyes of a serial killer and finding a vacancy there that chills you to your core. "The First Light" is the odd track out, at over six minutes in length, and the length allows the despondency of the themes of futility and failure to soak into you like a never-ending rain. The sense of impending doom grows as the song continues, leaving you lifeless and left with no meaning. When you look at the running times of most of the tracks and see that three minutes is about the average, you might wonder why. But after you take in the album, you realize that any longer time of keeping up the extreme fury could result in the band spontaneously combusting. I haven't heard something with this intensity in a while. If the Gates of Hell would ever open on Earth, this would be the soundtrack to that event.