Italian power/progressive metal band SECRET SPHERE, no stranger to the European metal scene, have been making music for nearly 25 years, are releasing their ninth studio album "Lifeblood". Formed in July 1997, the band is and continues to be spear-headed by guitarist mastermind Aldo Lonobile. They managed their first demo in 1998 which caught the attention of Elevate Records allowing them a two-album deal. They then followed up by releasing their first full-length following in 1999 titled "Mistress of Shadowlight" with second album "A Time Never Come" right on its heels in 2001. Out of their deal with Elevate Records they recorded two promo CDs in 2002, catching to the attention of German heavy metal label Nuclear Blast and released "Scent of Human Desire" in 2003, which marked a stylistic change focusing less on fantasy and more on romantic, sexual themes. The band would lose a drummer and record with a session drummer for 2005's "Heart & Anger".

Retaining members soon proved troublesome and the band would lose two more members - longtime keyboardist Antonio Agate and guitarist Paolo "Paco" Gianotti - after 2008's "Sweet Blood Theory". They would quickly switch labels to Italian heavy metal Scarlet Labels and gain new keyboardist Gabriele Ciaccia and Marco Pastorino for 2010's "Archetype". In 2012, another founding member would depart - vocalist Roberto "Ramon" Messina - due to musical direction differences and recruit Michel Luppi of VISON DIVINE and release "Portrait of a Dying Heart" that year. After re-recording and releasing their second album for its 15^th anniversary, the band would move to Frontier Records in April 2016, signing a multi-album deal with the label and for the first release an album - 2017's "The Nature of Time" - with Lonobile as the lone guitarist.

But SECRET SPHERE's future seems much brighter with their new album "Lifeblood". This album sees the band reuniting with founding vocalist Roberto Ramon Messina and seemingly breathe new life into the band. Of the album Messina says, "'Lifeblood' is the album that celebrates my return to the band, to my old roots, and 'home', where I feel inspired and free. It marks the return of the band to its early unique style of pure, energetic, creative and melodic power metal." He joins Lonobile and longtime bassist Andy Buratto along with keyboardist Ciaccia and relatively new drummer Marco Lazzarini. A bit of a return to form with over-the-top European power metal with just the right bit of progressive song structures and high-flying guitar work await listeners with this new release.

Cutting right to the chase, SECRET SPHERE have crafted a phenomenal album in "Lifeblood" with strong high tension vocals, meaty guitar riffs, and enough technical guitar wizardry to satisfy even the most diehard of guitar playing aficionados. I got familiar with Lonobile's playing after hearing his recent contributions on the Geoff Tate-driven project Sweet Oblivion and I was impressed. But my jaw absolutely hit the floor when heard the guitar unisons at the start of the title track. The album starts with the almost requisite instrumental track "Shaping Reality" which is a nice, orchestrally majestic introduction to themes, but the title track is what did the job to suitably whet my appetite for more of the band's heavier edge and prominent power metal influence. But without a proper singer, guitar work doesn't sell an album for me and the return of Messina elevated this album above previous efforts. Messina has perfect pipes for power/symphonic metal anthems "The End of an Ego", "Thank You", and "The Violent Ones. The latter even gets to highs rarely heard even in the power metal realm. But he also has an uncanny ability to draw you in on softer tracks, melodic AOR track "Against All Odds". It's a pleasure listening to the command and control he is able to achieve with his voice alone. But the album even finishes strong on the epic closer "The Lie We Love" with a culmination of the symphonic elements with a healthy dose of progressive metal flavor. A pure masterpiece that defies specific metal genre markers while equally satisfying listeners of power metal, symphonic metal, and progressive metal.