Official press release:
Oakland-based atmospheric doom quintet and recent Metal Blade signees, Secrets Of The Sky, will release their long-awaited sophomore full-length this May. Titled Pathway, the mammoth thirteen-track follow-up to 2013’s critically-heralded To Sail Black Waters full-length was engineered, mixed, mastered and co-produced by Juan Urteaga of Trident Studios with Secrets Of The Sky and finds the band at their most poignant.
Dark, brooding, pure, eclectic, Pathway features Garett Gazay fluctuating between monstrous growls and clean, soothing vocal cascades, all the while complimenting the twisted compositions of guitarists Andrew Green and Clayton Bartholomew. Bassist Ryan Healy and drummer Lance Lea round out the lineup, their rhythms and distinctive voices adding further depth to the collective’s meticulous, blackened soundscrapes. Sonically, Secrets Of The Sky aimed for a massive, clean, and organic sounding production. Much time was invested in obtaining huge drum sounds and the focus was on single performance takes throughout the process. The result is an ambitious foray into conceptual storytelling, coupled with emotional music full of peaks and valleys. This is a metal record, to be sure, but more importantly, it sounds like an album of music. This is not a random sequencing of songs or a search for a “hit” single; the tracks all have their place in the story, and the cuts in between actually drive the narrative through sound effects and ambience. Secrets Of The Sky’s Pathway is an experience to be had, as well as a record to merely be heard.
Comments Bartholomew of first single, “Three Swords”:
“‘Three Swords’ was the first song we put together for the new album when we started writing it back a year or so ago. In fact, the songs on the album were written in the order they appear on the record. The first album, To Sail Black Waters, ends with a single guitar part fading out, and the same riff fades in to the Pathway album via ‘Three Swords’. The song is just a piece of the overall puzzle that constitutes Pathway, which I believe as an album is more well-rounded and dynamic as a whole than any of our previous work.”
Secrets Of The Sky’s Pathway will be officially unveiled in North America on May 19th, 2015 via Metal Blade Records. For pre-order bundles, scroll on over to: metalblade.com/secretsofthesky.
Pathway track listing:
1. “I”
2. “Three Swords”
3. “II”
4. “Angel In Vines”
5. “Another Light”
6. “III”
7. “IV”
8. “Garden Of Prayers”
9. “V”
10. “Fosforos”
11. “VI”
12. “Eternal Wolves”
13. “VII”
