SECRET SPHERE-One Night In Tokyo

Frontiers Music srl

A double live CD/DVD of the Italian formation Secret Sphere, a group that has been active since 1997 and has released a bunch of albums, the latest being ‘A Time Nevercome’, which was a rerecorded version of the album that was released in 2001. Sung by new singer Michele Luppi, who made his debut for the band on their 2012 album ‘Portrait Of A Dying Heart’. At the moment of writing this review I only have the music available and not the pictures of the DVD, but at the end of the day it is the music that counts. By the way, Michele Luppi has also been part of the touring band of Whitesnake, on keyboards and background vocals. Furthermore he has released material with Vision Divine, Los Angeles and has a solo CD to his name, so there is plenty of experience united in the current front man of Secret Sphere. The band has always been led by guitarist Aldo Lonobile (the main composer) and bass player Andy Buratto, the only remaining original members. If you are known with this band you know that their music is a dynamic mix between symphonic rock and powerful melodic metal with quite a lot of fast played parts. The emphasis is clearly on songs from ‘Portrait Of A Dying Heart’ mixed with some oldies from the Secret Sphere archives. It is all brought to you in a professional matter, well played with lots of enthusiasm and you can hear that the guys are enjoying themselves on stage. Luppi is trying his best to get the audience involved and sometimes makes a bit of a fool of himself by giving away kisses to the crowd and getting carried away. A bit like a kid in a candy store, happy and full of joy. But he sings very good, so we should not pay too much attention to his stage antics. With powerful performances of songs like ,,Legend’’ (with ultrafast drum parts), ,,The Fall’’, ,,Lie To Me’’, ,,Eternity’’ and ,,Mr. Sin’’ Secret Sphere proves to be a force in their genre, as ‘One Night In Tokyo’ is a convincing live recording. If you are into bands like for instance DGM I think that this release could be one for you as well.