Review: Secretion – Message of Blood (EP)
Reviewed by Jason Mclaren
SECRETION
“Message of Blood” EP
2024, self-released.
Genre: Death Metal
Secretion is a band that falls into what I call the “second-wave” of Christian death metal. It’s an arbitrary call on my part to call it that, but from around 1997 to about 2005, the Christian metal scene as I see it saw the rise of a whole new slew of death metal acts after the initial work done by Mortification, Living Sacrifice, and Crimson Thorn, amongst many others. The groundwork having been laid, acts like Corpse, Lament, Morbid Sacrifice, Clemency and others began to make themselves known. Originally a secular act, Secretion released a few demo’s before returning as a full-fledged Christian death metal band in 2002 with the underground gem, Reborn, a tasty platter of brutal death metal in the vein of Obituary and Crimson Thorn. Twenty-two years later, and the duo of Shawn Hensley and Dax Hoffman return with a grisly little EP entitled Message of Blood.
From the outset, Message of Blood is a work that seems to wear its heart on its sleeve, almost sonically defiant in its obvious love of old-school death metal. This goes for the band members too, Shawn Hensley in particular sporting a battle jacket covered in Obituary, Suffocation and Autopsy patches. Given that the new wave of old-school death metal movement is still alive and well, it’s great to see some Christian metal acts with the same style and sound.
Unlike many of the old-school death metal acts around these days, Secretion don’t reference the cavernous death metal sounds of Incantation at all, and for myself (and others getting a little tired of so-called “Incantaclones”), this is refreshing. What really separates Secretion from the pack, however, is that they don’t sound like they’re looking back to the heyday of early death metal, but are actually living in it as though caught in some kind of time warp. Someone could tell me this was released in 1992, and I wouldn’t bat an eyelid.
To the tunes themselves then. Secretion’s style in a nutshell is what I call “sewer death metal” – rotten, slowed down to an unearthly crawl, grungy, and ugly, the kind of death metal that abhors the melodic and shuns the technical in favour of sounding as downright hideous and brutal as possible. The overall sound of Message of Blood sounds like a mash-up of Obituary’s Slowly We Rot with Cannibal Corpse’s Tomb of the Mutilated, though the debt to the ultra-guttural sounds of Crimson Thorn are apparent as well. Secretion have always had a kind of slam element to their sound without actually crossing any lines into it (the chugging, simplistic guitars, the pig squeal vocals), but here they have upped their presence just a tad. First track “Treading the Doldrums” sports those slam-ish elements right away, trudging along with nary a care for any kind of remote accessibility for the listener, but for those of us who aren’t big slam/deathcore fans, worry not – no breakdowns here.
Second track “Surrender the Flesh” is distinctly reminiscent of Obituary’s debut, and sees the band pick up the pace just a tad. But it is “Past of Deception” that is the highlight of the record for me, both musically and lyrically. How a song this punishing can get stuck in my head like a top 40 pop song is beyond me, but there’s just something so catchy about the beginning line “With my weapon of truth, I face the enemy.” Just listen and see what I mean. It’s almost a hook!
That’s not to say this EP doesn’t have its downsides. Though I am one of those guys who loves an immediate, raw, organic production (and usually eschews processed, clean sounds), seasoned by years of listening to black metal, a lo-fi production with death metal just doesn’t seem to quite fit. Message of Blood is definitely on the demo/garage level when it comes to production, with the otherwise brutal tunes sounding like they were filtered through ten layers of gauze. With a black metal record, thin and tinny sounds are most welcome to my ears, but death metal, by its very nature, benefits greatly from a more muscular production. That doesn’t mean it’s got to be all sparkling and tidy, but this is a little too on the demo side for me, with the drums occasionally almost being lost in the mix.
Lyrically, Secretion’s message is about hope in Christ in the face of despair. It’s often easy to fall into the trap of feeling hopeless, of despairing of God’s love and care. “Past of Deception” showcases the struggle well – “He [the devil] calls my name. I’ll tear you in two. Remember your past, I’m still within you. I know your weakness, I lust on your pain, I burn to see you fall, your soul I will claim.” Many people have gone through an Augustinian youth, and Secretion’s message is to have hope in the mercy and love of God, in spite of our past and present failings. “Treading the Doldrums” reminds the listener that “When you lost momentum and your heart feels empty, don’t give up the fight.” It’s refreshing to see a band as heavy and as heartfelt as this in their lyrics, reminding us that ”God is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18, NIV).
Overall, if you’re like me and a big fan of the old-school style of death metal (whether actually old-school or of the revivalist one), Message of Blood is worth your time, even despite the production issues. It’s a quick time-warp to the sounds of the early 90’s in three tracks, almost tailor-made as a kind of love letter to that era, played without any seeming care for where death metal has gone since the old days. For me, that’s a welcome thing.
For fans of Obituary, Crimson Thorn, early Cannibal Corpse, Fetid.
Rating: 3/5
About Author
