"Pathway" by Secrets of the Sky is definitely an album that brings together various elements of metal to create something new and unique. Progressive metal, death metal, doom and atmospheric metal are all key ingredients to their sound. "Pathway" has 7 interludes which, while being important to the overall atmopshere of the album, break the momentum of the actual songs on it. And these are some incredible songs!
"Three Swords" combines all of the aforementioned styles to make a solid representation of what follows it. "Angel in Vines" is pounding doom with a majestic symphonic lining and still some atmospheric leanings as well. And that is the main strength of Secrets of the Sky. They are able to glide between these varied styles with ease and make it all sound perfect. "Another Light" is almost ballad like and quite mellow, which is a great change of pace. Unfortunately with back to back interludes, things are off track until the massive "Garden of Prayers" kicks in.
The good thing is that these interludes are separate tracks which allows the listener the option of listening to them or not. It would have been quite annoying if they were part of the songs themselves. Again, these are minor issues because "Pathway" is an incredible album! "Fosforos" is a black metal noisefest which again shows that the band is capable of just about anything. "Eternal Wolves" is melodic yet epic closer which finishes a truly epic album. Metal Blade really has released some great albums in 2015 and "Pathway" is yet another one!
