By Jolee Flatman
When reading that Held In Secret promote themselves for fans of the likes of Architects especially, along with Wage War and Volumes, this was an EP that I had to check out. Upon listening myself, it would be more suited to say these guys are for fans of In Hearts Wake and Invisions. Held In Secret are a five-piece band, bringing a heavy crossover of Djent and metalcore, while adding a vibrant side into the mix. First impulsively founded in 2016, by frontman Matt J.Zephyr and lead guitarist David Lamothe, they have since become five, and produced one EP, ‘Dawnbreaker’, back in 2018.
‘Nomads’ and ‘Static’ have already been released off the upcoming five track EP, with the self-titled track being the single. Out of these two tracks, interestingly only one of these provides a good insight to fans of what the sound, structure and atmosphere is like with the rest of the EP – this track being ‘Nomads’. ‘Static’, which features Garrett Russell of ‘Silent Planet’ is the fifth, and final track, bringing much more of a melodic and lighter touch.
Speaking of the self-titled track, there were a few moments within this track and one other, where the production wasn’t up to scratch, it slipped below the quality of the rest of the EP and was noticeable to the listener. In ‘Nomads’, around the 2:57 mark, the song cuts to a different verse, the mix wasn’t smooth, and so it sounded very disjointed, and almost like it had just skipped.
Held In Secret brings both aggressive vocals, cleans for choruses (mostly), melodic riffage and punishing downbeat drums. The best way to describe this EP, is that it is good – but not a release that will stand out for too long in my memory. There needs to be something more to define the band’s sound, for them to really stomp and make their mark on the metalcore/Djent scene.
‘Nomads’ is released on 29 May.
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