Oakland-based atmospheric doom quintet and recent Metal Blade signees, Secrets Of The Sky, will release their sophomore full-length this month. Titled Pathway, the mammoth thirteen-track follow-up to 2013's 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.

 

 

The band has released a new visual accompaniment to fourth track "Angel In Vines”. Directed and edited by Andrew Nethery (Melvins, Kyuss Lives, Dead Meadow), creator of the band's 2014 "Decline" clip, and starring Melissa May and Zack Warren, the video, much like the song itself, is at once stark and alluring.

Elaborates guitarist Clayton Bartholomew, "For this video, we went back to director Andrew Nethery, who also did the video for the song “Decline” from our first record, To Sail Black Waters. He did a great job for that video and was an easy guy to work with. For the “Angel In Vines” video, we let him run with his own vision. The song itself relates to the loss of innocence, and he found an interesting analogy to express this same sentiment, while keeping the video abstract and not just giving away the premise of the song. We like that he was able to avoid cliché and the imagery he was able to capture is a definite work of art on its own."

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 soundscapes. 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.

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."

 

 

Pathway tracklisting:

“I”
“Three Swords”
“II”
“Angel In Vines”
“Another Light”
“III”
“IV”
“Garden Of Prayers”
“V”
“Fosforos”
“VI”
“Eternal Wolves”
“VII”

“Three Swords”:

Pathway will be released on May 15th via Metal Blade Records. Preorder bundles can be purchased at MetalBlade.com.