Jobie Reviews Music 141: The Secret Mirror (album) by Rainbowdragoneyes. Requested by F63.

The Secret Mirror is a 2014 chiptune metal album by Rainbowdragoneyes. It is 9 tracks long, totaling 23 minutes and 55 seconds. The album is notable for being a good mix between retro chiptune and fierce metal melodies, with elements of both being prominent in the album. The vocals that are featured on each track are also great, being well delivered and going well with the unique, amazing instrumentation that the album delivers.

All 9 tracks (with the exception of two - we’ll get to this later in the review) have great lyrics. For example, the track “Ancient Slumber” contains the lines “A cave sepulchral isolated/At the edge of sanity/An ancient slumber everlasting/An eternal restless sleep/”. In general, the tracks on this album are produced very well, with each element being well made and well put together.

By far the highlight of the album’s creative sound is the track “Ancient Slumber”. Striking the perfect balance between some great chiptune sounds and metal elements, the track is very good, with all the aforementioned elements present, and an overall good sound making up its runtime.

The most unique track on the album (in terms of instrumentation) is the track “The Waking World”. It is the only track to not feature chiptune or metal elements, instead having its own sound altogether. The track uses an assortment of instruments in its instrumentation (including bongos), making for a track unlike the other 8 in the album. In my opinion, the track more or less serves as an “end credits”, topping off the nearly 24 minute album with a creative track.

What that track and the first, “Discovery Daring & Divine”, have in common is that neither have any vocals. In the case of “The Waking World”, I believe the track is better off without any vocals than with vocals, since the track works a lot better with only instrumentation to its name. The same goes for “Discovery Daring & Divine”, which serves as a segue into track two, “The Blade Chose Me”.

My favorite tracks from this album are “The Secret Mirror”, “Fortress Ov Frost”, and “Ancient Slumber”.

Overall, The Secret Mirror is an album that contains a great mix of metal and chiptune elements. With an overall good production value and great lyrics, this album is a unique experience that those who are a fan of metal should really check out. Even if you don’t particularly like the album’s sound, it’s intriguing to hear the rarely done pairing of the retro sound of chiptune and the more modern sound of metal.

Overall rating:

8/10

LINK TO ALBUM:

https://open.spotify.com/album/3Z6JjbLEEuJvo55xF7K9bQ