review by: Roberto Martinelli

The Hidden don't want you to know who they are. Now, this is probably just a publicity stunt to give an up-and-coming band some mystique. In fact, everything about this album is playing up a hidden theme: the mysterious identities, the themes of cosmic creation and destruction, the obscure sound of the music, and of course a hidden track. However, in the end what matters is the actual music, and Spectral Magnitude, the band's first album, is a quality piece of work.

With a cover that looks a great deal like Hades Almighty's latest record, Spectral Magnitude is a mix of the black, death and doom styles. The riffs and flavor of the album often times reminds me of Opthalamia's Via Dolorosa, but with way more relative angst and darkness. The vocal style is somewhere between black and death metal, and the riffs and arrangements are nice to listen to.

What Hidden ends up sounding like is a dark, sinister jam band that likes to have lightspeed drumming and infectious chugging one song and then throw in some slow and deliberate doom tunes. The jam band feel is greatly upheld by the albums sound, which is slightly lo-fi. The bass drums aren't very audible most of the time, but the overall bass sound is pretty up front. In all, Spectral Magnitude has a certain subdued and dark energy that is appealing. It's cool that Hidden aren't trying to out-extreme anybody, but rather have put together a good album. You won't find any pumped-up, triggered drums or over-the top production here, just good dark metal tunes and jams.