Band:	Six Magics
Album:	The Secrets Of An Island
Style:	Power metal
Release date:	2003
A review by:	Undercraft

01. The Secrets
02. Chaos And Fury
03. Rising Of The Island
04. Chiloé, The Creation
05. Endless Waiting
06. Calueche (The Flying Dutchman)
07. Goddess Of The Seas
08. Cradle Of Sorrow
09. Brutal Sacrilege
10. Trusted Steps In The Forest
11. Trauco (Seed Of Pain)
12. Slave Of The Sky
13. Hopeless Return
14. Frozen Lips In The Night
15. The Basilisk
16. ?Another Night
17. The Secrets Of An Island

We have an ambitious project from my neighbor country, Chile. This country, as many might know, has a strong Metal scene, it has become so big that it can be compared to the one existing in Brazil.
I remember some years ago, a friend of mine traveled to Chile to visit his brother, that lives there, when he came back, he brought me a Demo tape he bought there, it was a band called Six Magics, and the Demo was "Trilogía De Un Guerrero" (Trilogy Of A Warrior), the tape had 4 songs, and to be honest I wasn't impressed at all.

Years passed by, and just know I noticed that Six Magics had a professional release, not their first one, but their second, in the years I lost track of the band, they released a full-length called "Dead Kings Of The Unholy Valley", my sources tell me that it was another typical epic-tale-of-sorcery-and-swords, bah, what a waste of time.

Anyway, seems like Six Magics decided to be original and compose an album with a completely different theme than previous efforts, "Secrets Of An Island" deals with Chilean Mythology, and more specific, Mythology from island of Chiloé, like the title suggest.

The presentation and layout of the album is great, very professional, has a very thick booklet, with lyrics, and a little explanation of each song, each song being a myth of the aftermentioned island.
I have only one complain towards the booklet, each song has a in one page the lyric, and in other, a little explanation and a drawing regarding the song, well, is not exactly a drawing, but a computer generated graphic, and let me tell you, they're totally awful, really lousy graphic designer, you should fire him for the next record guys, and drawings would have added a lot more than those graphics, get me? Mythology = CG graphics or Mythology = Ancient-like drawings, see my point?

Anyway, on with the music, the music is a mix of Rhapsody with Therion, the band uses big choirs in almost every songs, and the Power Metal is very reminiscent of the Italians, but also, some songs contain folk elements from Chile, which adds a nice touch to the music.
17 songs, 6 instrumental, some songs feature elements like spoken passages, female vocals and even some grunts, so you know you have plenty to choose from.
Some of the compositions are almost progressive sounding, with intricate drumming that makes it hard to listen at first, after a few spins you'll get used to the sound, and you'll love it.

Some of my favorite songs are, "Calueche (The Flying Dutchman)" , "Chiloé, The Creation" , the female Vs male duet in "Trauco (Seed Of Pain)" and the epic closer, clocking more than 11 minutes "The Secrets Of An Island".
Six Magics are on the path to greatness, don't doubt that, makes me glad that bands in South America are thinking big, and delivering such ambitious projects for the world to enjoy, I'm pretty sure that the next we hear about Six Magics, they'll be signed with a big label.