Secret Rule / Solitude Within - Bannerman’s Edinburgh 21st October 2025

There are few things I enjoy more in music than discovering new bands, especially if I have taken a chance on going to see an act that I had not actually even heard of before. That certainly paid off last week when I nipped into Bannermans for a fine double-bill of European metal all the way from Italy and Belgium.

It turns out that, while Secret Rule are new to me and most of the other folks in the room, they are not new at all. They formed in 2014 and that’s why this is their 10th Anniversary tour and their brand-new album is called ‘X’. It is also why they deliver a polished and faultless theatre-ready performance with great songs, stage moves and crowd inter-play as part of a thoroughly entertaining show. As Edinburgh debuts go, this one was a cracker.

The band are a tight four-piece, headed by guitarist / producer Andy Menario – a taller, cooler Pep Guardiola lookalike, energetic drummer Andrea Miazzetto and talented young bass-player Sofia Basili. Leading the jumps, fist pumps and singalongs is the band’s trump card Angela Di Vincenzo – a vivacious and energetic presence at the front with a great voice, a winning smile and a captivating and charming stage presence.

The set opened with three stormers from ‘X’ in ‘Walking Down the Street’, ‘Silent Pain’ and ‘In the Silence’. The band made an immediate positive connection and it did not matter that the songs had not yet been released as I think all of the songs were new to the audience; at one point Angela announced that they would play one of their old favourites and asked the crowd to guess which one, but none of us could even name a single song before an Italian voice at the back correctly shouted out ‘The Song of the Universe’. As I said, it did not matter and everyone joined in very enthusiastically and the audience seemed genuinely thrilled to enjoy something new and this good.

Other highlights from ‘X’ included ‘The Storm’, ‘Just a Sacrifice’ and ‘Echoes of the Earth’ and happily, advance copies of the CD were available at the merch stall after the gig. This really was a very impressive and enjoyable set – one of my favourites of the year - and I am delighted to have belatedly discovered the music of Secret Rule. It really does make you wonder just how many other brilliant bands there are in other parts of Europe.

Of course, this was a double-bill and I think it was important that the gig came as a package, giving the bands the opportunity to share costs and also offer very good value indeed for the public. Solitude Within are named for a song by Evergrey and provided a contrast in styles with their more traditional symphonic / soothing emo sound. I think this was probably another first for me as I don’t recall ever seeing a Belgian band before but I do forget a lot of things these days so I can’t be sure.

Unfortunately for the band, their plans were disrupted at the last minute when their stand-in drummer was unable to travel at the last moment due to visa issues. Rather than cancel, they boldly went ahead, but with a greater reliance on backing tapes than usual. I always give symphonic bands in particular a pass when it comes to backing tracks given the nature of the music and the instrumentation involved in the recorded work, but it was particularly odd to see the headliners empty drum kit on stage and nobody playing it while the drum sound came from the album tapes. The volume was particularly low, presumably due to the use of tapes, and at times it did feel like watching an old edition of Top of the Pops, but the band just about managed to pull it off.

Overall, it was a “surreal but nice” experience and it was a real shame for the band as they clearly have a lot to offer. Emmelie Arents is a beguiling and willowy presence on vocals and with twin guitars, bass and live grunts, they definitely put on a show. A short eight song set allowed them to showcase songs from their two albums ‘Disappear’ (2017) and ‘When Kingdoms Fall’ (2022) and there was definitely enough there to encourage me to check out the band’s work further.

The message from me after this gig is to encourage folks to take a chance on bands you don’t know, especially if they are fully road-tested and experienced artists from overseas with a string of albums behind them. Thanks to Secret Rule and Solitude Within for making the effort to come to my town – much appreciated and I hope we will see you again now that the word is out.