Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Nice packaging, but something just is not right, October 21, 2004
Back in 2002 at the Ozzfest, after eating and getting yet another beer during the late morning, I heard some serious death metal coming from the second stage. So, my nephew and i (yeah, I'm the old man of 34 who still likes to hacky sack at a show when possible, even if i am told "not bad for an old-timer") went to check it out, and as we got closer, it was a female singer with a bunch of evil looking dudes, belting out "My Confession". I have been hooked ever since, purchasing both "sevas tra" and "jihad". Otep just flat out rocks! In a time when a lot of women are all bubble gum, it is great to see an angry woman with some serious issues just totally tear it up! House Of Secrets is one fine album, a lot more artistic than Sevas Tra, which makes it seem like something is missing. Maybe it's just the ups and downs and how it is all over the place, but i guess a dentists' drill is not always the answer! "Warhead" is one of the best protest songs of the year, second to Ministry's whole new album, and "Buried Alive" just gives me the chills. It was great to catch Otep at the 2004 Ozzfest, too bad they have not been promoted to the main stage, so Otep could have kicked Phil Anselmo's (x-pantera, superjoint "i suck" ritual) a#$, but the second stage show of four tunes (blood pig, hooks and splinters, my confession, warhead) was very intense. This disc is definitely one to be purchased, but it is not the sophmore break through album. third disc should be a charm!
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Still a Classic, just in a different way, March 27, 2005
I've been a die-hard Otep fan since the day I picked up the jihad ep and so I was right in line to pick up "House of Secrets". I've got to admit it, I was a little dissappointed the first few times through it.
I put it down for a while and then a week or so later, I picked it up again and started listening to it. It still is a classic like the other Otep releases, it just comes from a different place.
The first ep and album came from a dark place in the past and talked about raging against these haunting demons from the past, and with her superb talent, the releases were filled with just that. This album is more about stopping demons that could come about. It's political in some ways, as I'm sure you heard.
It is a hell of alot heavier than the other releases, the vocals are not rap-influenced poetry anymore, they are screams, bellows, and other sounds like a normal metal band. This record is alot more straight ahead metal than the others.
Joey Jordison from Slipknot did the drum tracking for most of the album, so it can be pretty intense. Filled with angry, ferocious songs that should keep people talking about Otep until the next record.
If you love Otep, you'll love this one too. If you don't like Otep (I don't know why anyone wouldn't)this is a huge difference from their other stuff, so you owe it to yourself to check it out.
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9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
She's baaaack!, August 19, 2004
*UPDATE*Ok, I've already reviewed this, but I feel I must defend Otep and her supposed "lack of growth." This CD DOESN'T all sound like "Blood Pigs" BECAUSE it IS growth. If people actually listened more than one damn time and read some of Otep's comments on the album, they'd discover that she used this album to open up and NOT be angry anymore. This album is her way of sayng "I'm over it, now let's move on." She's not the same person as in "Sevas Tra." That CD was a whole lifetime's worth of pain, this is GROWING from THAT album. Yeah, she doesn't bellow and screech the whole time, but that's the point, she doesn't have to. That's like saying you can only paint in black and blue...well what about purple or green? There are different ways of doing things and I guarantee if she had created another "Sevas Tra" people would be bitching she "didn't grow." You can't make everyone happy and everyone has the right to an opinion, I just wish they were EDUCATED opinions sometimes...I have a headache now, god.
*ORIGINAL* Truthfully, at first i thought this CD sucked. I was looking for tracks such as "Sacrilede" and "Possession." Well that's not what I got. I got more "Jonestown Tea" and "Emptee" based songs. On further listens, however, I realized this CD is just as good if not better than Sevas Tra. Yes there aren't as many fast paced tracks, but the slower ones are mesmerizing. I found myself going down roads at like 30 miles an hour while listening because I would get lost in the haunting music and howling pain. The lyrics are just as amazing, no depth lost there, one just has to get used to the slower pieces. Yeah Otep always had them but they were in the minority and this CD is mostly just those. There are still hard-hitting songs (and her voice has gotten even deeper by the way), but those pale in comparison to the looming creepiness of the slower ones. My favorite line is the whispered "I speak in verses, prophecies and curses..." Best tracks are Buried Alive, Sepsis, House Of Secrets (that one will shock you...the woman SINGS, it's awesome), and Suicide Trees. Her chanting "I wasn't there, I'm not involved, I'm innocent, It's NOT MY FAULT" in that song will mesmerize you. This CD is worth any amount of money, I'll probably wear it out in a couple of months. Yeah I miss the faster songs but this one is still a keeper.
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