Customer Reviews

House of Secrets

5 star:		(44)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

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!

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.

*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.

This album holds a strong, underlying message... a secret within secrets. Sometimes pain beckons you to retreat into the comfort of misery, to embrace suffering until you realize your full potential... and as Otep proves the case to be true, the conceptual artistic elements of the band have expanded and has opened doors to many new dimensions. This creation mirrors an inner depth of darkness and produces a hauntingly chaotic and creepy soundtrack of art. Through turmoil, strife, and struggle you are able to meet the eternal essence of self...and thus rise from the ashes.
In all simplicity, this album is true brilliance - a masterpiece. True shadow soldiers will easily understand and applaude House of Secrets.

i was happy to see that she has continued to grow in her music rather than stagnate as many people do on their second album...some surprising changes in listening for anyone who has heard Sevas Tra

A total enjoyable, produced, engineered sonic work. If you have the equipment to hear this EVIL J THUNDER, CRANK IT UP. You'll fully enjoy this CD, FEEL THE BASS. The vocals by Otep Shamaya are GREAT!~ Just can't be put into words without sounding like a understatement. And of course I love the secrets they sneek into the mix, texture and rythmic waves of pleasure !!!

I waited so anxiously for the Otep sophomore album and I was not disappointed in the least. I've been a loyal fan for a handful of years now and am still thrilled to call myself a Shadow Soldier.
The songs have gotten heavier and "thicker" if you will, and her lyrics just keep getting better. As one who considers herself a poet, I really appriciate Oteps lyrics being poetry rather than your standard nu-metal mindless babble.
I've turned on a lot of people to Otep since the album has come out and gotten nothing but good responses.
I'll be seeing Otep in concert in two weeks and I cannot wait! Definitely worth your while/money!

This album is less focused on being heavy metal music and more of an artistic statement. If you are buying it just to hear something like Blood Pigs or Battle Ready, prepare to be dissapointed. While tracks 2. Warhead 4. Sepsis 6. Hooks & Splinters and 11. Self-Made have all the fury of Jihad, the rest of the album is a nightmarish recollection of a tortured past. Although somewhat incongruent with the rage that spawned such violent music, the rest of the album plays out like a session on Freud's couch.

I own all of oteps other albums, and at one time I owned this one too. The song warhead is absolutely great. And house of secrets has it's good points too. HOWEVER, this could be the most depressing album I have ever listened to in my entire life. It put me in such a bad mood that i actually had to sell it. I liked Sevas Tra and I love the new one, ascension. This one could go down as one of my least favorite albums. Just way too depressing.

i will say this again Otep is one of the most affluent bands out there today. Yes their songs can go from heavy to melodic, from soothing to eerie, but all in all this is one of the few bands i have seen that has come out in the past few years who isnt afraid to talk about issues that they have, Otep the lead singer grew up in an abusive home and so yes she has a tendancy on this cd to vent it but it is only her second attempt and she didnt get it all out in one cd and i understand

The first track on this cd Requim is not for the faint of heart or those that would flinch at the sounds of being beat by a parent, the repeating words as long as your under my roof you will respect me but, this just sets the tempo for you in what is sure to be a gloomy yet uplifting expreince. This CD is for the open minded and the open minded only and this band is experimental so yes she has rap tendencies but you know something she is a poet that is what rap used to be not just this gangster sex driven music we see today and if that is the way she has to get it out she has to get it out

i spend alot of my time looking for bands that arent afraid to change and i get these looks like you still like them all the time and i will probably be getting those looks some time down the road for respecting otep and all she does but you know what I am I and i can not change that