HEMINA – Romancing The Ether
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Australia's progressive metal scene is currently dominated by Voyager, especially since they participated in this year's Eurovision Song Contest. Their success may help pave the way for other high-quality prog bands from Down Under. Take Hemina, for example, whose approach to modern melodic progressive metal is similar to that of their colleagues. Hemina's first few albums went by me unnoticed, but their fourth full-length album, Night Echoes (2019), showed a highly mature band that combined the intelligence of progressive metal with a modern, glossy production that gave the final product a very futuristic feel. The following years were marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, which may have inspired Hemina to write one very long song, which turned out to become their fifth full-length album, Romancing The Ether. Of course, there have been longer songs, such as Transatlantic's The Whirlwind (which clocks in at nearly 80 minutes) and Dream Theater's Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence (which is slightly over 40 minutes), but 35 minutes is not to be frowned at either. My promo package came with one long audio file. On streaming services, Romancing The Ether is divided into six movements, and on Bandcamp, it is once again one long file, followed by the three longest movements as separate singles. I prefer the version with the different movements, as it makes it easier to follow the flow of the music. The first movement, Intention, is not even a minute long and serves as an atmospheric introduction. The following movement, Strike Four, is 11 minutes long and is the heart and highlight of the album. It is a powerful piece of music with all sorts of different parts, just as a long prog song should be: melodic vocal lines, a rousing chorus, jazzy synth breaks, complex djent rhythms, and more. The following movement, Embraced By Clouds, is another long movement at 10 minutes. It starts more quietly and features virtuosic keyboard parts and, especially, multilayered choir parts that are said to consist of about 100 different vocal tracks. The four-minute-long Dissolution is more like an interlude, beginning with a Middle Eastern-sounding vocal part before turning into a highly danceable psytrance piece of art. Revelations is another more typical progressive metal track at a little over seven minutes, which is followed by the short Integration, a kind of outro that ends the album. It is perhaps ironic that Hemina's longest song can be found on their shortest album. The three long movements have everything that the sophisticated progressive metal fan is looking for: complex songwriting, complicated rhythms, catchy melodies, intricate vocal parts, and more. Some may accuse Hemina of sometimes overdoing it. They are no strangers to drama in their music. But they do it in such an honest and heartfelt way that you can only admire them. My only minor complaint is that the album's first two long movements are so amazing that you may feel a little let down when they are followed by only one more real song movement. Romancing the Ether is also the conclusion of a five-part album series. I am certainly not the only one wondering how things will continue from this point onward with Hemina. Until then, enjoy this long song/short album, as it really has a lot to offer. |
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1 song |
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35:01 minutes |
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***** *** |
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Genre: melodic progressive metal Label: Bird’s Robe |
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