Progressive metal bands don’t tend to do things by half measures, and this one is no exception. Reading that this album “draws influences from neo-soul, world music, ambient and psytrance” sucked me in. I read also that it has a 100-part choral vocal arrangement and an orchestra. It did make me wonder if Hemina had taken too much on. Only one way to find out …
The vocals are pure and very prog in their expansive appeal, asking questions like “Will I cry when the clock strikes four?”. The emotive delivery is strong, which is very important, and accompanied at the start by orchestral sections, and powerful heavy sections with djenty tones. “Strike Four” is well-managed, appealing to the skies but is also a sophisticated, full and well-structured song which is easy to listen to and enjoy. The guitar work is crisp and holds our attention. A delicate piano piece brings us down to earth, before “Embraced by Clouds” appropriately comes in from the clouds, vocally at least. From the power and amplitude of “Strike Four” there is delicacy. A pumping rhythm cuts in, and the pure vocalist tells his tale. Having the lyrics to hand was helpful as I preferred to listen to this colourful prog and look at the words later. The prog is light and dark, and nicely interweaves. Hemina are strong on vocal harmonies. I sensed the emotion, which you’d expect with lyrics like “I’m still a broken man”. Here I will confess that the “woe is me” type lyrics and sense of existential hopelessness don’t do a lot for me, although I have been in many an audience where it does, and I will say that my coldness in this regard is tempered by the impactful music and harmonies.
Hemina then go Eastern. The female vocalist conveys Indian spice. Coupled with the sound of the tabla, there is a mystical air. Cleverly this expands into an exciting electronic-guitar passage. Here’s the psytrance, folks. We are being transported into another world. “Dissolution”, which is very different, is completed with a clear a cappella message. This transforms into the more conventional prog epic “Revelations”. Again it is sharp with good harmonisation between the powerful instrumental work and the clear vocals. There’s a nice little keyboard touch. Competent and coherent as it all is, I didn’t find myself so engaged with “Revelations”, which seemed to go through the prog motions more than the earlier “Strike Four”, which had a real flow and continuity about it. Again my aversion to prog lyrics didn’t help the cause of my engagement. It would be remiss of me to quote selected lyrics, as they sit as a whole. I can see they refer to wider things. The party line on this is that this album is “a cathartic experience” whose 6 movements “explore the depths of the human psyche in a unique way” and “delve into the innermost motivations of family, meaning and belonging through a psychological and spiritual journey”. “Romancing the Ether” is a conclusion to the conceptual story told in their previous works. I’m not sure that hearing them, which I haven’t, would have helped much. The album closes out nicely with the lofty “Integration”, allowing us to “romance the ether”, whatever this means.
This isn’t just for prog connoisseurs. Musically it’s better than that. Although I felt isolated from the theme, even having read the lyrics closely, I do appreciate the professional way in which the music has been constructed, and how that music of both dark and light character blends nicely with the vocal work and harmonies. “Romancing the Ether” has a nice flow about it, and I got enjoyment out of the kaleidoscopic listening experience even if I didn’t have a full appreciation of what it was about.
(7.5/10 Andrew Doherty)
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