Review: Hemina – Romancing the Ether

Style: Progressive Metal/Rock Opera
Recommended for Fans of: Ayreon, Haken, Devin Townsend, Astronoid
Review by: Ryan [Editor’s note: this is his first review here! Welcome, Ryan.]
Country: Sydney, Australia
Release date: 11 August, 2023

Romancing the Ether, Hemina’s fifth full-length album, serves as the epilogue to a story that has spanned each record since their conception. The band has composed a single thirty-five minute song (cut into six separate tracks) to conclude this chapter of their life. I was a big fan of their 2016 album, Venus, which showcased their knack for enormous melodies and interesting songwriting.

A blink-and-you-miss-it fifty-five second track introduces the album with an aboriginal soundscape (tribal percussion and is that a didgeridoo?) This bleeds into a keys and strings melody which quickly transitions into “Strike Four” with a blackened scream and a melodic guitar solo. Soft emotional vocals from lead singer Douglas Skene break through over the piano until a big 80’s hair metal-style crescendo. This track ebbs and flows with crunchy djenty guitars under a soaring, almost power metal vocal line with some Devin Townsend-esque layering. “Strike Four” is bombastic, cinematic, and catchy as hell. The blend of classic and modern prog makes for a fluid and flagrantly fun track that feels quick despite being the longest track on the album. 

“Embraced by Clouds,” the obligatory ballad of the album, begins before you even know it’s there with bassist Jessica Martin’s vocals and an atmospheric instrumental backdrop before lead singer Douglas enters stage-left with a more somber approach. Even when the band picks up and leans into more “metal” territory, the emotions behind the music are still pushing forward. Guitarist Mitch Coull and drummer Nathan McMahon go absolutely nuts while still keeping the somber atmosphere intact. Halfway in, everything stops for an a capella section to rival Queen’s “The Prophet Song” before the whole band comes back in with fury, again, for just a moment, before breaking down into huge emotional belting ballad territory featuring both vocalists. Everything comes together very smoothly.

Middle Eastern influences take center stage in the introduction to “Dissolution.” Majestic wavering vocals over complementary spacey guitar licks until the meditation is broken with ripping guitar solos and EDM beats, pushing huge Lucid Planet vibes. Chorus-laden a capella section releases the chaos to give way to “Revelations.” This one reminds me a lot of Azure with the heavy music and huge soaring vocals. Again, emotion is on the foreground here, gorgeous and heavy at the same time. 

The album closes with “Integration” bringing a moment of respite after all the beautiful chaos laden throughout the former tracks. There’s atmosphere behind the vocals before it slyly disappears to leave the voice alone and end the journey.

All things considered, this seems to be a story album first. Everything keeps moving along whether you’re ready or not. From a strictly musical standpoint, Hemina has delivered an engaging album full of fun and it definitely is the type of album that rewards multiple listens. The album begins to become more cohesive and unearths other layers that may have been missed on a previous spin. That being said, the album also feels very short despite the thirty-five minute runtime holding possibly too many ideas that end too soon. The record does flow exceptionally well, if not giving a yearning to revisit some of the gone-too-soon moments.

This album goes fast, which depending on how you absorb it, could either be a strength or a weakness. I’ll admit that a wealth of interesting ideas and massive sing-along melodies appear, but Romancing the Ether ends up feeling a little cold when the listener has no time to absorb the full breadth it has to offer. Since this is the culmination of five albums, Romancing the Ether may very well fit more properly as a bookend. Still, it was a very enjoyable piece of music and I do intend on spinning it a few more times while adventuring into their backlog. 

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