SYNTHETIC

I hate to name drop, but sometimes that gets people interested.... Hemina's first album is an excellent blend of most of the good prog metal bands from the last 10 years. Pain of Salvation, Symphony X, Kamelot, etc, but they don't really sound like any of them. Before I go on, I love the guitar solos on this album. Most are exemplary and rank up there with anything. It keeps me coming back. Quality. There's a lot of of atmospehrics, but also a lot of interesting riffs which really keep things interesting. Dougie's vocals on this are great, he sounds a bit young-ish, but the range is there and the tone will only get better. The album starts strong with "To Conceive a Plan", an 11 minute epic with everthing you need, speed, riffs, melody, solos. "The Boy is Dead" starts ominously before grinding into a heavy riff, very powerful, with a flurry of keyboards over the top. The song is a mix of heavy and epheral interludes which just adds to the impact. There's a nice harmony solos before a tasty lead and climactic ending. "For All the Wrong Reasons" is a mostly acoustic ballad and has a great melody, again building to a powerful ending and tasteful solo. "And Now to Find a Friend" cranks it up again, it has all the trademarks of progressive speed metal before slowing to an atmospheeric interlude with a great keyboard solo. The song then kicks off again with a great riff. "With What I See" is a great little power metal riffing rocker, tasty riffs and complexity with a relatively simple rhythm. Great solo. "Hunting is for Women" is different track, computerised, syncopated, driven by melody. "Even in Heaven" brings back the speed and kicks out some great solos, guitar and keyboard. The interlude "Conduit to the Sky" leads into "Haunted Me" which is the main single. A strong track with a lot going on for a single, nice harmony solo and harmonies. "Divine" finishes the album in style, a crunching 13 minute epic, with lots of changes, speed metal, atmospheric metal, lots of superb solos.

Great album, there's a lot of talent in this band, they will probably progress beyond the metal a bit more in their next album, but there's lots of things worthwhile listening to on this one,