HERO

Hero

Heavy Prog

3.16 | 50 ratings

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DangHeck
Prog Reviewer

An official shoutout is due to the excellent Dereck Higgins, whose regular YouTube uploads have provided me with so much in terms of 'Prog Obscura' and Psych gems and so much more. Definitely check him out if you're unfamiliar.

In my mind, just late to the Heavy Prog game, but I'll always welcome it. It would be silly to say that Hero had also forsaken the 'Rock Progressivo Italiano' idiom. Certainly, they do bring their own sound to the table, at the end of the day, regardless of what scene they're in/represent.

Right off the bat, the instrumentation and performances are pretty well done to me (a few more thoughts below). The vocals, though, I could very much do without. Just not to my taste (or up to par, really). The opener is quite nice and gives a general vibe for what's to come. Perhaps if BLACK SABBATH and KING CRIMSON had a baby. Basically if KC had a deeper Heavy Metal slant (there were times where it was difficult to say who else Hero reminded me of). "Knock" sounds quite a bit like (discount) VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR, especially vocally, but also in its discordance-- this track was nearly the highlight. That personally goes to "Dewp-Drops", to clarify, the clear album highlight. Something to be excited about, in my opinion.

If anything can be said, though, generally, most are compositions that tickle the ears, but don't wow. "Sunday Best" nearly escapes this, with beautiful, somewhat haunting expression which then builds at the end of the song into something heavy. The sole mini-epic, "Clapping and Smiling" (at just over 9 minutes), does have some tasty compositional knack, as I would say, but again it only goes so far. Alternatively, "Seminar" does have a heavier, classic 'Heavy Prog' sound that should please many, with fairly bombastic organ and distorted guitar riffage. The band doesn't, at least, limit themselves in sonic choices.

DangHeck | 3/5 | 2021-11-30

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