“When it comes to selecting promo, the easiest way into my heart is through a vibrant, colorful piece of album artwork. Australian progressive metal quartet Hemina apparently knew this, as the artwork for fifth outing Romancing the Ether pops with its Lisa-Frank-edition-of-Journey cover. After acquiring reviewing rights from our esteemed GardensTale, I jumped right in, excited to hear what adventurous music lay just beyond that psychedelic veil.” Color is the key.
“It blows my mind that only two years passed since the last Volturian album, which I gave a positive review. I stand by that rating, too. Crimson stands firm as a pleasant and fun, poppy and sweet, goth-tinged experience. Big choruses, a fair share of decent riffs, and crunchy downtuned tones which I’ve always loved in this format formed a dance-able volume that is extremely difficult to put down, even today. The pandemic, which hit just before Crimson dropped, stretched time to the point that now, it feels like I wrote that review all the way back in 2018 rather than 2020. Nonetheless, it’s 2022, and sophomore album Red Dragon prepares to swoop down and incinerate my credibility as a metal critic of taste once again.” DraGONES!
