Hei’An opens up to the world.
Created in Slovenia by Matic Blagonic (guitar/vocals), the band recruited Matevz Pocic (guitar), Peter Smrdel (bass) and Gaj Bostic (drums) to complete imago, their first album, which was released in 2022.
semira tenebrarum unveils a dissonant and airy universe joined by some mysterious lyrics and then sharp riffs which drive us to inferno, where the band welcomes Oelka from the band Malorshiga to add a dark touch to its mix of Progressive sounds and clean vocals. The contrast is seizing, letting each part express itself while blending them together when the screams take over, then quietness takes over to close the long track before embers comes next with groovy and catchy tones. Metalcore and Post-Metal elements come to strengthen the rhythmic, then can’t get out of my skin comes to wrap us in its soaring softness, sometimes disturbed by some screams. We also find some heavier riffs before the track becomes more tortured at the end, just like escape which lets the keyboards embellish the rhythmic before Joe Buras (Born of Osiris) joins the band for dreamer, a composition which knows how to be aggressive on some rougher passages. in the cold follows with a soothing introduction which hardly contrasts with the saturation which will finally take over in intense waves of rage, then the pianist Matic Stemberger joins the musicians for the dark and heavy time to go, which fully expresses the Prog influences to place complex and explosive riffs before the modern keyboards. The band follows with shut my eyes, a rather mysterious track on which whispers guide us to an airy and strange rhythmic, then to at the break of dawn and its cybernetic voice which bewitches us before letting slow riffs crush us. With noises, the band comes back to a more conventional sound while adding its touch of mystery before letting the rhythmic slowly ignite, then imago, the eponymous track, comes back to offer us strange and heady tones while remaining anchored in softness until screams resurface. Quietness rebirths while ko te ni begins, mixing a soothing basis with an abrasive and majestic saturation, then the band welcomes Gregor Strasbergar (MRFY) on preteklost and its soaring but sometimes energetic roots. The final break is undoubtedly one of the most intense, and it leads us to ne iscem vec besed, the last composition, which slowly unveils itself by offering catchy Post-Rock tonalities to close the album.
Hei’An has a multifaceted identity, whether in rage or in quietness. With imago, the band sets the basis of an as rich as diversified style, which will find its audience amongst the amateurs of Progressive music.
75/100