Heterochrome – Melancholia (2017)

Hailing from Iran, today we have Progressive Metal outfit Heterochrome and their debut release “Melancholia”. Filled with intricate soundscapes and angelic female vocals, this release is quite engaging and entertaining as it reminds us a bit of outfits like Alas and Echoes of Eternity. Delivering over 30 minutes of music divided in six tracks, this release showcases the many talents of the band and will surely put them in your radar for the future.

Opening with the playful percussions of “Cage”, the band sets a very moody and ethereal opening that hooks the listener but does not reveal the band’s surprises yet. As “Hang” starts we get some brilliant proggy guitars paired with tight drumming as Mida’s vocals effortlessly take center stage. Her vocal range is quite unique and fits perfectly the tempo changes of this song.

With “Regret” the band flexes its more traditional progressive influences with a crafty instrumental piece that features both brilliant guitar leads and intricate tempo changes. Our personal favorite track is the intense “Purgatory”, a piece that perfectly builds up to a majestic climate that combined fast paced riffing and catchy drums. This track is quite well executed and it even features some growls thrown into the mix to have a more brutal presence.

The album closes very strongly with the brilliant “Paradise” and its crafty guitar work. However, the band saves one of the best for last with the pummeling riffing of “Inferno”, and its intricate tempo changes. This track features a little bit of everything ranging from killer melodic passages to more obscure and proggy bass guitar arrangements. Also, the vocals are quite engaging and diverse, keeping things fresh.

Overall, “Melancholia” is one hell of a debut release that showcases the raw power and promise behind this band. With all tracks being quite interesting and engaging, we found ourselves listening to this album plenty of more times that we expected. Since the band does not rely on traditional Progressive Metal structures and elements, they are free to explore more unique and different ways of arranging their influences and manage to create one of the most interesting debut releases we have heard in 2017.

Label: Self-Released

Release: July 1st, 2017

Genre: Progressive Metal

Country: Iran