In late 2012 HEDDA released The Storm, the follow-up to their EP The Calm Before…, with the same line-up along with some improvements to their sound and production. They still retain their 80s progressive based heavy metal sound but something later in that “golden-era” without getting to slick or polished. I’d like to imagine what Fates Warning would have sounded like if John Arch was still in the band in 1989 and beyond, or if Queensryche stayed the course to date that they set in with The Warning.
Mind you, this doesn’t mean HEDDA has no identity, it just means they have chosen a “pure” form of the genre to base their music upon. This is a breath of fresh air in the “in your face, no dynamic of most progressive metal bands of today.
The songs that appeared on The Calm Before… are present here and I say they have an improved sound to them. The rest of The Storm flows from song to song and before you know it the album is done, which makes you want to hear it over again. Each time I have done this, I hear new nuances which is honestly something most modern metal bands can’t achieve.
It has taken me a very long time to review this album and thankfully the band was very patient with me. There were various reasons but the most important one was that I needed to fully engulf myself in the music to fully appreciate it. So to the listener or prospective listener, I say that you must have the up most patience with this album but once they do, they will agree with me that it’s something that stays true to the metal genre.
Without any doubt in my mind, I have to highly recommend The Storm to fans of heavy metal/rock based progressive music, especially those who long for analog type sounds that vanished from the world of music in the 90s. I can't wait for what HEDDA gives us next.
Reviewed by Ron Fuchs on October 20th, 2013
