HÉR – Monochrome
HÉR – Monochrome
Season of Mist
Release Date: 30/01/2026
Review by Metalphysicist
10/10
Hér is a Poland based band who deliver a sophisticated sonority on “Monochrome” – some kind of Experimental Jazz that embodies ritualistic percussion rhythms topped with Nord Folk melodies. Added to all this musicality are violins and saxophones emulating the ancient Nord instruments; the vocals are basically ritual chants that switch to moments of atonal ‘voices’.
“Monochrome” opens with ‘Chant’, which consists of a ‘mantra’ accompanied by percussion that induces meditation to clean your mind, so you can be ready for what is about to come. The second song, ‘Needles and Bark’, is a minimalistic song that starts with low-tempo ritualistic percussion and, much to my surprise, the vocals are in the atonal key, which makes things even more odd.
‘Going Down’ starts with a Dub Beat rhythm, provided by percussion programming sections, and the vocals on this song are in a chant-mode tone. In ‘Patience in Observation’, landscapes are created by melancholic violin/saxophone lines – The vocals sing along in a drawn-out manner with these instruments. ‘Slipknot’ keeps things in the same direction as the previous song, providing a stable atmosphere, considering the album as a whole. On ‘Praise of the Day’, suddenly, the bass guitar appears out of nowhere, and it attaches to the ‘ethereal’ persecution beat, below violin/saxophone playing free-jazz-like crazy solos and melodical cries. If you are up to listen to a single song on “Monochrome”, you should try this one – it felt to me like Hér’s statement of what kind of sonority they are all about.
‘Farewell’ ends the album, turning things even more grim, and making me remember Dark-Folk ritual funeral requiem chants/songs. The production and mixing of the album are highlighted while managing to keep all the complex sonorities on “Monochrome” all tight up.
“Monochrome” is advisable to those who are looking for new tendencies on Heavy Music; in this case, where the heaviness doesn’t come from the standard Bass-Guitar-Drums sections and yet it sounds intense, stressed by variations of rhythm and atonal melodies, thanks to the incorporation of jazz performance, which gives a sophisticated touch to Hér’s musicality.
TRACK LISTING:
01. Chant
02. Needles and Bark
03. Going Down
04. Patience in Observation
05. Slipknot
06. Praise the Day
07. Farewell
LINKS:
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