HEMLOCK - EXORDIUM - 1994

This Canadian 'heavy progressive'quartet includes John Brown (electric - and acoustic guitars, violin, recorders, flute and backing vocals), Dean Roberts (fretless bass), Todd Nesbitt (drums and percussion) and Jim Rose (vocals, electric -, acoustic - and classical guitars, bass pedal, synthesizer and percussion). In '94 they made their debut-album entitled "Exordium", a blend of folk, hardrock like Metallica and progrock like Rush. Unfortunately Hemlock turned out to be another promising one-shot band.

In my opinion the album "Exordium" is a bit overlooked gem. Due to frequent accellarations, shifting moods and heavy outbursts, Hemlock sounds often very exciting. Another strong point is the constant tension between on one side the acoustic instruments (classical guitar, flute and many violin solos) and on the other side the electric guitar and powerful rhythm-section. The beautiful epic song "The immortal" (almost 20 minutes) is the only composition that contains flute and synthesizer. The guitarplay on the whole album is magnificent (howling and biting solos and strong overdubs), it could have been a tribute to Alex Lifeson, one of the most underrated rock guitarplayers.
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