Band: Hemera
Album Title: Black Rain
Label: Underground Symphony
Release Date: 26th July 2021
Genre: Progressive Metal

Description:
Black Rain is Hemera’s debut album. Stylistically it’s a blend of modern metal with catchy vocal lines, progressive metal with a hint of symphonic and cinematic soundscapes. Modern heavy guitars and djenty riffs are combined with synth loops, orchestras, pianos, bursting rhythms and anthemic melodies.

Influences for the album:
Lacuna Coil, Evanescence, Hans Zimmer, Thomas Bergersen, Periphery, Tesseract, The Cranberries, Within Temptation.

Bio:
Hemera is a brand new project lead by Gianluca Ferro and Cristina Valenti. Gianluca moves his first steps in the italian prog-metal scene with bands such as Time Machine and Doomsword, recording and touring extensively in Europe in the late 90’s. He plays at the Gods Of Metal festival in Milan in different occasions, sharing the stage with bands such as Iron Maiden, Slayer, Slipknot, Dark Tranquillity, Testament, Rammstein, Manowar, Symphony X, Running Wild and many others.

At the same time he collaborates with Kiko Loureiro (Megadeth, Angra) and Rafael Bittencourt at the album “Reviviscence” by Time Machine. While devoting himself to guitar teaching, toward the beginning of 2000, Gianluca starts working on his solo debut album, “Involution” released in 2005 and worldwide distributed by Century Media.

His solo career marks an artistic transition blending his Jazz-Fusion skills with modern metal infuences and complex harmonic and rhythmic textures, exploring polyrhythms and polymeters. He takes part to many guitar compilations, among them the prestigious “The Alchemist Vol.II” produced by liquid note together with players such as Brett Garsed, Bumblefoot, Richard Hallebeek, Terry Syrek and Doug Doppler. In 2008 he releases a guitar trio album with Strings 24 with whom plays at the Peralta Auditorioum in Spain together with Patrick Rondat and, with the same line-up, he performs at the Guitar Day 4 in Milan together with Paul Gilbert, Mattias Eklundh.

In February 2010, Gianluca takes part in OSV Project 3, a guitar-oriented instrumental album featuring guitarists Achilleas Diamantis, Borge Olzen, Marcel Coenen, Jonas Tamas and Phy Yaan-Zek, which arouses the interest of the famous producer Mark Varney. In January 2011 Gianluca releases his second solo album Unheimlich, worldwide distributed by Nightmare records and Guitar9 and he becomes Special Tutor at M.M.I. (Modern Music Academy). In the following years he keeps himself busy as teacher and clinician, he performs often in the UK with his band Bouncing The Ocean and several times at the NAMM show in Los Angeles. Shares the stage with many renowned players such as Reb Beach, Andy Timmons, Greg Koch, Kiko Loureiro, Guthrie Govan, Michael Angelo Batio and Jeff Loomis. In 2012 he release his first instructional DVD, Accelerating Guitar and soon after becomes a JTC Guitar Artist, becoming part of the most prestigious Guitar Rooster together with Zakk Wylde, Andy James, Al Joseph, Guthrie Govan, Tom Quayle, Martin Miller and many others.

He starts a collaboration with Unearth drummer Nick Pierce, a project called Breath Of Nibiru. in 2013 Gianluca becomes an ESP EII Endorser. He even catches the attention of the legendary Japanese guitar magazine Young Guitar and, after the release of a special issue with extended interview and DVD, he got an invitation to play and record in Tokyo by Spark7 and Baby Metal guitarist Isao Fujita. The two players found a strong fellowship starting a collaboration which brings them to perform in Europe, Japan and the US. In 2016 he releases the solo album “A Hole In The Ocean”.

In 2017 he hits the road for an extensive US Tour. In 2018 Gianluca performs with Breath of Nibiru and continues his touring activity in Japan, the Uk an the US throughout 2019. In the same year he records an album for Piano virtuoso Taku Yabuki with drummer Marco Minneman and starts a collaboration with Frontiers Records and producer Alessandro Del Vecchio, recording the Lovekillers album with vocalist Tony Harnell (TNT, Starbreaker, Skid Row). He’s currently working on a new BoN Album, collaborating with Frontiers for different projects, new didactic releases as well as a new solo album. Cristina has a lot of experience in the world of Musical being also featured as protagonist in Sanremo Musical 2019. She has been backing vocalist for the Italian pop artist Eros Ramazzotti as well as  pop acts as Michele Zarrrillo and Elisa. Cristina also works with Italian television RAI for TV Jingles and theme songs.

She’s a very active performer, leader of different formations from Jazz to rhythm and Blues going through Soul, pop and blues, Cristina shared the stage with artists such as Paolo Meneguzzi, Umberto Tozzi and Riccardo Fogli and performed throughout Europe, also representing Italy at the George Grigoriu festival in Romany. Cristina is also very busy with teaching and vocal coaching: she teaches at the Pop Music School In Lugano, Switzerland.

Band Line-Up:
Cristina Valenti – Vocals
Gianluca Ferro – Guitars, programming
Diego “Didi” Cavallotti – Guest Solo on Black Rain V.2
Marco Legnani – Hurdy -Gurdy
Alessandro Del Vecchio – Keyboards

CD Track Listing:
1- Black Rain
2- Mary’s Silence
3- 27
4- Mimosa
5- Tik Tok
6- Grace
7- Break the Game
8- Love Flame
9- Black Rain pt.2

Web and Social Media Links:
https://www.instagram.com/hemeramusic/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChKxDG5fMpXP9CwLPk36HGw
https://www.facebook.com/Hemera-109125871225746/