Year : 2013
Style : Progressive Metal
Country : United Kingdom
Audio : 320 kbps + all scans
Size : 174 mb
Bio:
Haken (pronounced /heɪˈkən/ is a London-based progressive metal band formed in 2007. As of 2014, Haken has released a total of three full-length studio albums and one EP."Say hello to your newest musical masturbation fantasy." This is how Outburn Magazine (USA) chooses to introduce Haken. The UK's PROG Magazine describes them as "one of the brightest young bands in the progressive sphere right now." Well then, why not read for yourself whether these bright young masturbating fantasists are all they're talked up to be...Boasting two members of To-Mera, an ex-member of Linear Sphere and graduates from some of the world’s finest music conservatoires, this London-born sextet are the "prodigiously talented youths that will benefit prog." - PROG. Within months of their first show in July 2007, Haken were billed in support of Riverside and, in the following months, performed headlining sets to packed houses around London, including several sold-out shows at "the best live music venue in south-west London", The Peel. On the strength of these performances Haken were selected to open for King’s X in Wolverhampton and London in January 2009 only to join forces with Bigelf a few months later on their first UK tour, culminating in a sold-out show in London. Even before the release of their debut album, Haken had fast become well respected within the British metal community, and their unique and imaginative genre-bending approach has since earned praise from all corners of the globe. In March 2010, Haken's debut album Aquarius enjoyed international release under Sensory Records. Mixed at Spacelab Studios (Germany) by Christian Moos (Delain, Wolverine, Everon) with artwork created by Dennis Sibeijn (Slipknot, Slayer, Disturbed) Aquarius has fast become a progressive metal favourite worldwide, receiving journalistic praise such as "progressive release of the year" (Fireworks Magazine - UK) and "so assured, you'd swear these guys had been around for a decade. Aquarius is extraordinary" (Decibel Magazine - USA). Topping the 2010 album chart on progarchives.com, the release of Aquarius led to shows with the Diablo Swing Orchestra and Freak Kitchen and soon earned Haken a slot on the bill of ProgPower Festival Europe 2010, their first show abroad, and indeed their debut festival performance.With their live show now well established and a debut album under their belt, Haken began to spread their music across Europe claiming "band of the weekend" at Summer's End Festival 2010 (UK) which also featured bands such as Agent's of Mercy and Karmakanic. They performed on the same stage as Threshold and Vanden Plas at the new Fused Festival 2011 (UK), shared the bill with Guthrie Govan at Monkeyfest 2011 (UK), and also played alongside Exivious and Andromeda at Generation Prog 2011 (Germany). Receiving an invitation to play at both Night of the Prog Festival (Germany) and ProgPower USA in the same year (2011) marked the pinnacle of Haken's live achievements to date. Having now played shows with Dream Theater, Anathema, IQ, Arena, Therion and Evergrey, the band surprised the prog world by releasing their second studio album a mere eighteen months after their debut.Visions saw worldwide release in October 2011 and has sparked off even more praise and excitement from the fast-growing Haken fan base. "Haken throw themselves headfirst into some of the most complex, intriguing and beguiling progressive music that's been made this side of Close To The Edge. They really are that good!" - PROG, and it wasn't long before Visions joined Close To The Edge on Progarchives' top 100 Prog albums of all time.In April 2012, Haken embarked on their first mini-tour of Europe playing alongside Arena and Sun Caged at ROCK ITtervoort (NL) as well as headlining shows to dedicated fans in Germany and Switzerland. Haken cannot wait to continue touring the globe and sharing their music and have already begun writing album number three. In the summer of 2012, Haken made a return to Night of the Prog alongside Katatonia, Spock’s Beard and The Flower Kings and have recently played festivals in France, Lithuania and the UK. In September 2012, Haken will embark on their most extensive tour to date and share a co-headlining bill with Damian Wilson’s new band Headspace,
Album:
The Mountain is the third studio album by English progressive metal band Haken. It was released on 2 September 2013 through Inside Out Music.It is the last album to feature bassist Thomas MacLean.Band members Richard Henshall and Charlie Griffiths said of the album:"To us, 'The Mountain' is symbolic of our journey as a band, but also reflects the wider trials and tribulations of life. Lyrically, we've done a lot of soul searching which has given the album an emotional depth that we're sure listeners will really relate to, whatever personal mountain they are climbing.Musically, the new songs feel rawer and more emotional than anything we've created in the past. All the essential elements of our sound are still there but have been delivered in a more gritty and focused style. We've really pushed ourselves in all areas and truly believe that this album is a step up from any of our previous work..."Unlike Aquarius and Visions, for which vocalist Ross Jennings wrote all the lyrics, The Mountain features contributions by every band member. On a 2016 interview, Jennings said:"I'm still not sure if the rest of the band fully understood what I was trying to achieve lyrically with Aquarius and Visions, which I think left them quite cold and therefore they couldn't relate to those albums so well. If you ask them today, I still don't think they could explain the stories or the themes. So when it came to writing the Mountain, everyone wanted to get involved with that part of the process.According to keyboardist Diego Tejeida, the band "didn't set any boundaries for how we wanted the album to sound".He added that "The Mountain was tangibly influenced by 70's music, at the same time we threw in some prog-unrelated influences like: ambient, soul, jazz, 80's synthpop, minimalism or even those Glitch Hop Drums on 'Because It's There'."Drummer Raymond "Ray" Hearne added that "The Mountain set out on a few different lyrical paths before realising its final form. We initially had a couple of quasi-concept ideas but soon began to realise this was a bit too constrictive so we pretty much chose a song or two each.Each of us chose the song(s) that spoke most personally to us. We then tried to reflect that music with our words and vice versa. It soon became clear that this was a great collaborative decision as we all began to really dig what each one of us came up with and we were able to help one another with any musical/lyrical guidance they might have needed. It was a truly collaborative process."Guitarist and keyboardist Richard Henshall said the band wanted to sound more "elemental" than their previous work, Visions."We used this as a rough guideline and went with the natural flow of things.To me, what we end up with is most the honest expression of our emotions and feelings.According to Jennings, the epic "Falling Back to Earth" consists of two parts ("Rise" and "Fall").The first is based on the history of Icarus and covers the subject of "ambition, failure and perseverence [sic], using the metaphor of wings and flying too close to the sun to represent how we take on challenges in life and the desire to prove something to people."The second part is inspired by science fiction iconography, "looking at the who we are and the world around us when we have fallen, and the humility required to reach out to others for forgiveness & acceptance. The rise and fall of this song sits aptly as the centre-piece of this album."A shortened version of "Cockroach King" received a promotional video with The Muppets-like band members manufactured by Griffiths and controlled by Rinaldi and Ross. According to Tejeida, the idea was to make a video with comic touches for all ages, "far from the seriousness protocol demanded by a rock/metal video".
Line Up:
Ross Jennings - Vocals (2007-present)
Charles Griffiths - Guitars (2007-present) - See also: ex-Linear Sphere
Richard "Hen" Henshall - Guitars, Keyboards (2007-present) - See also: To-Mera
Tom MacLean - Bass (2007-present) - See also: To-Mera
Ray Hearne - Drums (2007-present)
Diego Tejeida - Keyboards (2007-present)
Tracklist:
01. The Path 02:47
02. Atlas Stone 07:34
03. Cockroach King 08:15
04. In Memoriam 04:17
05. Because It's There 04:24
06. Falling Back to Earth 11:51
07. As Death Embraces 03:13
08. Pareidolia 10:51
09. Somebody 09:01
10. The Path Unbeaten 2:12 (Bonus Track)
11. Nobody 4:53 (Bonus Track)
Download links for all albums only on our blog here: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/
