Year : 2010 (InsideOut Music Records Limited Edition 2017)
Style : Progressive Metal
Country : United Kingdom
Audio : 320 kbps + all scans
Size : 340 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:
InsideOut Music Records Limited Edition on 2CD.Haken is the most criminally underrated band I have ever listened to. When I first listened to this album, it just blew me away. I was amazed by the band's talent, originality, and songwriting. This really is a must-have for any progressive metal fan.The songs here are quite long, as is typical for a progressive metal album. The shortest song is 6:43; the longest clocks in at 16:57. This allows the band to really develop their musical ideas to their full potential. If you're looking for a typical verse-bridge-chorus structure, I would suggest you look elsewhere. These pieces of music are epic in scope, encompassing many styles of music while still managing to retain order. There are many mood changes here, ranging from soft to heavy, fast to slow. There's elements of prog rock, power metal, death metal, jazz, and just about everything you could want.The band doesn't use just the orthodox instruments. They make use of lots of keyboards with different effects, and some unusual instrumentation and percussion, so you'll never get bored with the song. Each song uses many types of instruments. The band members are all very skillful at their instruments and the synergy is in incredible. Despite the high-level of technical skill, they keep the meaningless wankery to a minimum, instead using this skill to develop musical ideas and create unique sounds. This is one of the things that really sets Haken apart from other prog metal outfits. Keep in mind there are still some great virtuosic solos, such as the one in the song "Eternal Rain". There are long instrumental passages encompassing many musical styles, interspersed between verses with vocals. The vocalist here has a powerful voice and expert vocal control.My favorite song on this album is the second song, "Streams". The piano intro is one of my favorite musical moments of all time. The song ranges from jazzy to almost poppy to death metal, complete with expertly growled vocals. One of the motifs in this song is later repeated in the closing piece "Celestial Elixir", giving the whole album a sense of closure. This album is nearly perfect, but I still get the feeling it could have been better. Some of the parts don't flow perfectly and the transitions between moods can be a little sharp at times. This is still a masterpiece of progressive metal and is truly an incredible album.I would highly recommend it.
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:
CD1:
01. The Point of No Return 11:26
02. Streams 10:14
03. Aquarium 10:39
04. Eternal Rain 06:42
05. Drowning in the Flood 09:28
06. Sun 07:19
07. Celestial 16:56
CD2:
01. The Point of No Return 11:26 instrumental
02. Streams 10:14 instrumental
03. Aquarium 10:39 instrumental
04. Eternal Rain 06:42 instrumental
05. Drowning in the Flood 09:28 instrumental
06. Sun 07:19 instrumental
07. Celestial 16:56 instrumental
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