Year : 2025 (Limited Edition)
Style : Progressive Metal
Country : United Kingdom
Audio : 320 kbps + scans
Size : 384 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:
Liveforms: An Evening with Haken is the second video album by English progressive metal band Haken. It is due to release on 9 May 2025.Most of the concert was filmed on 21 September 2024, at the O2 Forum Kentish Town in London.While it includes live performances of songs from all their albums, the most are from the album Fauna, as the first set consisted of a playthrough of it in its entirety.The track listing consists of three CDs and one Blu-ray.Only the Blu-ray and the digital download versions feature the concert in its actual order (due to the technical limitations of the CD format).All songs and arrangements written by Haken (Conner Green, Charlie Griffiths, Raymond Hearne, Richard Henshall, Ross Jennings and Peter Jones), except where noted.Haken now take a further step towards cementing their “legendary” credentials with their second official live album, “Liveforms”. Recorded at London’s O2 Forum on 21 September 2024, the concert was part of the tour promoting Haken’s seventh album, 2023’s “Fauna”. With an almost three hour run-time, all seven studio albums (and the Restoration EP) are represented, with the set skewed towards newer material. Presented as two different sets, as on the night, “Fauna” is played in full in the first set of the night and Set Two showcases some of the band’s greatest older songs.The CD version of “Liveforms”, presented on three discs, messes with the running order slightly, extracting set-closers “Crystallised” and “Visions” onto disc three. In the actual concert, “Crystallised” closed Set One. The Blu-Ray version features the full concert and is accompanied by a 28 minute interview. Set One (Fauna) is available as a double vinyl album.It’s undoubtedly a stellar tracklist albeit light on Haken’s (arguably) most revered album, “The Mountain”, with just one song (the wonderful “Cockroach King”). I guess this is fair enough, as “The Mountain” was heavily featured on Haken’s previous live album, 2017’s essential “L-1VE”.The performances are faithful to the studio originals, which is a major plus in my view. It always intensely irritates me to see a favourite song at a gig and for a much-loved drum fill or guitar lick not be played, rendering the air-drumming or air-guitaring superfan look silly. Worse is when the arrangement is messed about with – and don’t get me started on medleys! Haken wisely avoid these pitfalls and power through with precision, passion and panache.Haken are brilliant musicians and the whole band is on imperious form. Ross Jennings is surely one of the best singers in modern music and his performance is versatile, note perfect and triumphant. His song introductions are brief and sparingly used, which is all the better to pack more magnificent music into the show. Returning keyboardist Peter Jones provides sonic depth and flair, complementing Richard Henshall’s tasteful synth contributions. Drummer Ray Hearne (getting the biggest cheer of the night) is a master of percussive onslaught and invention, but also supplies many moments of elegance and subtlety. Bassist Conner Green is a formidable rhythm section partner with a playing style replete with groove, grace and texture. Guitarists Henshall and Charlie Griffiths frequently blow the listeners’ minds with crushing riffage and truly awesome solos, which although flamboyant are always musical without being over-extravagant.Listening to “Liveforms”, one is left to wonder at the talent on display. To compose this music is astounding in itself, but to have the musical chops to play it is incredible and to have the mental capacity and stamina to memorize and play it live so flawlessly is frankly outrageous. Aspiring musicians hearing this album are likely to react in one of two ways: to be inspired to practice harder to achieve similar levels of greatness, or to give up in a “we’re not worthy” tantrum of frustration!Amongst so many highlights, in Set One, Fauna’s “Elephants Never Forget” and, especially, “Sempiternal Beings” deliver stratospheric levels of excitement – both songs are surely destined to become all time greats in the Haken discography. Eighteen minute epic “Crystallized” closes the set, with some thrilling pieces of music. Previously not a personal favourite of mine, the live version is so good it made me reappraise the song and enjoy it much more, especially the truly stunning finale – but where was the gong at the end?Set Two is quite simply, one banger after another. Hearne’s machine gun snare rolls astonish in “Puzzle Box”, the aforementioned “Cockroach King” is sublime with Jennings on top form and THOSE bass/guitar riffs in “1985” providing the heaviest moments of the entire concert. However, the best is saved to last with eighteen-minute encore “Visions”, a phenomenal epic with contrasting moods and a soaraway chorus, with its superbly played emotional guitar solo providing chills and goosebumps in extremis.The only slight dip in excitement levels is “Strainwreck”, a skippable four minute drums/synth workout in Set Two which bridges “The Strain” and “Canary Yellow” (two of the strongest songs from the “Virus” album). The reviewer’s prerogative is to nitpick and I will also say that swapping out “Drowning in the Flood”, from Haken’s debut album “Aquarius”, for the same album’s “Celestial Elixir” would have made a fabulous setlist absolutely perfect – although would have added to the band’s already massive workload!The enthusiastic crowd is ever-present to give a genuine concert feel to the album, but never intrusive or detrimental to the clarity of the band’s performances. In fact, during songs like “Visions” in particular, the audience participation adds to the sense of joy and makes the listener feel involved. It’s fair to say that the sound quality and mix (by Jens Bogren) is amongst the best of any live album I’ve heard.Taken as a whole, “Liveforms” gives a sense of complete musical fulfilment chiefly because of Haken’s mastery of melody. You can’t beat a memorable tune and this album is packed with songs absolutely rammed with them! Together with faultless, sublime performances, a tremendous sound quality and a band clearly having as good a time as their audience, the overall experience is profoundly moving. Put simply: Haken’s music makes you “feel”.I think there are three main reasons for a band to release a live album. Providing a terrific record of a life-affirming show for those who were there, now shared for everyone to enjoy – and to envy the lucky audience! Documenting an important period in the band’s career, showcasing the best of their recent music, enabling a new chapter to begin. And introducing a band to a curious newcomer, cherry-picking some of the most celebrated songs in their recorded career, brought to life so much more vibrantly than an anodyne ‘greatest hits’ release.“Liveforms” absolutely and convincingly delivers on all three fronts. It’s a truly great concert album which leaves this reviewer musing enviously: “Oh, to have been there!”
Line Up:
Ross Jennings – vocals
Richard Henshall – guitars, keyboards, backing vocals
Charlie Griffiths – guitars, backing vocals
Conner Green – bass guitar, backing vocals
Raymond Hearne – drums, backing vocals
Peter Jones – keyboards, backing vocals
Guest musicians:
Miguel Gorodi - trumpet (on "The Alphabet Of Me")
Tracklist:
CD1:
01. The Last Lullaby (2:12)
02. Taurus (4:43)
03. Nightingale (7:27)
04. The Alphabet Of Me (5:42)
05. Sempiternal Beings (8:27)
06. Beneath The White Rainbow (6:51)
07. Islands In The Clouds (5:52)
08. Lovebite (4:00)
09. Elephants Never Forget (11:07)
10. Eyes Of Ebony (8:37)
CD2:
01. Puzzle Box (8:32)
02. Earthrise (4:50)
03. Cockroach King (8:27)
04. Nil By Mouth (6:49)
05. 1985 (9:21)
06. The Strain (5:29)
07. Strainwreck (4:03)
08. Canary Yellow (4:24)
09. Drowning In The Flood (10:00)
CD3:
01. Crystallised (18:26)
02. Visions (18:28)
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