Follow us through a detailed shredding of the band that may be progressive music’s universal constant, the British elite unit that goes by the name of Haken
Prog has come a long way since its inception days. With more diversity in music worldwide, it’s getting increasingly difficult to push boundaries while still maintaining some musical relevance. It takes ever more skill to innovate without boasting ego over any enjoyment on the listeners end, yet in the prog scene there are plenty of brilliant musical minds doing just that. One might argue though that this race for originality would make us forget the good ol’ days of classic prog, as all the techy instrumentalists and djenty nerds gain popularity. Then, finding a good balance between the new and the old seems the ideal recipe for a ‘universal constant’ within the genre, and there is probably no band active today more qualified for that title than Haken. Having origins firmly rooted in Dream Theater legacy (sometimes even described as the Dream Theater of the future), yet embodying plenty of forward-thinking influences, the British formation is probably the one band that every prog enthusiast should hear. With overarching themes and concepts, music that is both challenging and captivating, a good balance of technicality and expression, LOTS of layered vocals, and (at least) one 10+ minute epic track per album, Haken is nowhere short of every musical nerd’s dream. And it is their 6 masterpieces that we will be shredding today, ranked upwards to absolute prestige.
#6 Vector – 2018
At a recent point in their career, “Vector” sees Haken turning heavy, containing some of the most riff driven music that the band has put out. This also drives it to be more challenging than the norm, more gritty on the mix, with strikingly technical drum work and intense rhythmic intricacy. It is also the shortest, at a 44 minute run-time, and seems to end with no clear conclusion. As all other albums offer proper closure on their own, this one feels somewhat incomplete (by Haken standards). The concept speaks of a catatonic mental patient who isn’t exactly kindly treated by his doctor, and as we follow the story evolution, the protagonist seems to be gradually losing his identity in favor of an unknown external entity. The psychological nature of the theme is not unprecedented in the band’s catalogue, but does invoke a darker, more unsettling tone. Finally, this record’s greatest asset lies in its structural diversity. It starts and ends with short catchy tracks in “The Good Doctor” and “A Cell Divides”, it offers a strong memorable chorus in “Puzzle Box”, an instrumental tech-fest in “Nil by Mouth” and a moody slow piece in “Host”. The 12+ minute “Veil” is the jack-of all trades, piecing together a bit of everything in what is this album’s lengthy epic.
#5 Aquarius – 2010
The most atypical Haken album was their debut, with the most unusual story and the weirdest musical influences. “Aquarius” is probably the most keyboard driven and least heavy record, and showcases a maritime theme bound to deliver watery textures to the its sound fingerprint. The concept revolves around a mermaid born from human parents who is the key to stopping a world-wide flood caused by global warming. There’s more to the story, bringing love, drama, and tragedy to the table, but I will leave that in mystery. This record is the longest in the band’s discography, with most songs around the 10-minute mark and boy it’s a journey. Musically the album has more Dream Theater influences, as Haken were yet to develop their trademark sound. As a result, there are also a lot of extended tapestries of solos where all instruments take the spotlight in turn. But the strangest distinguishing aspect comes in the consistent use of jazzy parts, sailor themes and even circus music. The cherry is placed on the cake with a few sections of deeply heavy growls, an unexpected twist around Ross’s clean soft vocal style. The 17 minutes long closing track “Celestial Elixir” brings all the musical components of the record together into a fan favorite that today still lives up to its initial glory.
#4 Virus – 2020
All the way at the other chronological end we are confronted with the “Virus”, a musical and conceptual follow-up to 2018’s “Vector”. The somewhat incomplete nature of its baby brother now makes sense when seen as the first part of what comprises the only double album from Haken. Musically “Virus” builds up and concludes everything that “Vector” started. It’s even heavier, more complex and more technical. Through the brilliant opening songs “Prosthetic” and “Invasion” which were pre-released as singles, this record packs up a lot of hook to tick the memorability checkbox, further building up the band’s most mind boggling tech-fest through the likes of “Carousel”, “The Strain” or the ultimate tech showdown in “Messiah Complex”. Thus, the softer “Canary Yellow” makes the most stand-out track on this record, and a personal favorite of mine. Another outstanding feature to the album comes in an astronomical amount of reprises from other Haken records, especially in “Messiah Complex”. Conceptually Haken have always shrouded their stories in mystery, therefore it is left unclear exactly how the narrative evolves, but what’s certain is that our mental patient evolves into a completely new being which we are to meet again very soon.
#3 The Mountain – 2013
I might get lambasted for this, as “The Mountain” is most often viewed as Haken’s cornerstone record and as far as I can tell, the most common fan favorite. The band’s third outing is the first one to feature songwriting and lyrical input from all band members (the first two were predominantly written by Rich Henshall and Ross Jennings if I’m not mistaken). The team effort brings a radically different sound from the first two records which were darker, slightly softer and not as complex. It also might be the most uplifting sounding record that Haken ever made, and the lyrical topics reflect this too. “The Mountain” generally refers to whatever mountain anyone might be climbing in their personal life. It’s the album that set the stage for what Haken were going to sound like on all future records introducing most of what now are the band’s key components. And of course, one cannot finish talking about this album without giving a shout-out to “The Cockroach King”, the rather peculiar character whose backstory was told in the Vector-Virus series, and the one song that Haken may call their “hit”. The acapella layered vocal themes in the beginning of the song might just be the most striking and the most famous piece of music that the band ever created.
#2 Visions – 2011
While brilliantly ingenious, “Aquarius” was a tough pill to swallow, probably even for many of the prog snobs out there. As the sophomore output always raises the problem of living up to the quality of the debut, which by the way was no easy task in this case, Haken faced the challenge of dreaming up something equally innovative, and perhaps more accessible too if possible. “Visions” is as good of an outcome as one can expect from that situation. The eccentricity of circus music and nautical themes is replaced by a more straightforward and digestible prog metal approach, but shrouded in a concept that is equally provoking. The talented Brits dive deep into the subconscious, into the world of dreams and deja-vus, which gives the album an air of mystery that no other Haken record has achieved since. This is the most atmospherically dense album, with a strong air of melancholy, smoother sound textures and earworm themes. The keyboards still play a huge role in delivering this atmosphere, the guitars are more melody than riff driven, the bass is silky and penetrating and the overall instrumental context is also what I find most fitting to Ross’s voice. Songs like “The Mind’s Eye” and “Insomnia” are most user-friendly, “Deathless” is at least in my view the best ballad that the band ever made, and we are also treated to 2 epics, the amazing introductory “Nocturnal Conspiracy” and the 22 minute closing title track. “Visions” is the longest song in Haken’s discography, and much like the full album, it’s an absolute journey of far reaching musical diversity, with a strong intoxicating ambience and as much of an over-arching story as you can fit in a song, bringing the full record millimetrically close to number one.
#1 Affinity – 2016
Remember that cocky “bridging the old with the new” statement that I made in the beginning of this article? It would be a fair bit of a risky guess to say whether we find ourselves in 2016 or in 1985 when listening to this magnificent album. Is it maybe both? “Affinity” definitely finds Haken at their most balanced point in their career so far. It stands unshaken between the heavy and the emotional, the 80s prog scene and the modern trends, uplifting tones and gloom, between concepts and singular themes of humanity and machinery. That pretty much gives you all the ingredients required to define prog in the contemporary age. It’s also an hour long, escaping the slightly overbearing 70+ minute runtimes of the first 2 records as well as the potentially underwhelming dimensions of follow up releases. And with all the meta-data out of the way, we can reveal the soul of Affinity, which boasts a strong 80s synth influence into the band’s self-defined prog sound. There’s still a great deal of influence from the grandpas of progressive music as well as Haken’s first consistent steps into djent territory with 8-string riffage. There’s a lot of keyboard work at hand and a most superb vocal delivery, with also some vocal processing to touch on the more electronic beat of the record. As for individual songs, there are the short bright sounding tracks like “Initiate”, “Lapse” and “Earthrise”, more intricate pieces like “1985” and “The Endless Knot” or atmosphere driven songs like “Red Giant” and the beautiful closing of “Bound by Gravity”. As for a concise sum of everything that is Haken, the band’s crown jewel of a prog epic comes in the 15 minute journey of “The Architect”, which will undoubtedly stay one of their most memorable compositions. The journey is definitely not over for the British prog stalwarts, and while it’s a mystery where they will take us in the future, these 6 masterpieces are as strong today as they were at their respective releases, and I sure hope you enjoy them.
