Avtor: Peter Podbrežnik
Izvajalec: Haken
Založba: Inside Out Records
Izid: 2016
Trajanje: 61:26
Ocena: 4.5/5
With »Mountain«, Britain’s Haken made one of the best progressive rock albums of 2013. It was praised to the skies by Jordan Rudess and Mike Portnoy, current and former members of the notorious Dream Theater, and also by his ‘off-the-wall’ majesty Devin Townsend, who invited them to open for him on one of his tours. And rightly so, because with »Mountain« these London prog fanatics, who convincingly build bridges between prog metal and prog rock, outgrew their status as the new hope of the progressive rock scene and, with just their third studio effort, created a masterpiece of unimaginable sonic dimensions. An achievement like »Mountain« is usually hard to repeat. Instead of reaching for a tried-and-tested recipe, Haken made some bold and mostly praiseworthy moves this time. Their fourth studio album, the follow-up to the EP »Restoration« (2014), doesn’t quite manage to be another masterpiece in a row (it falls a little short of that), but it’s still a seriously excellent listening experience and one of the first and main contenders for prog rock album of 2015.
With a minimalist cover that looks like it was dug up from some ‘prehistoric era’ around the mid-eighties, Haken partly return to their fiercer prog metal roots on »Affinity«, while also surprising with a few unexpected experiments, turning to the eighties instead of the seventies for inspiration. The band members love the turbulent prog eighties just as much as the golden prog era (the seventies). There’s less of the Gentle Giant influence that so clearly marked »Mountain«, but in places you can even pick up new wave and art pop rock elements. Crossing those with prog metal and symphonic prog rock, which takes over on some of the tracks, has produced some very interesting and praiseworthy results on »Affinity«, while the line between the more brutal and the more ethereal moments is drawn more clearly this time than on »Mountain«.
A short electronic intro, »affinity.exe«, which recalls the sounds of the ZX Spectrum or Commodore 64, is followed by the album’s lead single, »Initiate«. Thanks to its complex rhythmic nuances, ethereal multi-part vocals and punchy guitar passages, which sit under a noticeable Dream Theater and King Crimson influence, it could be called a characteristic Haken track, one that’s sure to become a regular fixture in their live set. That the album more than obviously draws now and then on retro eighties sounds first becomes clear on »1985«, which has a guitar riff akin to the Yes classic »Owner Of A Lonely Heart«, while the synth arrangements occasionally recall the original lineup of Asia. Still, the backbone of the track is prog metal, with raging guitar passages, obscure bass lines and passionate drum transitions, while singer Ross Jennings, as always, wows with his vocal versatility. And of course there’s no shortage of wild, technically flawless improvisations amid a wealth of unpredictable twists, so it’s no wonder they caught the attention of a musical alien like Devin Townsend.
On the melancholic »Lapse«, the English masters prove they can also handle subtler moments, where the guitar shredding isn’t front and center like it is with most prog metal outfits, which leaves all the more room for Jennings’ singing and symphonic grandeur. The fifteen-minute »The Architect« is the album’s only epic and, as expected, more than delivers, even though it contains quite a few risky sonic experiments, which come off really well. Amid the abundance of subtle moments, complex guitar shredding, intelligent transitions and obscure rhythmic nuances dominate, quickly conjuring an energetic and at the same time gloomy mood. The middle, instrumental section reminds you a bit of King Crimson, specifically their eighties »Discipline« incarnation. What follows is even stranger, as the closing part brings in semitone rhythmic figures, double bass pedal work and brutal vocals. This short thrash/death metal experiment feels a little forced and unnecessary, but their metal fans will surely like it. In the last two minutes things get ‘put back in their place’ and Haken pull off a truly epic finish.
No less impressive is Haken’s experimental crossbreeding of progressive metal and new wave/pop/art rock with a strong whiff of the eighties on the excellent »Earthrise«, where you can’t miss the influence of cult eighties acts like Trevor Rabin-era Yes, The Buggles and The Alan Parsons Project. Between the individual transitions and choruses, the recognizable Haken prog metal shredding with complex guitar-keyboard passages does take over, but the synth textures, the vocal approach and even the production have a pure retro pulse, as if the band had briefly switched on a time machine. With its slow build-up of tense atmosphere, »Red Giant« is a clear example of a track that needs some time before it has the desired effect on the listener: after an initially ‘tedious’ start, it gradually and cleverly changes its nature and turns into a really pleasant experience.
The prog metal energy catalyst »The Endless Knot« is again a bit more inspired by the Dream Theater recipe for songwriting and improvisation, but its former complexity, with plenty of wild improvisations and obscure effects, is nicely subordinated to the melodic arrangements. In the end Haken pleasantly surprise with the superbly sung and brilliant-sounding ethereal power ballad »Bound By Gravity«, where the intoxicating multi-part vocals fit especially well around the gorgeous arrangements, and are a pure triumph. Some will accuse this emotional yet intelligent power ballad of dragging on, but it actually flies by in a blink, and with it Haken deliver a truly fantastic close to the album.
Haken show beautifully on »Affinity« how some seemingly incompatible sonic elements from the worlds of progressive metal, symphonic prog rock and eighties new wave/art rock can be combined successfully and innovatively. For such a refreshing approach, when many fans expected inspiration from old-school prog and the band ‘pulled a fast one’ by heading off for a change to the eighties, the decade ‘prog lovers’ like least, Haken deserve sincere congratulations. »Affinity« isn’t far from masterpiece status, and it might have gotten there with even more crossing of prog metal and eighties new wave/art rock, which proved to be a lot of fun and a rarely tested experiment that wouldn’t hurt to be polished up even more in the near future. It’s precisely thanks to such refreshing experiments that Haken stand apart from their prog metal peers, who far too often cling to the same old sonic formula.
Lineup
Ross Jennings – vocals
Charlie Griffiths – guitar
Richard Henshall – guitar and keyboards
Diego Tejeida – keyboards
Conner Green – bass guitar
Ray Hearne – drums
Production
Jens Bogren
Tracklist
1. affinity.exe (1:24)
2. Initiate (4:16)
3. 1985 (9:09)
4. Lapse (4:44)
5. The Architect (15:40)
6. Earthrise (4:48)
7. Red Giant (6:06)
8. The Endless Knot (5:50)
9. Bound By Gravity (9:29)
