Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Haken
Label: Inside Out Records
Released: 2014
Length: 33:59
Rating: 4/5
In 2014, modern British progressive outfit Haken decided to put out a digital EP titled »Restoration«. With it they kept up the very strong impression made by their excellent studio album »Mountain« (2013), where they wowed everyone with a technically polished, arrangement-wise spontaneous blend of classic progressive rock, prog metal and jazz fusion, with the influences of their heroes, led by King Crimson, Gentle Giant and Dream Theater, poking through here and there. »Restoration«, clocking in at thirty-four minutes, is their first record with new bassist Conner Green and their second working with producer Jens Bogren. The EP has three tracks, which are really newly recorded, reworked versions of compositions from the demo »Enter the 5th Dimension« (2008), cut even before Haken’s debut »Aquarius« (2010) came out.
The demo versions of those compositions got a total overhaul, with individual ideas completely reimagined to fit the band’s current style. For the opener, »Darkest Light«, a thoroughly typical Haken creation with broken rhythms, unexpected time shifts, brutal guitar variations and mournful vocals, the band also made a promo video. A melodic chorus now and then rises above the fatalistic mood, but it still can’t wipe out the reign of gloomy ambient curtains. The demo version of »Darkest Light« was originally called »Blind« and was reportedly even longer, but by the band’s own words they ‘cut out the unnecessary ballast’. No more cheerful is the equally melancholic and dark »Earthlings«, which at times sounds like a funeral requiem, made even heavier by Ross Jennings’ anguished vocals and his inconsolable delivery of the post-apocalyptic lyrics.
The most ambitious and interesting track on »Restoration« is definitely the nineteen-minute experimental treat »Crystallised«, featuring American drumming maverick Mike Portnoy (ex-Dream Theater, Transatlantic, The Winery Dogs) as a special guest. Of the three »Restoration« compositions, it would stylistically fit in best with the material on »The Mountain«, since among other things it uses the vocal counterpoint technique so typical of Gentle Giant, which Haken clearly liked so much that they used it again. Gentle Giant also come to mind in the occasional xylophone and polyrhythms, which blend beautifully with the dark symphonic arrangements and prog-metal guitar passages to create a magical atmosphere.
Despite what most people expected, Portnoy didn’t contribute any drums to »Crystallised«. In the dying seconds of the EP he just hit a gong a few times, so his presence, alongside the Haken guys who are big Dream Theater fans, was more or less symbolic. Haken even ran a special contest for their followers, who had to figure out which instrument the famous drummer played, and they guessed in vain for a long time before someone finally worked out that it was a gong.
All Haken fans, whose ranks have been swelling in recent years thanks to ever more ambitious and experimental releases, will find the wait for the new studio album, which clearly won’t come out before 2016, much easier with the »Restoration« EP. »Crystallised« alone is reason enough for this EP to deserve the attention of all those prog rock/prog metal fans who have so far been ‘stumbling in the dark’ when it comes to Haken, because it’s one of their best pieces of work, one that transcends plenty of genre divides and once again proves, extremely successfully, that classic progressive rock and prog metal can live together in perfect harmony.
Lineup
Ross Jennings – vocals
Richard “Hen” Henshall – guitar, keyboards
Charlie Griffiths – guitar
Conner Green – bass
Diego Tejeida – keyboards, sound design
Raymond Hearne – drums
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Pete Rinaldi – guitar on “Crystallised”
Mike Portnoy – gong on “Crystallised”
Production
Jens Bogren
Tracklist
1. Darkest Light (6:44)
2. Earthlings (7:52)
3. Crystallised (19:23)
