Ross Jennings – Page 2

Haken announce new album ‘Virus’ / Launch first single ‘Prosthetic’

Progressive rockers Haken are excited to reveal their new studio album ‘Virus’, the follow-up to 2018’s acclaimed album ‘Vector’, will be released 5^th June 2020. By way of introduction, the band have recorded a special video message to give some background to the record:

Today also sees the launch of the album’s first single and opening track ‘Prosthetic’, with a video directed by Vicente Cordero. Watch & listen to this punchy opening salvo here:

The band comments: “Prosthetic was the first song we completed during the ‘Virus’ writing sessions and we always felt it would be the perfect opener for the album. It’s a very guitar heavy track with its roots in 80s thrash riffing, but with the unconventional rhythmic twists and turns we often like to explore in Haken. We sadly never had a Jeff Hanneman and Robert Fripp collaboration, but this song at least draws on inspiration from them both!

Lyrically the song is a bridge between our two albums Vector and Virus. The message was brilliantly brought to life by video director Vicente Cordero, who also beautifully captured the live energy of the band in a way that both enhances the song, and perfectly sets the scene for what’s to come.”

Since releasing ‘Vector’ in October 2018, Haken have completed headline tours the world over, played sold-out shows across Europe and North America as support for Devin Townsend and picked up a Prog award for their efforts too! All the while, they have been quietly, secretly working on the follow-up album, entitled ‘Virus’.

Drummer Ray Hearne reveals, “since releasing ‘The Mountain’ in 2013, one question has been asked of us time and time again, ‘who is the Cockroach King?’. This is something we were interested in exploring more deeply too, so we essentially did that through our music; elaborating and expanding upon the intervallic, harmonic, rhythmic and lyrical themes of that song. The end result is in an arc which spans across two albums: ‘Vector’ and ‘Virus’”.

Once again, Adam ‘Nolly’ Getgood has mixed what is perhaps the most eclectic Haken album to date, with the 7 tracks revealing hints of influences from multiple genres, all intertwined with Haken’s own recognisable sound. Guitarist Richard Henshall had this to say about the production, “Using Nolly again was a no-brainer, as we wanted the two albums to be sonically connected. But having just spent a day mixing with him in his studio, it’s obvious that this album will be an evolution of the ‘Vector’ sound. These songs seem to allow a lot more freedom of creativity with the production, so we’re excited to see where it leads”.

Longtime Haken collaborators, Blacklake, have designed the visuals and artwork and the album will be available as a Limited 2CD, Standard CD, Gatefold 2LP + CD & as Digital Album. Pre-order now here: https://haken.lnk.to/Virus

The track-listing is as follows:

1. Prosthetic

2. Invasion

3. Carousel

4. The Strain

5. Canary Yellow

6. Messiah Complex i: Ivory Tower

7. Messiah Complex ii: A Glutton for Punishment

8. Messiah Complex iii: Marigold

9. Messiah Complex iv: The Sect

10. Messiah Complex v: Ectobius Rex

11. Only Stars

‘Virus’ is the culmination of a musical thought experiment which started with the ‘Vector’ writing sessions in 2017 and holds intriguing potential for the band’s future, as vocalist Ross Jennings explains, “whilst ‘Virus’ can absolutely be enjoyed as a stand-alone work, it is thematically and conceptually linked with ‘Vector’, so our intention is to perform both albums back to back for a special performance someday”.

HAKEN are:

Ross Jennings

Richard Henshall

Charlie Griffiths

Diego Tejeida

Conner Green

Ray Hearne

Review – Haken – Vector – by James R. Turner

I was a little torn when I read the press about this album and heard on the grapevine that it was a return to the heavier sound of the band, and a step away from the more electronic influences that permeated the marvellous ‘Affinity’ album. I wasn’t sure I would enjoy it as much as ‘Affinity’ and its corresponding tour, I wondered if it would be a step backwards for the band and veer off into prog metal territory. My attitude to that genre (which seems such a misnomer, and lumps so many disparate and diverse bands together in such a narrow band to be almost meaningless) is indifferent at best. Bands like Dream Theater, Anathema and Opeth have drifted into my hearing but passed me by, and if I get a CD with ‘tramp shouting down a megaphone into a dustbin’ alleged vocals then off it goes and never gets listened to again.

Luckily for me, and you, I listened to the album and didn’t just take the blurb at face value. Yes whilst it’s heavier, it is a distinct evolution of the Haken sound, taking the best parts of their last albums and including more of the electronic elements to their sonic template, creating an album that sits on the right side of heavy. Of course, as any fule kno’, Haken have a wonderful vocalist in the form of Ross Jennings who can sing, and has a superb voice, perfect for the light and the soft that peppers their sound.

Another arsenal in their sound is the harmony vocals provided by all 5 of the other members, which is a rarity in many bands, especially bands operating in the heavier sector, and this also sets them apart. It also helps they are bloody good musicians, who manage to capture their live essence on record, and having seen them on the last tour they are amazing live, loud and complex, but amazing.

Again, on this record there is plenty of ability on show but it’s not one of those guitar wankery albums you get where it’s all skill and no soul. ‘Vector’ is chock full of emotion and soul, and is superb evolution of their sound from ‘Affinity’, true musical progression in the original dictionary definition of the word.

Across these seven tracks Haken wring out every ounce of emotion from their performance and put together a sublime album in doing so.

Tracks like The Good Doctor and, my personal favourite, Puzzle Box incorporate more of the electronic and keyboard sounds that hung over from Affinity whilst not losing any of their power. Diego Tejeda and Richard Henshall put together a formidable onslaught, whilst Henshall and Charles Griffiths on guitar remind me of that other fantastic musical duo of Matt Stevens and Steve Cleaton from TFATD, both pairings are guitarists with plenty of skill and the intuitive ability to bounce off each other, but more, much more than that, they play with heart and soul. That is what so many technical shredders are missing, the best music has soul and emotion and without that you’ve got nothing.

Veil is the centrepiece to this album and it is epic, a real masterclass in how to mix light and shade. The way Haken go about things, with their sound anchored by bassist Conner Green and drummer Raymond Hearne, remind me very much of Iron Maiden in their ethos. A band who are not afraid to rock out and turn it up where necessary but how have both the skill and the ambition to tackle the big concepts and pull them off in style.

In fact, across this album there’s no bad track, some wonderful symphonic sounds on A Cell Divides, the opener Clear and the brilliantly enigmatic The Good Doctor, all of which set the pace and the tone of the album, and the overriding concept, which has elements of psychoanalysis and deeper meanings to the title.

The band themselves say there’s a concept, but the meanings are there to be deciphered by the fans, unwrapping the Puzzle box if you like. However you see it though, you cannot deny that Haken are one of the most interesting and exciting bands currently making music and, as for where they sit genre wise, who cares?

They have made a sublime album that takes the building blocks from their previous albums, with nods right back to the debut, and still manage to push their sound on and create something that is new, that is vibrant and that is nothing other than what it is.

What a joy to be able to write about bands like Haken on today’s scene.

Released 26th October 2018

Order the album from the link here

Review – Haken L-1VE – by James R Turner

Haken released their rather special ‘Affinity’ album back in 2016 and followed it up with a celebratory 10^th anniversary European tour which, unsurprisingly, focused on that electro inspired album and its predecessor, the album that made their name, ‘The Mountain’.

Now, in the best tradition of all bands, they have decided to release their first live album, and what a package it is for fans.

Not only do we get a double disc live set taken from their gig in Amsterdam last year, but we also get the full set on DVD, complete with a 2^nd DVD of their 4-song set at ProgPower USA in 2016 and the official music videos for Initiate, Earthrise and Lapse.

For anyone who was on that tour (and I was) this is a wonderful memento, and for those who weren’t lucky enough to be there, well, let me tell you more.

Its good to see Haken releasing their first live album as I get incredibly bored with bands getting on the album, tour, live album treadmill, especially where (particularly with the bigger bands) the set lists are written in tablets of stone and, much like dinosaur remains, are very much museum pieces. The key to a great live record (like ‘Wings Over America’, Wishbone Ash’s ‘Live Dates’ or ‘Field Recordings’ by The Fierce and the Dead) is its scarcity, and its immediacy. No-one wants to see a concert where the band duplicates their album sound live on stage with no spontaneity or the feeling that you are living in the moment, and no-one wants to buy a live album from a gig that sounds like the studio recordings, that’s the ultimate example of irrelevance. If you keep releasing live albums you lose your audience and Haken, wisely, have chosen a moment when they have a breadth and depth of songs to chose from and a moment in time when they are currently an energetic and enthusiastic live band with a lot of presence and charisma.

The current line-up of Ross Jennings (vocals) who works the stage like a frontman should which, added to the powerhouse drumming of Raymond Hearne and driving bass of Conner Green, puts that bedrock together to give Richard Henshall’s & Charles Griffiths guitars room to stretch. The keys of Diego Tejeida round it out and it’s the electronic sound that helps make the ‘Affinity’ material so strong on stage.

This taut and assured performance is reflected throughout this record. One of the treats for those of us who love the longer songs is Aquamedley, 22 minutes of the tracks from their debut album ‘Aquarius’, reworked and forming an integral part of the set.

That is what a live show, and album, should be all about, all eras are covered, with a rousing version of Visions closing the record. As previously stated, ‘The Mountain’ and ‘Affinity’ make up the bulk of the tracks, as songs like 1985, Affintiy.exe/Initiate and epic The Architect get a good work out, making their their mark on the bands set.

The only minor issue I have with Haken at this juncture of their career is that they seem to have their feet in a number of camps, neither being full blown prog, prog-metal or sitting in the electronic arena that ‘Affinity’ introduced to their sound. I would like to see them pick a direction (preferably the electronic sound) and move more cohesively towards it, but that’s my opinion, and it doesn’t detract from what is an excellently produced and sublimely performed live show.

With the superb bonus material on the second DVD, and the videos from their excellent Affinity album, this is a fantastic snapshot of where Haken are now, and of what a powerful and confident band they have become.

If they continue down this road, and hone their sound following the electronic influences of ‘Affinity’ they could be well positioned to be one of the defining bands of the new era.

Released 22nd June 2018

Order the album from Burning Shed here

Review – Haken – Affinity – by Shawn Dudley

I’ve been living with this new Haken album for a couple of weeks now, attempting to wrap my head around it. Each time I think I’ve got it figured out some new detail jumps out at me that requires me to reevaluate. Like the band themselves, ‘Affinity’ remains wonderfully elusive and that just makes me appreciate it more.

Haken have been an enjoyable enigma from the very beginning. Over the course of four impressive full-length studio albums they have remained defiantly hard to categorize. The proverbial square peg. You can sit down and catalog all the elements, you can ascertain their stylistic influences, you can dissect and study their compositions but any attempt to accurately file them away into pre-existing little boxes? Futile. The only box they fit into is the one labeled, Haken.

Opening single Initiate sways back and forth from driving and propulsive to ethereal and contemplative with the always-impressive voice of Ross Jennings guiding the way. The arrangement seems deceptively simple on the surface, but there is a wealth of detail here that becomes more apparent on repeated listens (this holds true for the entire album). The heavier guitars don’t make an appearance until over 2 minutes into the track and provide a visceral edge to what is otherwise a primarily keyboard-driven, clean-toned arrangement. This concise 4-minute track serves as the appetizer for the full-course buffet that follows.

At the center of ‘Affinity’ are two equally impressive if stylistically diverse epics.

The first of these is the appropriately named 1985. On their prior album ‘The Mountain’ from 2013 a lot of discussion was spurred by their incorporation of “retro” instrumental sounds from the 70s, particularly in the infectious single Cockroach King, which wore the influence of Gentle Giant proudly upon its sleeve. This time out we move forward a decade to the digital 1980s. 1985 conjures up memories of the birth of personal computers, 8-bit video games, boom boxes, MTV and just about every keyboard sound and 80s production element introduced during the first half of the decade. In the press release the band mentions their love of albums like ‘90125’, ‘Toto IV’ and ‘Three Of A Perfect Pair’ (and even though Rush isn’t specifically mentioned their early 80s albums are an obvious inspiration as well).

To their credit, Haken takes these elements and instead of creating a pastiche, they expertly incorporate them into their signature sound. They are just additional colors in an ever-expanding palette. Their ability to liberally borrow sounds from different eras and styles has been apparent since their debut album ‘Aquarius’, but with each successive release it has become more organic in structure and more assured in execution. This maturity has also carried over into the recording studio, ‘Affinity’ is a quantum leap forward in production and sound design, showing that Haken is just as adept at “playing the studio” as they are at their individual instruments. On most albums a track as impressive as 1985 would be the clear highlight…but ‘Affinity’ has more riches to offer……

The second epic is the main course of our buffet and would also serve as an impressive introduction for the uninitiated. By far the heaviest track on the album The Architect is an absolute stunner, a 15-minute tour de force of the power and diversity this band can conjure.

Roughly split into separate movements it begins in muscular technical prog-metal territory, but this isn’t your typical paint-by-numbers variety, this is exciting, driving, heavy music played with passion. The mid-section is absolutely gorgeous, an ambient pad of voices and sound effects provide the backdrop for new bassist Connor Green to take a lyrical, fusion-inspired solo and then the guitars enter playing a gorgeous contrapuntal figure that harkens back to the sound of ‘Discipline’-era King Crimson. The following section increases the intensity with a side-trip into Opeth/Enslaved territory (the melody in this section is reminiscent of The Drapery Falls) and a guest appearance from Einar Solberg from Leprous providing a brief harsh-vocal contribution. It’s an immense arrangement and an impressive achievement.

While these tracks demonstrate the further refinement of the Haken elements we’ve come to know, I think the most exciting aspects of ‘Affinity’ show the band moving forward and expanding their sound into uncharted territory. Tracks like the lovely Lapse and the outward-leaning experimentation of Red Giant are thrilling, thoroughly modern compositions that point the way toward exciting chapters yet to come. They show an increased interest in electronic sounds and atmospherics, yet never venture into cold/clinical territory, remaining warm and inviting throughout.

I have to throw out a special mention to the wonderful mix by Jens Bogren who first came to my attention because of his excellent work with Opeth. His mixes sound HUGE, incredibly powerful without sacrificing any of the intricate detail and that made him the perfect choice for ‘Affinity’.

Easily their most impressive album, ‘Affinity’ solidifies Haken as one of the best bands that modern Prog has to offer and their potential for the future appears limitless.

Released 29th April 2016

Pre-order ‘Affinity’ from Burning Shed

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