Ah bless, do not they appear younger? That is the first actual interview with UK prog metallers Haken that ran in Prog Mag, again in 2010, once they launched their debut album Aquarius.
Everybody loves a excellent luck tale, and Prog is proud to have performed no less than only a tiny section within the liberate of Haken’s debut album Aquarius. So when the South London sextet gave the impression at the loose CD that got here with factor two of this very mag, it added a touch of gasoline to a hearth that used to be already burning brightly.
“We have been already chatting with [Sensory Records],” explains guitarist and keyboard participant Richard Henshall, “however I feel that once they heard Black Seed on Analysis 2 [as Prog‘s then cover CDs were titled] it helped velocity the method up.”
Haken shaped again in 2007 when Henshall and schoolmates Ross Jennings and Matthew Marshall determined to shape a progressively-inclined rock band.
“Our influences are very numerous,” continues Henshall, “ however we additionally grew up loving classic-era prog rock and that’s the tune we determined we would have liked to create, and in addition to make an actual affect with it.”
This the band definitely have executed with Aquarius. Regardless of struggling the lack of Marshall – changed by way of Charles Griffiths – in addition to keyboard participant Peter Jones – since changed by way of Mexican Diego Tejeida, no longer pictured – Aquarius is a surprising piece of labor. In reality sonically it’s nearly a unique band to the person who recorded Haken’s authentic two demos in 2007 and 2008 (which to begin with introduced them to the eye of Prog). Epic, grandiose, melodic and packing a major punch, the band’s ability borders at the precocious, and the execution is jaw-dropping from time to time.
“We recorded the album one after the other and taken the entire bits in combination with the exception of the drums,” explains Griffiths. “The ones we recorded at Monster Trax studios in Chiswick. After which we despatched it over to be combined and mastered in Germany.”
The outcome is without doubt one of the maximum spectacular prog debuts from a tender UK band you’ll have heard for a minimum of a decade. It sounds excellent, and it seems to be excellent too. “The paintings used to be executed by way of Dennis Sibeijn at Damnengine,” explains MacLean. “He’s labored with Chimaira and 3. We would have liked one thing to tie in with the idea that of the album.”
Which is? “It’s two-fold,” explains vocalist Ross Jennings, who writes the entire lyrics. “To begin with it’s about how water flows, from the begin to its final conclusion, which used to be an concept I were given from chatting with Richard’s spouse. After which that ties in with the extra central theme, which is ready a person who discovers a mermaid. The one downside is that the minute I’d get a hold of that storyline and we’d written and recorded the fabric, we discovered in the market’s a movie popping out with Colin Farrell [Ondine] that just about has the similar tale as Aquarius. However I did get a hold of the speculation first, fair [Er, think you’re forgetting Hans Christian Anderson, Splash, etc – mermaid Ed].”
Having already supported the likes of Riverside, King’s X and Bigelf, Haken take their aquatic, prog adventures out at the street later this yr. They actually are one prog trip you’d be a idiot to leave out.
