Haken (band)

Haken
Haken live in Bologna in 2017.
Left to right: Charles Griffiths, Diego Tejeida, Ross Jennings, Ray Hearne, Conner Green, and Richard Henshall.
Background information
Origin London, England, United Kingdom
Genres
Years active 2007 (2007)–present
Labels
Associated acts
Website HAKEN - The Official Website
Members Ross Jennings
Richard Henshall
Raymond Hearne
Charles Griffiths
Diego Tejeida
Conner Green
Past members Thomas MacLean
Matthew Marshall
Peter Jones

Haken (/ˈheɪkən/)[1] is a London-based progressive metal band formed in 2007.

As of 2018, Haken has released a total of five studio albums, an EP and a live album.

Biography

Haken performing live in 2009. From left to right: Henshall, Jennings, Hearne, and Thomas MacLean.

Haken was formed in 2007 by To-Mera guitarist and keyboardist Richard Henshall and his two school friends Ross Jennings (vocals) and Matthew Marshall (guitar).[2][3] The band completed their lineup with a keyboardist they met on an online forum, Peter Jones, Jones' close friend and drummer Raymond Hearne, and To-Mera guitarist Thomas MacLean became the band's bassist.[2] Henshall mentioned on some occasions that "Haken" was the name of a fictional character he and some friends came up with in their school days, under the influence of alcohol[1] or weed.[4]

They recorded a demo in 2007 that contained two tracks, "Snow" and "Souls". With the demo they began to play small live venues in London, with some good response. In 2008 they then recorded four more songs, "Manifolds", "Blind", "Sleeping Thoughts Wake" and "Black Seed", and released a full-length demo including all six existing tracks.

Later in 2008, Marshall and Jones left the band to pursue other careers. Charlie Griffiths, the guitarist for the band Linear Sphere and Anchorhead became a full-time member of the band. Griffiths parted ways with Linear Sphere because he wanted to go in a different direction musically. Mexican keyboardist Diego Tejeida auditioned and eventually joined the band in late 2008 as well. As they began to tour more, even opening a few UK shows for King's X,[3] Sensory Records recognized them and offered them a record deal. They began recording for their debut album, Aquarius, soon after, and it was released in March 2010.[5]

Haken released their second album, Visions, in October 2011. On 20 June 2013 Haken announced their new album, The Mountain, which was released on 2 September by InsideOut Music.[6] The album was mixed and mastered by Jens Bogren.[7]

On 25 September 2013, Haken announced that Tom MacLean would be leaving the band after completing the Prog Stage Festival in Israel in October 2013.[8] After a series of auditions, he was replaced by Indiana-born musician Conner Green.[9]

Haken performing at the 2014 Ino Rock Festival.

Via Facebook they revealed the release date for their first EP, Restoration, which was set for 27 October 2014.[10] The EP contains three reworked tracks from their 2008 demo, Enter the 5th Dimension.[10] Darkest Light, a reworked version of Blind, was released with a music video featuring footage from the recording process of Restoration on 24 September.[11] Shortly before, the band had already announced (also via Facebook) that they had started to write for their fourth album.[12]

On 9 February 2016, a press release along with a micro site called Haken OS 4.0.1 was released with information of the upcoming new album Affinity, which was released via InsideOut on 29 April 2016.[13] Before it, a long series of teasers had been posted by the band, jokingly referring to the new album as Verbatim.[14]

The official music video for lead single 'Initiate' was released online on 18 March 2016.[15]

The band began to tour with former Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy and Neal Morse Band guitarist Eric Gillette in 2017, performing the Twelve-step Suite in its entirety (among other Dream Theater songs), the outfit named Mike Portnoy's Shattered Fortress.

On 13 April 2018, the band announced the release of their first ever live album, titled 'L-1VE' and scheduled for release on the 22nd June 2018. The live album was recorded and filmed on the 13th April 2017, at the legendary Melkweg venue on the Amsterdam stop during their 10th anniversary tour. The live audio was mixed by Neal Morse & The Winery Dogs alumni Jerry Guidroz[16].

According to their official website, the band have also revealed they have started to work on their fifth studio album[16]:

We're currently getting our teeth stuck into the writing process for Album 5 and great ideas are forming and evolving as we speak. It's still early days but there is a sense among us that Haken may take a darker path with this one. However, the playing field is still wide open and the direction this record takes could alter at any point. One thing is certain: We will endeavour to stick to our mandate of strong melodies and Killer riffs!

On 11 May 2018, a live video of the song "In Memoriam" was released on Inside Out Music's official youtube channel. The song is included on their upcoming live album "L-1VE". The video features the band performing in Amsterdam[17] during their 10th Anniversary Tour in 2017.

Drummer Raymond Hearne announced on 28 May 2018, through his official Instagram page, that he started tracking drums for their upcoming fifth album at The Cryptic Studio with longtime collaborator Anthony Leung and also ex-Periphery bassist Adam 'Nolly' Getgood[18].

On 21 June, after an interview with Sonic Perspectives, the drummer also stated that the band's fifth album will be out by the end of 2018, as well as exploring the possibility of doing tours over Japan or Asia as a whole and even South America.[19].

Publicity and reception

Haken has been featured on the Classic Rock Magazine subsidiary "Classic Rock Presents Prog" a few times. At first, the magazine presented a song from the first Haken demo on their free CD.[20] They have opened for a few notable progressive outfits, such as King's X and Bigelf.[20] The band's debut album has received positive reviews from Allmusic,[5] ProgArchives[21] and Classic Rock Magazine.

Band members

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

Live albums

  • L-1VE (2018)
  • L+1VE (2018)

Demos

  • Enter the 5th Dimension (2008)[22]

References

  1. 1 2 Schetter, Michael (11 August 2011). "Haken/To-Mera interview with Richard Henshall and Tom MacLean". ProgSphere. Sankt Goarshausen. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  2. 1 2 Eduardo Rivadavia. "Haken | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
  3. 1 2 "HAKEN (hakenmusic) on Myspace". Myspace.com. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
  4. ↑ Francis, Basil. "Haken (Richard Henshall)". Dutch Progressive Rock Page. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  5. 1 2 Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Allmusic: Aquarius (overview)". Allmusic. Retrieved 18 August 2010.
  6. ↑ "Time to share: The Mountain! Out 2.9.13". Twitter. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
  7. ↑ "Haken Get Ready To Tackle The Mountain". Prog Magazine. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
  8. ↑ "Haken Part Ways With Bassist! - News - Prog Magazine". Web.archive.org. 25 September 2013. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
  9. ↑ "Haken announcing new bassist". Facebook. 8 March 2014. Retrieved 8 March 2014.
  10. 1 2 Martin, Kielty (8 September 2014). "Haken detail Restoration EP". Prog. Team Rock Limited. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
  11. ↑ "HAKEN | Darkest Light video released | HAKEN". Hakenmusic.com. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
  12. ↑ "Facebook post". Haken's official Facebook page. Facebook. 8 September 2014. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
  13. ↑ "HAKEN OS v4.0.1". Web.archive.org. 12 February 2016. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
  14. ↑ "Facebook". Facebook. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
  15. ↑ "Haken - Initiate (Official Video)". YouTube. 2016-03-18. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
  16. 1 2 "HAKEN announce 'L-1VE' album & work on next studio album". Hakenmusic.com. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
  17. ↑ "HAKEN - In Memoriam (OFFICIAL VIDEO - Live in Amsterdam)". YouTube. 11 May 2018. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
  18. ↑ "Ray Hearne on Instagram: "Epic first day at @thecryptstudio with the one and only @nollyggd, @josefatorresphotography and the unstoppable Anthony Leung.…"". Instagram. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
  19. ↑ "HAKEN's Ray Hearne: "Our 5th Album Will Be Out By the End of the Year"". Sonicperspectives.com. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
  20. 1 2 "Track Of The Day: Haken". Classic Rock Magazine. 15 April 2010. Retrieved 2010-08-17.
  21. ↑ Atavachron, David. "HAKEN music, discography, MP3, videos and reviews". Prog Archives. Retrieved 18 August 2010.
  22. ↑ "Discover our music | HAKEN". Hakenmusic.com. 2014-10-15. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
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