It was 10 years ago, after two albums’ worth of traversing the progressive metal terrain in the footsteps of DREAM THEATER and KING CRIMSON, when the UK-based prog-metal 6-piece, HAKEN, had finally honed their signature style to the level that cemented the fact they were a unique progressive force to be reckoned with. Their third studio album, “The Mountain,” released on September 2nd, 2013, via InsideOut Music, introduced us to a selection of eight songs that, while being tangibly influenced by the prog of the 1970s – GENTLE GIANT, in particular – threw in a good deal of novel influences, from ambient to jazz to synthpop and even a bit of glitch-hop drums on “Because It’s There.” The album still had ample material for some serious headbanging, but was leaning perhaps a tad more prominently toward neo-prog with jazzy flourishes, haunting choir arrangements, and plenty of horns. Plus, it came with the career-defining track, “Cockroach King,” which incorporated practically all of the band’s most idiosyncratic quirks, or Hakenisms, if you will, in a single song: acrobatic riffs, psychedelic keyboards, those fantastic multilayered barbershop vocals, and the overall circus-music-gone-rogue vibe. Better yet, this 8-track blitzkrieg of eccentric prog maintained a perfect balance between the heaviest and the softest tracks the band had thus far created, hence demonstrating that HAKEN had finally lived up to the promise shown on their earlier albums.
The album opens with a stripped-down, almost hymn-like “The Path.” The song could fit any hipster-indie selection quite effortlessly and it doesn’t really prepare you for the quantum-prog onslaught that is to come. The first-degree mindfuck, “Atlas Stone,” rolling out next, does resonate thick with a somewhat ANATHEMA-like aura, at first. Soon, the progressive plot thickens substantially though; it seems that most of the song is in straight-up triplet meter but, on occasion, it sure does sound far more twisted and off-kilter, so I guess there are all kinds of tricks hidden along the way, something to the effect of alternating between 11/8 and 10/8 most likely. Yet, the band makes this full-tilt prog boogie sound natural – maybe not danceable exactly, but groovy as hell.
The third track is that aforementioned “Cockroach King,” a song that has become a sort of epitome of the band’s trademark prog antics; it is really quite an everything bagel, even in the band’s hauntingly diverse repertoire, to the effect of being a cross between GENTLE GIANT and SYSTEM OF A DOWN. It was my gateway drug into the band’s music and I guess I’m not the only one. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what it was that won me over; perhaps it had something to do with the delicate balance between headbanging riffs and those wild circus-music breaks, like those fantastic barbershop vocals, which have since become a staple in the band’s bag of tricks and work wonders on stage especially. Then, being something of a jazz aficionado myself, I always find it awesome when prog and metal bands incorporate authentic-sounding jazz moments in their songs.
“In Memoriam” is a kind of reprise of the aesthetics of “Atlas Stone,” albeit with the prog screw turned a good notch tighter: the riffs bounce to and fro mostly in a septuple meter. Yet, on this track, the metal riffs bite particularly hard. The way vocalist Ross Jennings sings those beautiful, unhurried melodies on top of those riff origamis is somewhat similar to Mike Vennart‘s vocal contributions to a good few OCEANSIZE outings.
Then, it’s time for something completely different. “Because It’s There” is a peculiar track: it kicks off with a choir section but, after a minute or so, evolves into a somewhat pop-tinted indie-rock piece, albeit one with glitchy beats and vocal layers galore. In effect, the song serves as the calm before the storm – the thing is, it is followed by “Falling Back to Earth,” a 12-minute prog-metal epic with all the band’s signature mind tricks. The song rolls out a royal flush of frantic oddball riffs, then calms down for a cinematic plateau of a tad more ambient sort, slowly increasing intensity and distortion in order to end things on a heavier note.
To balance things out, “As Death Embraces” is an ethereal ballad of sorts. I’m not exactly a fan of ballads but this song falls into the category of ”bearable” and with the length just barely clocking over 3 minutes, it does not overstay its welcome. Perhaps a breather of this sort is in order, at this point, because “Pareidolia,” in turn, is another lengthy brain-twister – an 11-minute extravaganza of pitch-perfect prog excellence. The wild klezmer-like riffs around the 3-and-a-half-minute mark are particularly delicious, what with almost side-stepping into the no-holds-barred craziness of MR. BUNGLE‘s insane “Ars Moriendi.” HAKEN have probably never been a stranger to frantic messing around with different time signatures within the time span of a single song, but in this track, the changes sound particularly wicked – and cool. Again, the prog overkill is evened out as “Somebody” traverses more tranquil waters for its gargantuan length of 9 minutes – and it is then followed by a brief piano-driven reprise of the opener, entitled “The Path Unbeaten.”
The album is brought to a close with yet another prog ballad, “Nobody,” a song that incorporates the band’s signature sound quite spotlessly despite being a good deal less frantic in terms of crazy riffs and wild metric modulations. For one thing, these few songs of a more downtempo-ish approach brought attention to the fact that the band showed signs of having matured a good deal, not only in terms of versatility and compositions, but also regarding the lyrics that resonated with a tad more personal touch.
Overall, “The Mountain” proved a landmark album for HAKEN, showcasing such a level of intensity, diversity, and depth of immersion that the ripples it sent out to the world of progressive rock can still be felt today. Songs such as “Cockroach King” and “Pareidolia” became staples in the band’s live shows, with the former becoming THE song in the band’s whole back catalog that first pops to your mind when someone brings up the name, HAKEN. While the band’s influences could still be heard through the music, on this album they finally found their signature sound, that unique approach to prog which they have since further honed to perfection.
Written by Jani Lehtinen
Tracklist
- The Path
- Atlas Stone
- Cockroach King
- Because It’s There
- Falling Back to Earth
- As Death Embraces
- Pareidolia
- Somebody
Lineup
Ross Jennings – lead vocals
Richard Henshall – guitars, keyboards, backing vocals
Charlie Griffiths – guitars, backing vocals, keyboards
Thomas MacLean – bass, backing vocals
Diego Tejeida – keyboards, sound design, second voice on track 8
Raymond Hearne – drums, percussion, cimbasso, tuba, backing vocals
Additional musicians:
Joey ‘Dah Lipz’ Ryan – french horn
Matthew Lewis – trombone
Barry Clemens – bass trombone
Label
InsideOut Music
