r/Haken

Hey Haken. If You read this, please keep in mind to do this. The same day You released In a Fever Dream single, my neighbour got ill and died in a few days.

My Little, 2-year Old son got ill right the same day, You released Bleeding Sky. He still fights with the disease.

The same night You released Delirium, I got ill. Now I am lying in my bed, with a strong cough, flu and just before a moment I was nearly transported to the hospital.

This is too much...

So, Please, make next album about being healthy.

I have read tons of negative comments about the new songs and, to be honest my friends, I don't share them at all. I have really enjoyed the new material so far. I point out that I'm far more a proghead than a metalhead, and I also love jazz and classical. So as you might guess, my favorite album is The Mountain and my favorite era is the first albums.

We are almost sure the EP will be one 26 minutes epic without any intermission. So we can consider it as one song, one track. I also feel the two latest singles feel simple and not prog, but as part of the epic, I think it won't feel the same. Imagine listening only to Razors Edge from Octavarium, or Journey to Ithaca from The Odyssey, it might be boring, but inside the complete epic, it's a great experience !

My only hope is that they won't dig the dark atmosphere in the future releases. Metal can be happy too !

Anyway, long like to Haken, the best band since the 2010s !! Cheers from France !

Listen, I get being disappointed by the new Haken material's direction. It certainly wasn't a direction I was hoping for or expecting from the band.

However, the songs are still very enjoyable, well-made, and have a cool mood.

The people on here acting like a 5 song EP (which, by the way, we've only heard 3 songs from -- not including a 7 minute closer) is the end of Haken as a prog band is ridiculous.

Haken have always changed their style from release to release, that's really just how they operate. They went in a simpler, more metal oriented direction with Vector and Virus and then reeled it back in for the widdly-widdly prog on Fauna.

These songs are just an honest and blunt representation of what the guys in the band are feeling in the wake of 2 longtime members departing the band, mere months ago. This is just a fun little experiment while we wait for the next full length LP.

That being said, I'm not saying you have to like this release, but it's weird to act like a brief stylistic departure on an unreleased EP from a band that has consistently been among the best in progressive metal for 15 years spells the end of them being "progressive".

To me, the whole point of being "progressive" is PROGRESSING your sound forward. How is staying rooted in a sound that was made popular by other bands 20+ years ago progressive?

Anyway, that's just my rant. I could be totally wrong on this. I'm interested in what others think.

At the end of the day, we're all one big community just looking to support one of the best progressive acts on the planet!

I’m your average annoying prog listener. I love the Power and the Glory and think Peter Gabriel’s Genesis was better. I am insufferable, I know. My cope for this new EP is that Haken will open for a Sleep Token tour and people will have to listen to them play Cockroach King and Puzzle Box. That is all, thank you for your attention.

like shouldnt it be the opposite way?

a genuine question because i feel like Charlie was the metalhead

"HAKEN have announced that they will release a new EP, in a fever dream, through Inside Out Music as a digital release on July 17 and as a physical CD and vinyl release on September 18.

The band have also shared a video for new song, delerium, which you can watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBv0TLSahW4

“This EP was born from a period of reflection and rediscovery," the band say. "Over the last few years, we’ve faced challenges that forced us to look inward, both as musicians and as people, and the songs on this record are the result of that journey.

"We allowed ourselves to be completely honest in the writing process, digging into real experiences, doubts, and emotions rather than hiding behind them. That vulnerability gave these songs a weight and purpose unlike anything we’ve created before.

"Musically, we pushed ourselves into new territory, embracing fresh influences while holding onto the intensity and identity that define this band. Working with producer George Lever helped us sharpen that vision, and Vada Studios provided the perfect environment to collaborate and bring it to life.

'This EP captures a moment in time of us finding our feet again - moving forward, taking risks, and creating from a place that feels as genuine as we have ever been.”

The core quartet of Ross Jennings, Richard Henshall, Ray Hearne and Peter Jones were joined in the studio by Bryan Beller of The Arisotcrats."

From their post on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/prog/posts/pfbid02o5qXuZe5qfyRbEMf1Cywkq2rLQxkKmQyFAq7E1hE3QVFJUtVYNMTLAxczFQY1gR8l

George Lever worked on Sleep Token’s first two albums, and Adam “Nolly” Getgood is apparently the bassist behind PRESIDENT.
Yes, both of them are currently involved with Haken, although in different roles.
George Lever is the co-producer and mixing engineer for the new EP In A Fever Dream. It’s the first time Haken has worked with an outside producer, and the band themselves said that George helped shape this new sonic direction.
Adam “Nolly” Getgood appears as a guest bassist on part of the EP. Bryan Beller plays bass on some tracks, while Nolly plays on others.
So if you feel that Haken’s new sound is leaning toward those bands, there’s your answer.

... how shall they comfort themselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under their knives: who will wipe this blood off them? What water is there for them to clean themselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall they have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for them? Must they themselves not become more basic simply to appear worthy of it?”

― Friedrich Nietzsche

Let's hope this "newcomers" don't ruin Haken forever :(

Edit: Im trully sorry I didn't want to offend anyone (although I'm angry. at haken, not at you, we'll maybe at some of you, sorry... kind of) and maybe projected my anger with you. I just really hate that because of a lot of people that like, for example, bmth, or metalcore, or the new leprous, the new volael, even the new (not that recent) veil of maya... because of you Haken is changing to appeal to you. And I don't like that!

I grew up in the "emo era" so I unterstand and enjoy emo, and metalcore, and pop goes punk and shit. But i like Haken for a totally different reason Even us who grew up with this emo/pop music can agree that a lot of pop/emo/alternative bands changed all their sound in their new albums just to, lets be honest, make money.

What I meant with all of this is that we can all agree that each and every haken album has changed in style and sound... but we can all agree that this new album isn't like that... that it change to appeal to a larger group of people and changed its sound and style for them, not for the people who actually make the music. So why defend it? Why letting it happen? Why be happy about it?

I don't like Haken's new song Not-Visions, it sounds different from what they've done before. Where's the trademark silliness they always incorporate into their music that formed their sound they've had before this? Like on In Memoriam, Initiate, Host, Endless Knot, and Prosthetic.

They've lost their soul as a band, I'm so disappointed that they're selling out and that they're going to making music exactly like this five-track EP for the next 70 years. What is this poppy nonsense that I would still feel vaguely uncomfortable playing at a house party without context?

Every time they've permanently changed their sound after Visions I've been forced to mourn this band again and again. This isn't my favorite band anymore, I feel so deeply betrayed. In ten years' time I'm positive I'll have this exact same opinion and that I won't look back on my reaction here with any kind of embarrassment.

A prog band needs to play exactly what I want them to and stay in the box they established for themselves 10-15 years ago. Otherwise they are selling out and losing what made them special as creatives always willing to try something new.

Also, creative inspiration from massively popular bands who push your niche to a mass audience on a scale never seen before isn't possible, and sounding similar to them at all in any way can only be a sign of trying to make more money. Exploration and experimentation is to be judged immediately and harshly.

God, I love prog.

Fauna was great and I think Taurus and Island in the Clouds are some of the best songs they have ever created, but so far this EP is shaping up to be amazing and I like Delirium and Bleeding Sky more than every song off Fauna except for Taurus and Island

I know the new songs don’t really sound like the old Haken we all love and are familiar with but the new songs are catchy and refreshing. sometimes when bands play it safe and create songs that sound like stuff theyve done before it can get kinda boring.

these new songs sound like a mixture of virus era songs mixed with radio rock which sounds funny but idk it’s quite catchy and enjoyable to me

Love a track, hate a track, whatever. Just dont be dickheads about it, okay?

If I´ve come off as one myself I deeply and earnestly apologise.

Grant the mods some rest and be civil.

That´s all folks.

Haken is love, Haken is life,

Lucca out.

Cheers!

I can dig the ambience they try to make, and most of the riffs still have that classic "Haken rhythm" for me that no other band can truly emulate (I'm thinking the mountain type riffs). However, the basic song structures are not too interesting and most of it is a lot of repetition without payoff. BUT, and this is a big but, I feel like this album could work a LOT better if listened from start to finish as that is what did the trick for me with fauna as well. I initially didn't like the singles, but the album ended up as my favourite after giving it some time to grow. While I understand that "whacky circus prog" Haken is mostly gone, I don't think this has to be bad. Maybe some of you really dislike fauna as well? I honestly don't know what the consensus around the fanbase is, open to hearing your thoughts!