HAKEN, one of progressive music’s most exciting bands, release their much-anticipated fifth studio album titled ‘Vector’ today. The album was produced by the band themselves, and recorded & mixed by Adam ‘Nolly’ Getgood (Periphery, Devin Townsend Project), with the artwork once again being handled by Blacklake.
The album has been receiving fantastic reactions, a few of which you can find below:
“heart-stopping hails of metallic riff bullets, dizzying instrumental and rhythmic complexity, alongside an intriguing lyrical tale.” – Prog Magazine
“Bewildering, impressive and satisfying, all at the same time.” – The Prog Report
“one of the more exciting and engaging prog albums put out so far this year.” – Metal Wani
The band recently released a video for the track ‘A Cell Divides’, watch that now here: https://youtu.be/XNT_9mmQaS8
The band previously released a video for the track ‘Puzzle Box’ which you can see here: https://youtu.be/2oCD4Wk1bwo
Watch the video for the album’s first single ‘The Good Doctor’ here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BD3v8w57_lU
HAKEN will embark on an epic tour starting next week in North America, and the band recently announced South American & European tour dates for 2019. Find the full list of confirmed dates below:
Haken & Leprous with Bent Knee:
October 30th – The Crofoot Ballroom, Pontiac, MI
October 31st– Opera House, Toronto, ON
November 1st – Astral, Montreal, QC
November 2nd– Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA
November 3rd – Highline Ballroom, New York, NY
November 4th – The Sinclair, Boston, MA
November 6th – Soundstage, Baltimore, MD
November 7th – Cat’s Cradle, Carrboro, NC
November 8th – The Orpheum, Tampa, FL
November – 9th Revolution, Fort Lauderdale, FL
November 10th – The Plaza Live, Orlando, FL
November 11th – Variety Playhouse, Atlanta, GA
November 13th – Gas Monkey, Dallas, TX
November 14th – Barracuda, Austin, TX
November 16th - Crescent Ballroom, Phoenix, AZ
November 17th – Glasshouse, Pomona, CA
November 18th – August Hall, San Francisco, CA
November 19th – Hawthorne Theatre, Portland, OR
November 20th – The Crocodile, Seattle, WA
November 21st – Rickshaw Theater, Vancouver, BC
November 23rd – Metro Music Hall, Salt Lake City, UT
November 24th – Bluebird Theater, Denver, CO
November 25th – Granada Theater, Lawrence, KS
November 26th – Delmar Hall, St Louis, MO
November 27th – Exit/In, Nashville, TN
November 29th – Rex Theater, Pittsburgh, PA
November 30th – Beachland Ballroom, Cleveland, OH
December 1st – Bottom Lounge, Chicago, IL
Latin America 2019
26th January – Teatro Teleton, Santiago, Chile
27th January – Groove, Buenos Aires, Argentina
29th January – Caricoa Club, Sao Paolo, Brazil
30th January – Auditorio Centro De La Amistad Peruano China, Lima, Peru
1st February – Lunar, Mexico City, Mexico
Europe 2019
15th February – Academy 3, Manchester, UK
16th February – St Luke’s, Glasgow, UK
17th February – The Fleece, Bristol, UK
19th February – Essigfabrik, Cologne, Germany
20th February – Batschkapp, Frankfurt, Germany
21st February – Übel & Gefährlich, Hamburg, Germany
22nd February – Lille Vega, Copenhagen, Denmark
23rd February – John Dee, Oslo, Norway
24th February – Debaser Strand, Stockholm, Sweden
26th February – Columbia Theater, Berlin, Germany
27th February – Kwadrat, Krakow, Poland
28th February – A38, Budapest, Hungary
2nd March – Szene, Vienna, Austria
3rd March – Futurum, Prague, Czech Republic
4th March – Conne Island, Leipzig, Germany
6th March – Im Wizemann, Stuttgart, Germany
7th March – Backstage Halle, Munich, Germany
8th March – Kiff, Aarau, Switzerland
9th March – Magazzini Generali, Milan, Italy
10th March – Transbordeur, Lyon, France
12th March – Mon Live, Madrid, Spain
13th March – Kafe Antzokia, Bilbao, Spain
14th March – La Maroquinerie, Paris, France
15th March – De Boerderij, Zoetermeer, Netherlands
16th March – Islington Assembly Hall, London, UK
23rd March – Tavastia, Helsinki, Finland
Full ticket details as well as all upcoming dates can be found here: https://www.hakenmusic.com/tour
‘Vector’ is available as Limited edition 2CD Mediabook (including instrumental versions of the album tracks), as Gatefold vinyl 2LP + CD, as Standard CD Jewelcase & as digital download.
Order now here: www.insideoutmusicshop.com
To celebrate the announcement of the new album, the band ran a competition for one lucky fan’s artwork to be etched into the fourth side of the vinyl version of the record. They invited people to submit their own version of the Rorshach test ink-blot which graces the album cover, and the winner was revealed as Shakoor Bukhuth aka SHAUN BEYOND.
Since their inception in 2007, Haken have shown over four previous studio albums, one EP and a live release that they never stand still, merely satisfied to rely on past triumphs. Rather, Haken always look for ways to challenge themselves as musicians and artists, and also to keep the listeners on their collective toes. “We don't like to make simple music,” laughs vocalist Ross Jennings. “We always aim to defy expectations, and I believe we've surpassed what we aimed to achieve with our new album.”
Their fifth studio record sees the band going in a heavier direction with the music. “We’ve always had a heavy influence”, explains guitarist Charlie Griffiths, “but it was obvious from the riffs that were naturally coming out of us early in the writing process that this would be a more metal album. These are some of the most riff-driven songs we’ve ever written.” As is usual, Haken produced the album themselves, but for the first time they have enlisted Adam 'Nolly' Getgood during the recording and mixing stages. Formerly bassist with Periphery, in the last couple of years he has built a reputation as a fine producer. “We produced the album ourselves, as we always do,” insists Jennings. “But we're fans of what Adam has done with Periphery, Sikth and Devin Townsend. He has a great reputation for the heavier end of our genre”.
But if this album is musically heavy, then there's an underlying theme running through the seven songs which is certainly esoteric and fascinating. “The scene is set with the track The Good Doctor, which was a really fun song. Musically it feels like a logical step from 'Affinity', but lyrically it’s a bit more theatrical and about as ‘rock opera’ as Haken has ever got”, explains Griffiths. “It’s about a Doctor with an intriguing, perhaps sinister interest in a particular patient. From there the story enters the point-of-view of the patient - who appears to be catatonic, but his mind is sparking with what could be memories, or delusions brought on by the treatment he’s receiving - we leave this up to the listeners to decide. Although we don’t want to give too much away, people who are familiar with our back catalogue will have fun discovering further clues we’ve planted throughout the album. And that's the challenge for the fans – to find out for themselves their own meaning for 'Vector' as an album”.
HAKEN online:
www.hakenmusic.com
www.twitter.com/Haken_Official
http://www.facebook.com/HakenOfficial
INSIDEOUT MUSIC online:
www.insideoutmusic.com
www.youtube.com/InsideOutMusicTV
www.facebook.com/InsideOutMusic
www.twitter.com/InsideOutUSA
www.insideoutmusicshop.com
INSIDEOUTMUSIC Spotify Playlist:
http://spotify.com/progrockessentials
