Modern/New Prog - Album Reviews

Haken is one of those bands that becomes better with each record, and this is their masterpiece. Musically, I think this is a concept album (which I’ll go into later), though I don’t know if it has a story. Whatever, it’s a great album and I recommend to all. 

The album begins with the bombastic “Prosthetic”, a mainly instrumental track with just two distorted verses, and a few rounds of choruses. I think this is Virus’s overture, some of the structures, if not exact riffs, are repeated later on. It demonstrates Haken’s powers of musicianship immediately, imaginative riffing, various motifs, and – believe or not, a catchy chorus! I can actually remember the words! Anyway, an eye-opening opener. 

Next, solo vocals accompanied by a synth begin “Invasion”. More imaginative riffing, but with a (only slightly) more conventional structure (verse-chorus-verse-chorus-middle section-verse-instumental-verse-chorus-instrumental). Don’t let that turn you away, hardcore proggers! This is the first proper song on Virus, begins things nicely for the vocals, and is another top-notch track.  

Nothing compared, perhaps, to what’s coming. “Carousel” opens quietly, but gets louder quite quickly, and that’s all I’ll say. The song boasts complex structure, idiosyncratic time signatures, some of the best playing yet and an epic accomplishment altogether. Talking of the word “epic”, this song really is the first epic – anything you might want in a song is here. That’s all you need to know; if you buy it/have just bought it this one to look out for. 

“Strain” begins with a fairly quiet guitar riff that, like “Carousel”, becomes loud.  It pretty much sticks to this all through the song, which is almost like an aftermath to “Carousel” (and if this really is a concept album, it probably is about a strain of a/the virus). It reminds me of another band I reviewed recently for the modern/new prog blog, Taskaha (not yet listed on PA), featuring hard rock but a very dramatic, emotional side to it.  

Taskaha are a fairly new band from Norway, who have recently released their self-titled debut album. As it happens, according to Google translate, Taskaha means nothing in Norweigan, although does mean “treasures” in Somali. But I’ll get on. 

“Mind Date” begins the album with a heavy guitar riff, which goes on for a while before it breaks down (partially, there are still drums) and the first lyrics ensue. I’ll say no more, except that it is complex, professional (the guitar is especially advanced – note the guitar solo specifically), and imaginative – a great quality that seems to be so abundant with new bands/artists today. Being different and imaginative in music is what made bands like Genesis famous. 

Next up, “Nature Girl”. Opening with a soft electric guitar riff and fairly quiet vocals, when I first heard this song it had a strange sense of foreboding at the beginning of it – and I was right, it continues with a heavy riff worthy of prog metal. Dark and emotional, this song has the usual qualities of neo prog – but it has elements of the band’s own style too, a very good sign, since if a band has not got it’s own sound it won’t go very far.  

After “Nature Girl” ends with a bang, “Reframe!” begins with a bang – with one of the best riffs on the album. Don’t quite know what it is, but this magnificent song really brings me back to the 80s – it's a masterpiece, I’m serious. If this was the 80s, this would have been a hit, I’m sure – not in the way of “Sussudio”, more in the way of “Lavender Blue”, it’s not a pop song, it’s just great. No other way of describing it. 

“Daylight’s Fading” is another very powerful song. It, like all long neo songs I’ve ever heard, is emotionally varied, soft sometimes and hard at points, dramatic, and feels like you’ve heard all the music in the world at the end. It is the magnum opus of the album – not necessarily the greatest song on the album (“Reframe!” takes that honour), but it the most complex musical achievement – and a great song besides – and a guitar solo to match “Mind Date”, the other opus of the album. 

The final song, “Invisible”, makes a change – opening with acoustic rather than electric guitar (though, mind you, so does “Daylight’s Fading”). It is as complex and multi-layered as the other songs on the album – if not more so. In fact, it’s a bit too complex – I can barely describe it, though it has yet another excellent guitar solo – that eventually becoming a riff, that ends the song and the album. All else I can say is... it’s a good ender, but lacks the urgency and emotions of the rest of the album. 

My conclusion: I was very tempted to give the album five stars, but resisted. My requirements for a five star album: 

1. 1. The songs must all be excellent.  

2. 2. It must work brilliantly as an album. 

3. 
   

Number one is perfect – though “Invisible” is perhaps not quite as good as the others. Number two – a little like Terraformer by Thank You Scientist, the music is so complex and imaginative that it gets a bit much. Not that that’s a bad thing, it just is an imperfection (since some will not appreciate over-complicated music – even in the world of prog) – and knocks off a star therefore. 

However, this is a very promising album in general – and Taskaha, I must say, are very promising band in general. I’ve heard material by classic prog bands that is not up to their standards. They are also very talented musicians – the guitar is superb, it really is – and even better, the guitarist has his own style of playing, just like some of the best players (Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Peter Green, etc.) and the singing is also to be noted – it must be difficult enough singing well, let alone in not your first language. Like I said, very promising, I expect even better on their next album, and I've really enjoyed listening to this one.

And as I sometimes like to say at the end of a review: The final verdict is... four stars! 

[End of Review]