AQUARIUS

Haken's debut offers a blend of extremely proggy rock and metal. This isn't a progressive metal album in the typical sense; it's a blend of technical prog with that "tripping over itself" feel and some sections of metal with harsh vocals. The instrumentation is eclectic, as seen in the second track, Streams. The song switches from carefree prog featuring a xylophone, to middle-eastern strings, to a simple piano melody, and to death growls ushered in by ominous organs, then returning again to clean vocals with some strings before closing. The rest of the album is slower and more atmospheric, but is still excellent. Aquarius manages to entertain on many levels and create an album that is progressive in multiple ways. An incredibly strong debut album, it hints at great things to come from this band.

Rating: 8/10