VISIONS

Haken. These young British prog revolutionized the scene with her debut Aquarius in 2010, and a year later released their sequence, a strong album, less eccentric and more mature and focused.

However, it is inferior.

Any impact I felt when listening to Aquarius was not shared here. And if I'm taking a star of this album is because it is less impressive than I thought it was, despite the evidence (and its current ranking on the site) suggest otherwise.

Haken also offers healthy doses of progressive metal combined with various symphonic passages (the use of orchestrations at times is a plus) and references to the sound of other bands. Dream Theater would be the obvious reference (the piano on the title track takes me back to The Dance of Eternity), but if there is one thing that this band deserves to be praised is his unerring combination of diverse influences and originality.

Yes, there are highlights here deserves a mention. In addition to orchestrations can cite the lack of growls (something I really hated in his debut) and two songs are among the highlights of the year: the instrumental Portals and the title track, an epic amazing. The other songs sadly pale beside these two, but here and there are stunning moments. But nothing that could raise my rating for this album can be glorified as a masterpiece.

It is unfortunate that Visions is smaller than I thought. Where Aquarius was eclectic and somehow original, this one is straight, concise, one-dimensional. Just another work of progressive metal - and there are better works out there.

4 stars.

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