VISIONS

Haken had totally blown me away on their stunning debut release and Visions is not far behind considering the Sophomore outing the following year, but definitely not as good as Aquarius. This review is after spinning the disc atleast thrice. These guys have added great freshness to the otherwise hackneyed Prog Metal scene. This is among my top 5 albums of 2011. (Arch/ Matheos, Redemption, Steven Wilson - grace for drowning (Great but too much of undue credit), Blotted Science - Animations)

My knowledge on music production even though zilch would say that this album is produced quite well to suit my taste. Can't go wrong when an album is produced poorly.

Deathless is probably my least favourite track as it clocks at around 8 min plus and to me the weakest but still not a bad track.

Premonition, Visions, Nocturnal Conspiracy, Portals, Mind's eye. (5 stars)

Insomnia (a video game sound after 2 min which reminds me of my erstwhile gaming days), Shapeshifter. 4 stars

Its great these guys are not trying to ape any of the other prog metal bands (i.e.Dream theater, etc) and have their own signature tune.

Anyways do yourselves a favour and pick the cd. Disappointing to see this album getting 2 stars from other reviewers.

Cheers from India