VISIONS

I consider this album as a Conceptual Prog Metal Masterpiece, it has all the conditions for it. It means, once you open your mind to the whole album, quite rare sounds or strange harmonies are starting to call your attention. With such a contagious voice, they help you to stand listening more and more. As your curiosity ask for you to continue listening to it, then you feel more interested and start to enjoy more and more that new melodies. A few listenings ago, you become a slave of these concept album.

Haken has divided this "Visions" masterpiece in a 8-tracks album, chained one track after another as one single story. Yo can enjoy listening to a single track, but you will be surprised if you listen to the whole album.

Knowing how to increase or decrease the speed, and handling stress moments withd calms and different parts of the songs and in different parts of the album, their music and technique is very oriented to modern Prog Metal style, nearly Symphonic I would add. Their Piano parts and high production keyboards parts reminds me to the LOTR soundtracks in many parts of the album. These is something that many users has criticize because they fill the album with a huge production of different sounds. Anyway, If you adore dark and pretty atmospheres, with real progmetal beautifull guitar solos, all embedded in one story, then you will adore this album.

Musicians are very well combined and it seems that the idea of compositions is very defined. I see in Haken a good and different mix in this style that has helped them to become unique: A prog metal music with a kind of beautifull Grunge Voice.

If I have something to criticize about ProgMetal gods (like Dream Theater) is that their idea changes a lot in different band life moments (half decades?). However, Haken has defined and emphasized even more their compositions in their second album. I love the way that a band continues beeing the same band in terms of melodies and compositions manners, but surprisingly they achieve to get you like best. It´s like "If you want to convince me with your music, respect what you are doing because I love it :) and continue in the same style and form, don´t change please"

Let´s see if they continue surprising.