VISIONS

--------------------------------- 3.85/5------------------------------------------ 'Insomnia 'promises so much but fails to deliver all those promises. Having said that it is quite above your average prog metal album. It is also a great improvement from their previous album 'Aquarius'. Haken combine keyboard dominated heavy rock with influences of jazz. The keyboard work is really praiseworthy. At times Haken's music is simply majestic which prove that there is enough talent on show but (I call it arrogance) at times it is hard to stay focused with so much going on with their sound and you get lost. Bass playing and drumming are descent but Ross Jennings' vocal still needs improvement. If Haken can work on these flaws and concentrate a little more on songwriting and lyrical content (too cheesy at times) there is no telling how good this band really can be. Talking about this album, it opens up with a descent opening track 'Premonition'. 'Nocturnal Conspiracy' follows the opening which is one of the stands out song of this album along with 'Insomnia' and 'Portals'. While 'Nocturnal conspiracy' showcases band's ability to build up a song from a slow mellow start into a more darker and heavy tune, the other two start with killer keyboard leads and just keep on delivering goods until the end. I just love the way the song 'Nocturnal Conspiracy builds up and find it one of the best written song by the band. Apart from these, the songs 'Deathless' and 'Mind's Eye' are slower more catchy songs which are good enough and 'Shapeshifter' doesn't harm the album as well. But one song that I wish was not in this album is 22 minutes final track 'Visions' which is tooooo long. It becomes unbearable at times. The song contains the entire element that Haken have been able to do all the goods and bads including killer keyboard playing, continuous drumrolls and great drumming yet its length hinders the song. Yes this is a good progressive album and considering the improvement the band have shown from the previous album, I' really looking forward to their next work.