Haken

Haken begins their tour in LA on February 10th. Haken plans a three-hour, two-set show.  Haken will play their entire Fauna album, plus cuts from every album, including "Crystallized" from their Restoration EP.  I got tickets to the Fort Worth Show.

I adore the way Ross Jennings varies his vocals. On Fauna, the entire band contributed to vocal melodies.  They had a portable microphone. If a band member had an idea, he'd ask for the microphone and then hum/sing the melody and Ross would interpret the vocal epiphany.  Haken seems like a band that is having fun making music. I'm a fan girl. 

Is this the dawning of the Age of Aquarius or is it just a song by the 5th Dimension? No one knows for sure when the Age of Aquarius begins or ends. Even astrologers disagree on when the Aquarian age will start or whether it's already started. One thing we do know for sure though is that a Zodiacal Age (or Great Year) lasts precisely 2,160 years, in line with Earth's precession through the twelve signs of the zodiac. Having said that, I have just one Earth year to listen to every artist (including Haken) on my Heavy Prog Britannia playlist during the course of next year. I can honestly say I've never listened to a Haken album in full, but I have Visions of discovering many exciting Heavy Prog artists I've never heard before. I know there's The Mountain to climb in listening to everything, but I have an Affinity for Heavy Prog anyway, so it promises to be a fun ride, especially when you Vector in the fact that I've enjoyed listening to many Heavy Prog bands in the past, including Anathema, Budgie, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Uriah Heep and Wishbone Ash (only one of which is officially listed as Heavy Prog by the way). Anyway, getting back to Haken, you may be interested to know that their 2020 Virus album had nothing whatsoever to do with the coronavirus outbreak, being purely coincidental, and that the concept and inspiration behind Haken's latest album Flora was Philip K. Dick's Blade Runner. 

                 2010: Haken - Aquarius - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_k8_DcNjoF489-og0MXNkPuFBFl8nnXfNI

                 2011: Haken - Visions - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DO61NWKkyWQ

                 2013: Haken - The Mountain - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mgkHPkfiUG8S1GwHX2K2kZZx6pEOQc6o0

                 2016: Haken - Affinity - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mHvCMb92d3-SC9QTGqOegM-XIelynWUl0

                 2018: Haken - Vector - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mGtomGb1wIdcCwjFcFcHYF1iRFARdxABU

                 2020: Haken - Virus - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mGxPNqWtfO9Ye4SkYt0OCMcl4e5hlC53w

                 2023: Haken - Fauna - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_n3MH22VZiqsbAngUvSI2hZ9EnuUmTdQW8

                 * Album ratings to follow 

Yes, that'd be the obvious follow-up. 

EDIT: And I wonder how you get to "soulless" ... I think you mean the "emo" aspect of Anathema which is absent in Haken. But listen again to this track and explain to me how it lacks soul: