AFFINITY

Haken is a band that take the best of the Progressive Metal music and add their own special twist to it. There is an infectious groove to the complex musical structures of their music. In this new cd, the band decided to let every musician take part to the writing process, which gives the album more variety. The band has been inspired by 80's music, especially obvious in the song "1985" where you'll recognize the 80's keyboards sound, some electronic drums, but also some djent metal. But the highlight of this cd is the epic "The Architect" that display many atmospheres from quiet keyboards lines to heavy guitar riffs. The band goes from a symphonic Dream Theater style to a King Crimson guitar sound where every instrument has the space to shine including some tasty bass lines. The second part of the album contains more atmospheric songs with post-rock/metal ambiance where you see the band incorporated the new technology tools to make the music sound modern. Sometimes the heavy parts don't flow naturally with the quieter parts, left you to wonder where the melody is heading, but overall there is a lot of cohesion in this work. I am not sure that this one is better from previous albums, maybe lacking a bit of consistency from one song to the other, but that what's can happen when you let everyone taking part of the writing. Still a four stars, because it's still Haken!