Haken
Vector

Haken are the quintessential band unafraid to experiment; if they need to put something strange inside, they do it without any problem where other bands hold back slightly, and they do it without even asking themselves if they are overdoing it or not; and everything seems to work perfectly for them, they manage to fit everything perfectly. I believe this was the aspect that made them stand out among many in the prog Olympus. That said, could we have had doubts about the success of a decidedly heavier turn? Of course not!

Oh yes, this time Haken wanted to make a decidedly heavy album with razor-sharp guitars and almost always sustained and driving rhythms. An album that we will definitely have no trouble labeling; for years we've struggled to understand whether it is more correct to consider Haken a progressive metal band in every respect or perhaps better to consider them a heavy prog band, essentially progressive but with an easy concession to heavy sounds; the band plays with two rather pumped 8-string guitars, but metal doesn't always characterize their compositions and is not always dominant, not always in the foreground, they are not exactly a band for metalheads, let's say; the first album "Aquarius" was actually not typically metal, metal was just like a sponge soaked in tempera that here and there tinged the tracks, raising their intensity; perhaps that's why the prog Bible Progarchives still places them in the "heavy prog" category (prog bands that are characterized by a harder approach compared to the classic prog standard but without reaching the power of progressive metal); however, already from the second album, the metal component became more present, but there was always doubt whether to consider Haken a progressive metal band in all respects.

However, this fifth work leaves no doubt, indeed, we are faced with a truly hard prog-metal album, with references to djent and extreme trends; an album that definitely sucks the listener into a metal vortex as any extreme metal band album could do. To accentuate the metallic shift, they also choose to mimic, in a sense, the format of some historical albums: if with previous albums they had accustomed us to touch 60-70 minutes without problems, here instead we have only 7 tracks for a total of 44 minutes, a duration that definitely screams '80s metal, almost imitating the traditional metal album that must hit hard but not for too long to avoid excessively shattering the listener's eardrums.

But here comes when it comes to a "heavy turn," inevitably the progmetal enthusiast's mind goes straight there... Where? Obvious, to "Train of Thought" by Dream Theater, perhaps the most practical and easy example to cite when talking about hardening the sound; it is impossible that many minds have not gone there, because in fact, the purpose behind it seems to be roughly the same, namely to remove any doubt about "being or not being a metal band," but here the discussion is different; "Train of Thought" emphasized and extremisized the metal component almost overshadowing the more melodic and progressive one, "Vector" instead presents the usual crazy creativity typical of Haken; if "Train of Thought" might seem like an album made for metalheads, the same cannot be said for "Vector"; Diego Tejeida's keyboard work is indeed brilliant, unpredictable, sharp, and sick as always, unlike what happened in the 2003 album where Jordan Rudess's work seemed a little suffocated; heavy, imaginative and sinister electronics impose themselves, making space among the sharp guitars without letting themselves be suffocated by them; indeed, it is precisely with acidic synths and a rather horror atmosphere that the album opens, so we can describe the short introductory "Clear".

So "Vector" is just a continuation in an extreme guise of Haken's compositional flair. An album that drags and enchants at the same time. The strange ideas are certainly not lacking, we all jumped out of our chairs listening to "The Good Doctor," with its pop-funk verses with slap bass and wind inserts and with the extreme naturalness with which it shifts to metallic and electronic blows. The long electronic section of "Puzzle Box" is also very cool, dank and dark, partly reminiscent of Leprous, providing a break before starting with powerful djent bursts. However, the full realization of the album's objective is in the long "Veil": 12 minutes that are an authentic vortex dragging the listener through metallic broadsides, heavy synth inserts, drum rolls, solos, and dragging passages; energy that perhaps not even the long slow part managed to dampen much. A brash side emerges in the instrumental "Nil by Mouth," where extreme metal and heavy electronics intertwine perfectly, an unlikely cross between Meshuggah and Chemical Brothers, a track for both pogo and rave party, although perhaps "The Endless Knot" from the previous album was more so. A weak point of the album is perhaps "A Cell Divides," with its very Leprous-like atmospheres and melodies, effective, yes, but not enough to make one shout at the miracle. However, a track that breaks the album's energy is there, and it's "Host," soft and soft with its almost jazz mood, punctuated by flugelhorn inserts and acoustic touches.

The metallic test of Haken is passed with flying colors. Haken confirms themselves as the prog band of the decade and nothing else can be asked of them.