Haken

Haken originated in London as a progressive rock outfit whose initial recordings, beginning with the 2010 album Aquarius, adhered closely to prog-metal conventions before broadening into an eclectic fusion of prog metal, jazz fusion, electronic pop, and anthemic rock on the 2013 release The Mountain. The group incorporated pronounced new-wave textures throughout Affinity, their 2016 international breakthrough that gained early traction from the lead track “Initiate.” Vector, issued two years afterward, functioned as a concept album centered on a catatonic patient under the care of a psychotic physician, a storyline continued without interruption on Virus, which appeared in 2020 amid the worldwide spread of COVID-19. Fauna, the 2023 album, pushed the ensemble’s stylistic range still wider by integrating djent and dub elements.

The band coalesced in 2007 when To-Mera guitarist and keyboardist Richard Henshall assembled the first configuration; after several personnel adjustments the lineup stabilized around vocalist Ross Jennings, guitarist Charlie Griffiths of Linear Sphere, keyboardist Diego Tejeida, bassist Thomas MacLean (also formerly of To-Mera), and drummer Ray Hearne. A 2008 demo, supported by persistent live performances, secured a contract with Sensory Records and yielded Aquarius in 2010. Drawing on prog-metal foundations alongside ’70s art-rock touchstones such as Genesis and Kansas while also acknowledging more recent acts including Porcupine Tree and Opeth, the group delivered Visions in October 2011. Their influential third album, The Mountain, emerged in 2013 via Inside Out Music and introduced traces of Queen and Led Zeppelin; it marked the final appearance of bassist Thomas MacLean. American bassist Conner Green joined in time to record the 2014 Restoration EP, which reworked several numbers from the 2008 demo. Pre-production for the subsequent full-length, again helmed by longtime collaborator Jens Bogren, was already under way when Inside Out issued the advance single “Initiate” in March 2016 and followed it with “The Endless Knot” the next month. Affinity reached stores at the end of April, coinciding with a European tour. Two years of subsequent road work heightened critical attention and audience awareness, benefiting both Affinity and the concert document L1ve, captured in the Netherlands during the ensemble’s tenth-anniversary celebration and issued in mid-2018 as a four-disc audio-visual package spanning their catalog.

Near the close of that year Haken unveiled Vector. Early writing sessions revealed a collective inclination toward heavier material, prompting a decisive shift into metal territory. Recording and mixing engineer Adam “Nolly” Getgood, recognized for prior work with Sikth, Devin Townsend Project, and Periphery, was brought in while the band retained production duties. Lead single and video “The Good Doctor” generated fresh interest within rock and prog circles, and the album appeared on 26 October, four days before a North American headline run. Additional support slots on Devin Townsend’s sold-out European and American tours followed. Upon returning home the musicians immediately resumed writing.

Following the 2013 release of The Mountain, listeners repeatedly inquired about the identity of the character “the Cockroach King” featured in the song of that name, whose video incorporated Muppet cameos. The band became increasingly invested in treating the figure as an open musical inquiry, systematically developing its intervallic, harmonic, rhythmic, and lyrical motifs. The resulting narrative thread extended across Vector, which supplied the character’s origin story as the catatonic victim of a psychotic doctor, and Virus, the direct lyrical sequel issued in early June 2020 at the peak of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Whereas Vector established the protagonist’s backstory, the seven tracks on Virus depicted the pathogen’s dissemination, the ensuing authoritarianism, and society’s ultimate response. Haken produced Virus, with mixing again handled by Adam “Nolly” Getgood.

Late in 2021 the musicians returned to the studio. Because pandemic conditions remained fluid, they reinstated original keyboardist Peter Jones and allotted extended time to composition and tracking. Although the initial plan assigned each composition to a specific animal, the process ultimately embraced human subjects as well. The resulting seventh album, Fauna, was mixed by Jens Bogren and released the following March.