HAKEN are a six piece band playing what many would describe as progressive metal, producing music of a complexity I've only heard before in bands like Yes, Genesis and Tool.
The group started with 3rd album opener Atlas Stone - a rising and falling sea of sing-along sound that does a good job of showcasing their individual talents:
Raymond is a powerful and versatile drummer, able to handle HAKEN's complex time signatures and changes and still infuse the songs with his own characteristic style. My girlfriend was actually concerned that his drum kit was going to fly apart mid set, such was his ferocity at times! Very impressive talent.
New boy Conner on the bass looked at home with the group, confident on his five-string and with the backing vocal duties.
Diego on the keyboards, perhaps the most jazz-influenced of the six, had a really good gig. He was visibly enjoying himself whilst creating the intricate washes of sound that bind the complex songs together. I was surprised to learn just how many solos Diego plays on the keys - solos that I had assumed were played on guitar. This in turn reminds me of the early Genesis tracks when it wasn't always clear where the sounds were originating from - Steve Hackett or Tony Banks?
Richard the multi-instrumentalist and primary song writer (certainly on the first two albums) spent the evening switching between keys and guitar. I felt a little sorry for him having to have his keyboard facing away from the crowd on The Robin 2's tiny stage. He impressed me with his soloing skills tonight.
Main guitarist Charlie, sporting scary-looking beard, played a stormer. His incredibly fast fret work on his Strandberg 53 ripped through the sound system, especially when working closely with Diego. I tried to count the strings on his headless guitar but it was never still long enough for me to do so - I reckon it was about 8 or something... My girlfriend was slightly concerned with Charlie's facial expressions and wondered if he might be a murderer in his spare time... I think he was just rocking-out in time-honoured heavy metal tradition.
Singer Ross has more in common with David Coverdale than Jon Anderson. In full rock-god mode, he never lost enthusiasm when faced with the Robin 2's quiet, sensible crowd at less than half capacity. Ross's voice was in top form, moving through HAKEN's demanding songs and harmonizing flawlessly with his band mates'. His gesticulations and facial expressions helped to explain the narrative of each song almost as much as the lyrics.
Next came In Memoriam, again from the band's 3rd album The Mountain. This album provided the majority of the material for tonight's show. Not as eccentric as the band's first offering, Aquarius, nor as heavy as their second album, Visons, The Mountain is their most accessible CD and has won them more fans than the other two albums put together. It is also their only album that doesn't tell a story from beginning to end (for example, Visions can be compared to Seventh Son of a Seventh Son in terms of storytelling). It makes sense that this is the album that they showcase to their fans tonight.
Darkest Night is next - the first track from their newly-released Restoration E.P. and one that I have played several times a day since it was first posted up on the band's Youtube channel! It's a real riff-fest which makes me think of Mastodon (no bad thing) and is sure to be a fan favourite for many years/gigs to come.
Pareidolia, the song that introduced me to HAKEN via Planet Rock, sounded fantastic tonight. If you've never heard the band, start with a youtube search for this track.
The big surprise of the evening for me came in the form of The Cockroach King (again from The Mountain). Possibly my least favourite song by the band but very popular with the fans because of its sing-along qualities and sense of fun. Tonight, however, my opinion of it was totally reversed: in a live setting, the song is ferocious and uncurls from the stage as a sonic onslaught! The power of this track actually inspired some of the middle-aged crowd to lift their voices and get closer to the monitors.
Drowning in the Flood was the only track taken from the band's 2010 debut album Aquarius. The song, while not my favourite from the LP, suits the live setting perfectly - good choice chaps. I was surprised to learn that the electrifying, ear-blasting ending to this song is actually provided by Diego's keys and not a guitar!
The highlight of the evening was Cyrstalised: their new twenty-minute track from the Restoration E.P. which I'm listening to as I type this. I hadn't heard it before (so I was glad to purchase it at the gig) and enjoyed hearing it for the first time in such an intimate live setting. A real privilege. The song itself has its roots deeply and unashamedly in the prog-rock movement of the late 60s and early 70s. Gentle Giant being the obvious comparison, this track combines beautiful keyboard work with clever vocal harmonies. It is divided into sections much like Supper's Ready, but still maintains its heavy-metal sensibilities. On its third playing, it's already shaping up to be one of my favourite songs ever...
After pretending to end the gig (why do bands still do that?) the guys quickly returned to play Visions (the title-track from the second album). How can this track be explained? Voted as the fans' favourite track on a recent Facebook thread, this song sounds like the ending to an epic film, or a journey, or a life...Awesome.
Ears ringing, throat sore, a silly grin plastered on my face, I went home happy clutching my new E.P. and T shirt ready to tell everyone and anyone about HAKEN. The band deserve to be famous. They deserve to fill Wolverhampton Civic Hall and be interviewed by every serious rock publication in the world. They need an hour long documentary on Sky Arts. They should be allowed to upload their next album directly onto your iPod...
In a world of Justin Beiber and Miley Cyrus, HAKEN find themselves playing to 120 middle-aged blokes in Bilston.
They deserve more.
