Haken (band)

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Haken

Haken performing live in 2009. (From left to right) Richard Henshall, Ross Jennings, Raymond Hearne, Thomas MacLean, Diego Tejeida (not shown), Charles Griffiths (not shown)
Background information
Origin London, England, UK
Genres Progressive rock, progressive metal
Years active 2007 (2007)-Present
Labels Sensory Records, Laser's Edge
Associated acts To-Mera Opinaut
Website HAKEN - The Official Website
Members Ross Jennings
Richard Henshall
Charles Griffiths
Raymond Hearne
Diego Tejeida
Past members Thomas MacLean
Matthew Marshall
Peter Jones

Haken is a London-based progressive metal band formed in 2007. So far Haken has released a total of three full-length studio albums.

Biography

Haken was formed in 2007 by To-Mera guitarist and keyboardist Richard Henshall and his two school friends Ross Jennings (vocals) and Matthew Marshall (guitar).[1][2] The band completed their lineup with a keyboardist they met on an online forum, Peter Jones, and Jones' close friend and drummer Raymond Hearne, and To-Mera guitarist Thomas MacLean became the band's bassist.[1] They recorded a demo in 2007 that contained two tracks, 'Snow' and 'Souls'. With the demo they began to play small live venues in London, with some good response. In 2008 they then recorded four more songs, 'Manifolds', 'Blind', 'Sleeping Thoughts Wake' and 'Black Seed', and released a full-length demo including all six existing tracks.

Later in 2008, Marshall and Jones left the band to pursue other careers. Charlie Griffiths, the guitarist for the band Linear Sphere and Anchorhead became a full time member of the band. The keyboardist Diego Tejeida joined the band in late 2008 as well. As they began to tour more, even opening a few UK shows for King's X,[2] Sensory Records recognized them and offered them a record deal. They began recording for their debut album, Aquarius, soon after, and it was released in March 2010.[3]
The Haken band logo

Haken released their second album, Visions, in October 2011. On 20 June 2013 Haken announced their new album, The Mountain, which was released on 2 September by InsideOut Music.[4] The album was mixed and mastered by Jens Bogren.[5]

On 25 September 2013, Haken announced that Tom MacLean would be leaving the band after completing the Prog Stage Festival in Israel in October 2013.[6]

Publicity and reception

Haken has been featured on the Classic Rock Magazine subsidiary "Classic Rock Presents Prog" a few times. At first, the magazine presented a song from the first Haken demo on their free CD.[7] They have opened for a few notable progressive outfits, such as King's X and Bigelf.[7] The band's debut album has received positive reviews from Allmusic,[3] ProgArchives[8] and Classic Rock Magazine. The band's second album Visions also received strong reviews. Two different Sea of Tranquility reviews praised it as "a staggeringly brilliant example of progressive metal" and "probably the final progressive masterpiece of 2011." [9] In early 2012, Haken guitarist Charlie Griffiths was filmed calling fellow London Progressive Metal band Bleeding Oath "a collection of improper gentlemen" as part of the promotion for Bleeding Oath's debut EP.

Personnel

Current members

Former members

  • Thomas MacLean - Bass Guitar
  • Matthew Marshall - Guitar
  • Peter Jones - Keyboards

Guest musicians

  • Craig Beattie - Trombone
  • Alex Benwell - Trumpet
  • Pablo Inda Garcia - Clarinet
  • Marged Hall - Harp
  • Darren Moore - Trumpet
  • Jon Roskilly - Trombone
  • Dave Ruff - Flute

Discography

Demo
  • Enter the 5th Dimension[10] (2008)
Studio albums

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Allmusic biography. Retrieved 2010-08-17.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Myspace biography. Retrieved 2010-08-18.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Allmusic: Aquarius (overview)". Allmusic. Retrieved 18 August 2010. 
  4. ↑ "Time to share: The Mountain! Out 2.9.13". Twitter. Retrieved 23 June 2013. 
  5. ↑ "Haken Get Ready To Tackle The Mountain". Prog Magazine. Retrieved 23 June 2013. 
  6. ↑ http://www.progrockmag.com/news/haken-part-ways-with-bassist/
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Track Of The Day: Haken". Classic Rock Magazine. 15 April 2010. Retrieved 2010-08-17. 
  8. ↑ "HAKEN music, discography, MP3, videos and reviews". Prog Archives. Retrieved 18 August 2010. 
  9. ↑ http://www.seaoftranquility.org/reviews.php?op=showcontent&id=11692
  10. ↑ HAKEN | The Official Website - Enter the 5th Dimension (Demo)

External links

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