Album Overview: HAKEN Fauna

Haken emerged with a well-received demo in 2007. Keyboardist Peter Jones was a part of that period of the band, however left to pursue his tutorial research earlier than the group launched their debut in 2010. Following a fourteen 12 months absence, Jones has returned to the fold for Haken‘s seventh studio album Fauna.

Vocalist Ross Jennings says Jones has made a huge impact on this report. “What Pete’s introduced sonically to the band has performed an enormous position in why we do have lots of new sounds on this report,” Jennings says. “It is at all times a brand new dynamic when there is a change in personnel, and it is a recent and reviving one.”

Between the lineup change and the extra time that they had for songwriting as a result of pandemic, Fauna seems to be one of many band’s most formidable and wide-ranging efforts. The lyrical idea of the album began with the premise that every music would have an animal assigned to it, however it might additionally hook up with the human world and the way that animal associated to the music’s composer.

For instance, the opener “Taurus” is concerning the wildebeest, with its destruction and displacement likened to the results of the Russia-Ukraine battle. The music is without doubt one of the report’s most streamlined at slightly below 5 minutes with syncopated djent rhythms shifting to melodic sections with easy, melodic singing from Jennings.

Whereas the band has explored djent on current albums, Fauna is a illustration of their total music oeuvre. “Nightingale” is basic Haken, whereas they push in new instructions with “The Alphabet Of Me.” It’s the band at their most accessible, a really modern sounding monitor that is as near radio-friendly as Haken goes to get whereas nonetheless showcasing progressive sections.

“Beneath The White Rainbow” incorporates a numerous vocal efficiency from Jennings. Hovering melodic singing turns extra pressing and excessive pitched towards the top of the monitor, which has a number of the album’s heaviest moments. Transient ambient sections and consistently shifting soundscapes make “Islands within the Clouds” compelling.

Haken takes it again to the ‘80s with the intelligent “Lovebite,” a melodic and upbeat sounding music with a singalong refrain whose darkish lyrics are a commentary on failed relationships that includes the black widow, as the feminine kills and devours the male after mating.

Fauna‘s most formidable music is the 11 minute penultimate monitor “Elephants By no means Neglect.” It unfolds slowly, a dynamic music with advanced preparations that provides every band member an opportunity to show their musical prowess. A bit self-indulgent at occasions, the monitor nonetheless manages to be participating and capable of keep curiosity.

The album closes with the emotional “Eyes of Ebony,” which addresses loss of life, each that of the near-extinct northern white rhino and guitarist Richard Henshall‘s father, who lately handed away. The introspective monitor begins out mellow, however will increase the depth earlier than easing right into a mid-song instrumental break and quiet ending.

With Fauna, Haken has performed a terrific job of encapsulating all eras of their profession whereas nonetheless pushing in several instructions. Like most prog albums, the listener will take in extra of the subtleties of the compositions with a number of listens, however Fauna has loads of instantly memorable components as nicely.