HAKEN — Aquarius (review)

HAKEN — Aquarius album cover Album · 2010 · Progressive Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
2.5/5 ·
bonnek
I can't say I have been much impressed by any 2010 classic Prog Metal albums, but Haken at least displays the qualities you might expect from an album that received such high esteem in Prog circles.

The album features quite bombastic operatic Prog-metal and that's not entirely my kind of thing, certainly not if the AOR influences that come to the fore, which happens all too frequently during the choruses. On the plus side, this band clearly oozes quality and attitude. Their creativity and playing pleasure is obvious, and while they often indulge in prog-clichés, there's always something unexpected, something twisted, weird and captivating happening when you least expect it.

In a way it makes them similar to a band like Between the Buried and Me, which also has that typical far-reaching eclecticism that seems to be quite in fashion these days. The band masters a dazzling range of styles but somehow they feel compelled to slap us around the ears with that on each and every track, shifting from opera to jazz to death metal to mellow prog, all in the course of a minute. I'd rather prefer it all to be a bit less really; and if it's not too much asked, less cheesy please.

This is the kind of album that will excite lovers of the classic Prog Metal and heavy Neo-prog, but it's hardly interesting for anyone else. Maybe 3.5 stars for Prog value, but a low 3 on the Metal scale.
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