HAKEN “Earthrise” official video review

HAKEN “Earthrise” (OFFICIAL VIDEO)
From the album Affinity

May 19, 2016, at 4:53 p.m.

First: If you the words “PROGRESSIVE ROCK” make you cringe, you are on the wrong page. Go over here to some highly palatable music.

Second: If you have not heard of Haken’s newest album, Affinity, stop reading this blog and go buy it now. (No, this isn’t sponsored content.) Seriously… So, you’ve watched the video for EARTHWISE and you realize that these five guys are way too “un-photogenic” to ride to success on Instagram selfies. I guess they’ll have to do something else, like…. be extremely talented, write mind blowing compositions, and execute them with precision.

Affinity is Haken’s fourth studio album, and what an epic masterpiece it is. Following up the critically acclaimed success of the opus The Mountain, the lads from the UK have really outdone themselves. With Dream Theater rating the bar to impossibly high standards at the beginning of the year with The Astonishing, many prog rock bands struggle to find new sonic territory within the genre while keeping away from the oft contrived sounds.  Let’s face it… many of the groups just ‘try to hard’ to be different.  Djent, comes to my mind… (Ok, Animals as Leaders are kinda sick.) Haken proves it can be done.

Without spoiling the rest of the album, there are some incredibly awesome tracks on here. But getting back to the video for EARTHWISE, my only regret was I wasn’t stoned out the atmosphere when I watched this. The amazing “RETRO NEVEAU” 80s computer graphics swirling inside your eyeballs. Headless guitars! HIPSTER BEARDS!? WTF!?!? How can you improve on this!?

Just go buy the album.