THE INTRO
Brits team up with Devin Townsend producer on “darker” fifth full-lengther.
Haken discuss their brand new album Vector, and there’s news from Soft Machine, Anathema, iam the morning, Phideaux, Splashgirl, Exploring Birdsong, Coldbones, BirdPen and more…
Jesus Christ Superstar, Dream Theater and Hermann Rorschach are among the unexpected ingredients for Haken’s dark new album Vector, which will be released via InsideOut on October 26.
“We started writing it in November 2017 when [two thirds of the band] were on tour with Mike Portnoy’s Shattered Fortress,” reveals guitarist Charlie Griffiths.“Playing those Dream Theater songs makes you feel a certain way and we wanted to recapture some of that energy we were feeling. I think the song Veil came out of [that] tour – it’s one of our epics at 13 minutes long. It’s got tons of different sections: moments with Lamb Of Godstyle riffs and heavy grooves, and a chilled Radiohead section in the middle. It’s kind of a centrepiece.”
The seven-track recording is set around a patient/doctor relationship that isn’t quite as it seems and unravels through the 80s-inspired lead track The Good Doctor. The video, featuring Hollyoaks actor Elliot James Langridge, is to be premiered shortly.
“It’s told in a kind of rock opera style, with characters speaking lines. I was always a big fan of Jesus Christ Superstar and classic concept albums like [Queensrÿche’s] Operation: Mindcrime and
King Diamond’s Them, but it’s the only song we’ve done that’s like this lyrically,” says Griffiths. “The rest of the album happens from the point of view of the patient, who’s in a coma but his mind is alive with maybe memories or delusions brought on by the treatment he’s receiving. It’s inspired by early 20th-century psychological experiments like [BF] Skinner’s electric shock experiments that looked at obedience, and
Hermann Rorschach’s ink blot tests. We explored the idea of seeing faces in things on
Pareidolia [from 2013 album The Mountain], so this feeds into something we’ve been interested in for a while. We’ve turned it into the album cover, which is our own Rorschach ink blot [created by long-term design collaborators Blacklake].
“Musically, The Good Doctor kind of feels like a natural progression from [2016’s]
Affinity, but the rest of the album is much heavier and darker in sound. It’s still got odd time signatures, crazy riffs and strange chord progressions but we’ve drawn upon more metal influences this time around. Part of the sound is definitely down to the guy who mixed the album.”
The producer in question is former Periphery bassist Adam ‘Nolly’ Getgood, who has also worked with Animals As Leaders and Devin Townsend. It was his expertise that led to Haken approaching him for the album. “We wanted to learn from him and see where we could take the music, and take it somewhere different,” says Griffiths. “We’ve pretty much always worked with overseas producers and we’d just communicate via email. This time, because Adam is based in the UK, we were able to bring him into the studio for the drum recordings. It was a much closer and more personal relationship with the mixing this time around. We wanted to do something new and I think we have on this album. It feels like the correct way to move forward.”
The musician-turned-producer also contributes a heavily disguised voice-over on the album finale, A Cell Divides. He’s one of a handful of special guests, alongside Headspace’s Pete Rinaldi, brass and woodwind musician Miguel Gorodi, and original Haken keyboard player Pete Jones (not to be confused with the Tiger Moth Tales musician of the same name).
Haken are currently celebrating their 10-year anniversary with the release of their first live album, L-1VE. They will tour North America this autumn, with a European tour planned for next spring. For all the confirmed dates so far, visit www.hakenmusic.com.