Haken Announce Major Tour

HAKEN, one of progressive music’s most exciting bands, recently announced details of their much-anticipated fifth studio album titled ‘Vector’, due for release on the 26^th October 2018. The album was produced by the band themselves, and recorded & mixed by Adam ‘Nolly’ Getgood (Periphery, Devin Townsend Project), with the artwork once again being handled by Blacklake.

 

Following the announcement of North American tour dates this Autumn, the band are pleased to reveal European & Latin American live dates in support of the new album for 2019. The band comments: “We’re thrilled to be bringing our ‘Vector Studies’ tour to Europe. We had immense fun celebrating our 10 year anniversary across Europe in 2017 with incredible turnouts and warm receptions. This time around we will be focusing on performing tracks from our new album ‘Vector’ along with some live favourites of ours. For your health and wellbeing, the good doctor prescribes you some live Haken. ”

 

The band add on the Latin America shows: “A visit to South America has been long overdue. Many of our dedicated South American fans have made epic trips around the world to experience our shows in Europe and North America and now we’re ecstatic to reveal we will finally be returning the favour! See you in January! As for Mexico City and Cruise To The Edge, well… we cannot wait to return!”

 

The full list of dates is as follows:

Latin America 2019

26^th January – Teatro Teleton, Santiago, Chile

27^th January – Groove, Buenos Aires, Argentina

29^th January – Caricoa Club, Sao Paolo, Brazil

30^th January – Auditorio Centro De La Amistad Peruano China, Lima, Peru

1^st February – Lunar, Mexico City, Mexico

 

Europe 2019

15^th February – Academy 3, Manchester, UK

16^th February – St Luke’s, Glasgow, UK

17^th February – The Fleece, Bristol, UK

19^th February – Essigfabrik, Cologne, Germany

20^th February – Batschkapp, Frankfurt, Germany

21^st February – Übel & Gefährlich, Hamburg, Germany

22^nd February – Lille Vega, Copenhagen, Denmark

23^rd February – John Dee, Oslo, Norway

24^th February – Debaser Strand, Stockholm, Sweden

26^th February – Columbia Theater, Berlin, Germany

27^th February – Kwadrat, Krakow, Poland

28^th February – A38, Budapest, Hungary

2^nd March – Szene, Vienna, Austria

3^rd March – Futurum, Prague, Czech Republic

4^th March – Conne Island, Leipzig, Germany

6^th March – Im Wizemann, Stuttgart, Germany

7^th March – Backstage Halle, Munich, Germany

8^th March – Kiff, Aarau, Switzerland

9^th March – Magazzini Generali, Milan, Italy

10^th March – Transbordeur, Lyon, France

12^th March – Mon Live, Madrid, Spain

13^th March – Kafe Antzokia, Bilbao, Spain

14^th March – La Maroquinerie, Paris, France

15^th March – De Boerderij, Zoetermeer, Netherlands

16^th March – Islington Assembly Hall, London, UK

23^rd March – Tavastia, Helsinki, Finland

 

Full ticket details as well as all upcoming dates can be found here: https://www.hakenmusic.com/tour

 

‘Vector’ will be available as Limited edition 2CD Mediabook (including instrumental versions), Gatefold vinyl 2LP + CD, Standard CD Jewelcase & as digital download. Pre-order now here: https://haken.lnk.to/Vector

You can find the track-listing below:

1. Clear
2. The Good Doctor
3. Puzzle Box
4. Veil
5. Nil By Mouth
6. Host
7. A Cell Divides

 

To celebrate the announcement of the new album, the band ran a competition for one lucky fan’s artwork to be etched into the fourth side of the vinyl version of the record. They invited people to submit their own version of the Rorshach test ink-blot which graces the album cover, and the winner was revealed as Shakoor Bukhuth aka SHAUN BEYOND.

Since their inception in 2007, Haken have shown over four previous studio albums, one EP and a live release that they never stand still, merely satisfied to rely on past triumphs. Rather, Haken always look for ways to challenge themselves as musicians and artists, and also to keep the listeners on their collective toes. “We don’t like to make simple music,” laughs vocalist Ross Jennings. “We always aim to defy expectations, and I believe we’ve surpassed what we aimed to achieve with our new album.”

Their fifth studio record sees the band going in a heavier direction with the music. “We’ve always had a heavy influence”, explains guitarist Charlie Griffiths, “but it was obvious from the riffs that were naturally coming out of us early in the writing process that this would be a more metal album. These are some of the most riff driven songs we’ve ever written.” As is usual, Haken produced the album themselves, but for the first time they have enlisted Adam ‘Nolly’ Getgood during the recording and mixing stages. Formerly bassist with Periphery, in the last couple of years he has built a reputation as a fine producer. “We produced the album ourselves, as we always do,” insists Jennings. “But we’re fans of what Adam has done with Periphery, Sikth and Devin Townsend. He has a great reputation for the heavier end of our genre”.

 

But if this album is musically heavy, then there’s an underlying theme running through the seven songs which is certainly esoteric and fascinating. “The scene is set with the track The Good Doctor, which was a really fun song. Musically it feels like a logical step from ‘Affinity’, but lyrically it’s a bit more theatrical and about as ‘rock opera’ as Haken has ever got”, explains Griffiths. “It’s about a Doctor with an intriguing, perhaps sinister interest in a particular patient. From there the story enters the point-of-view of the patient – who appears to be catatonic, but his mind is sparking with what could be memories, or delusions brought on by the treatment he’s receiving – we leave this up to the listeners to decide. Although we don’t want to give too much away, people who are familiar with our back catalogue will have fun discovering further clues we’ve planted throughout the album. And that’s the challenge for the fans – to find out for themselves their own meaning for ‘Vector’ as an album”.

 

HAKEN are:

Ross Jennings

Richard Henshall

Charlie Griffiths

Diego Tejeida

Conner Green

Ray Hearne