Since 2007, London-based prog metallers Haken have carved out an unlikely niche for themselves. With a sound that sits somewhere between latter-day Anathema, Dream Theater and Kings X, the band have toured with a number of leaders in the prog scene, all the time honing their talents and developing their unique sound. As such, the band’s tenth anniversary was the perfect opportunity to do something special, with the band filming a full set at the Melkweg Venue in Amsterdam in front of a rabidly enthusiastic crowd. Now it has been captured on L-1VE, a double DVD set released via Inside Out Music and an absolute must for fans. The first DVD captures the Amsterdam show in full whilst a second DVD offers up four bonus tracks from the ProgPower festival (including a brief cameo from Mike Portnoy) as well as all of the video clips from 2016’s Affinity, making this a generous package indeed.
Fire up the DVD and, as the virtual camera pans past the band’s album covers, you’ll find yourself greeted with what looks like a BBC Micro, the text blurring in and out of focus on a glowing green screen. It will either evoke nostalgia or irritation depending upon the decade in which you were born, and it offers the usual option of play / track list / audio options although you’ll find yourself hard pressed to see the darn things thanks to the exaggerated blurring of the lettering. For audio, there are two options: PCM and Dolby AC-3 surround (Jerry Guidroz) and both are exceptional. If you have the wherewithal, the Dolby soundtrack is the one to go for as the band makes good use of the expanded sound field and the mix really captures the atmosphere and excitement of the night, with the music appearing to envelop the listener in a manner rarely found outside of a Steven Wilson mix. The video’s well shot too, with the picture about as clear as you’re ever likely to get from DVD. Although back of the venue shots look a little blurry, the close ups are well cut together and do much to give the home viewer the best possible view of Haken in action.
Opening with the epic, yearning ‘Affinity.exe/Initiate” from Affinity is a good move – it strikes a suitably grandiloquent tone for the gig ahead with its soaring vocals and gargantuan riffs combining to truly immerse the listener. With rapid cuts placing the viewer right at the heart of the action and Ross Jennings delivering a performance that is both pitch-perfect and deeply felt, it’s impossible not to be swept up, even at the remove of watching at home, and as the band unleash the heavy riffing ‘In memoriam’ (from the mountain) you’ll be entirely hooked. The track keeps the pace taut, the band delivering a performance that balances the visceral thrill of a live show with the musical demands of their complex and interesting material. A pair of affinity tracks follow, the first of which being the Genesis-esque ‘1985’. Neatly capturing the spirit of the decade it describes, ‘1985’ is all angular guitars and whimsical synth patches, hinting at what would have happened if Harold Faltermyer had worked with Phil Collins and co. back in the day, although haken introduce some cataclysmic riffing, lest the listener get too comfortable. Next up, ‘red giant’ has a porcupine tree vibe, Ross delivering an understated performance, having disposed of the bizarre sunglasses he sported on the previous track.
We head back in time for the Dream-Theater– meets-Genesis ‘Aquamedley’, a lengthy trip through the band’s debut album, that has whimsy and wonder in equal measure. Few bands have the sheer weight to carry off so grandiose a number, yet the sense of drama that Haken brings to the performance demands, and holds, your attention across its epic length. Here dark, imposing metal collides head on with deft prog and it is drummer Raymond Hearne who emerges from the track as the star, his astounding performance taking in the complex time shifts with consummate ease. A triple helping from standout album the mountain follows, ‘As death embraces’ emerging from a single, repeated piano note that echoes a heartbeat as Ross takes to the mic, his voice rife with emotion as he delivers the performance of a lifetime. Not since Radiohead toured OK computer has a frontman so captivated an audience, even when stripped of the visceral firepower his band brings to bear, and he manages to make the song feel deeply personal and direct even whilst performing to so large a crowd. The band return for the beautiful ‘Atlas stone’, a track which recalls latter-day Anethema with its sky-scraping guitars and rippling synth only for Haken to suddenly unleash a serious of fiery, metallic riffs which give it a more dangerous edge. That sense of danger crosses over into the bizarre genius of ‘cockroach king’, which gleefully subverts the crushing riffs of its intro before heading into pure musical territory, not unlike Unexpect covering Mansun. If you know the song, you’ll be more than aware of its charms, if you’re new to the band, hold onto your hat, because it’s a wild ride through a fun house, the safety bars removed, and the freaks uncaged at last.
It’s back to Affinity for the gargantuan track, ‘The architect’, another piece that stands a masterclass in prog musicianship. However, despite the revelatory levels of technicality on display, it’s at the expense of the song and Haken have the rare ability to deliver a performance of utmost skill without losing sight of the rich vein of emotion that runs through the song. As impressive as the other tracks are on the set, it is ‘The architect’ that makes a strong case for Haken being one of the finest progressive bands currently active. Also from Affinity, the djent-ish riffing of ‘The endless knot’ gives the audience the metallic release they need over six snappy minutes before the band bring the set to an end with an ecstatic ‘visions’, a twenty-three minute encore that feels like a gift to the faithful who are so obviously hanging on the band’s every note. It concludes a set that flies past in two blazingly short hours.
With the main DVD pretty much offering everything a Haken fan could want, you might be thinking that the bonus DVD is nothing more than afterthought. You would, however, be entirely wrong. Clocking in at almost an hour, the second disc kicks off with the four track, forty-five-minute set from 2016’s ProgPower festival, which includes a guest appearance from Mike Portnoy. As with the first disc, you’re met with a green screen offering the various options and, once again, the feature is offered in both stereo and 5.1. Not quite as immersive as the first disc; the guitars have a more trebly aspect and the sound-field lacks the depth of the main feature; it is still impressive that the band and/or label took the trouble to deliver a surround mix and the video easily matches the main film for clarity and direction.
Opening with the dizzying ‘Falling back to earth’ (from the mountain), the band are clearly in no mood to compromise for a festival audience, delivering a display of virtuoso musicianship that takes the breath away. Next up, Affinity’s ‘earthrise’ (the only track to be repeated in any form across the package) has a space-bound, Pink Floyd vs Smashing Pumpkins vibe that warms the spirit only for the sinister ‘pareidolia’ (from the mountain) to take things in a darker direction, the track extending across ten minutes, before the band draw their set to a close with the insane ‘crystallised’, the twenty-minute showstopper from 2014’s Restoration EP, complete with what must be the only keytar solo in history to not feel completely ridiculous (well, OK, it’s a little ridiculous, but, judging by the wide grin on Diego Tejeida’s face, the band know it). With ambitious vocal arrangements reminiscent of a Neal Morse project, the band even go so far as to bring out a willing Mike Portnoy to play gong at the song’s conclusion, a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it move that threatens to cause the already simmering crowd to boil over entirely just as the show reaches its climax. His appearance, and the fact that none of the tracks aired feature on the main concert, raise the status of this extra from foot-note to compelling companion piece and it will have Haken fans in raptures.
The final part of the package comprises three music videos, all from Affinity. The videos are all competently done, with the CGI-fuelled ‘initiate’ arguably the best of the three on offer. The other videos, ‘earthrise’ and ‘lapse’ are both impressive in their own right and it is a generous gesture of the band to include these as an additional enticement for fans.
L-1VE is a near-perfect celebration of Haken’s remarkable ten-year career. Boasting songs from all four of the band’s albums, as well as the Restoration EP, and with no repeated material despite nearly three hours of live footage on offer, L-1VE pays tribute to the depth and strength of the band’s song-writing and ability. With Jerry Guidroz’s exceptional mixing skills delivering a reference quality surround sound mix for the main feature, not to mention three bonus music videos, just to make the package as complete as possible, no progressive rock collection is complete without it. 10
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