HAKEN — Enter the 5th Dimension (review)

HAKEN — Enter the 5th Dimension album cover

Demo · 2008 · Progressive Metal

4.5/5 · 2011-02-17
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Haken is the self-titled demo disc of UK progressive metal/rock band Haken, which features two tracks recorded in 2007 and four tracks recorded in 2008. I guess for all intents and purposes there is little point in reviewing a demo disc for a band that has already got signed to a label and released their debut album, the highly acclaimed Aquarius from 2010. However I wanted to write a little something about these songs, since none of the Haken material on offer here was featured on their debut album and there is almost a full hour’s worth of music here, which is more than some established bands put out for their full-length albums.

The quality of the recordings is, as can be expected, low budget. But it’s come out well enough for the music on offer to be properly appreciated. The sound here is for the most part best described as very Dream Theater influenced, but Haken goes beyond being a Dream Theater worship act to take things, if anything, up to the next level. Parts of the demo remind me a progressive rockers Yes, and other parts sound as if it ought to be Neal Morse doing them, while on the very rare occasion Haken singer Ross Jennings switches from his usual clean vocals to some death growls, though these are mostly on the 2007 songs, the only growl in the 2008 songs is an opening roar in the first track, Blind. There isn’t a lot different in the overall setup to the writing direction on the demo to what the band went on to do with Aquarius. What they did essentially was to take this already good sound and perfect it, although it would be a fair assessment that there is more sounds related to progressive rock rather than progressive metal on the demo than the album turned out. Those that are familiar and fans of the album should find this demo a listening experience that is almost as good as Aquarius.

The demo starts off with the songs from 2008. Blind is up first and I say again, the Dream Theater influence is unmistakable. There’s a lot of sounds like the circus is in town in this song, and in true prog fashion, the song is an epic over ten minutes in length. Black Seed follows, which is a much shorter piece than Blind but no less epic. Manifolds is an instrumental, but it’s not really notably due to the fact that it’s typical Haken, just vocal-less. Typical Haken isn’t something to complain about though. The final track from 2008 is Sleeping Thoughts Wake, another epic that is even longer than Blind. These are all good tracks and a very progressive throughout, with my favourite here being Sleeping Thoughts Wake.

There is only half the number of tracks from the 2007 part of the demo, but both are pretty long, with closer Snow being the longest piece of the entire demo. The sound here isn’t that different from the 2008 songs but I actually feel that it’s these two tracks that are the best recorded on the demo. They’re also the most metal influenced on offer, as I mentioned earlier, it’s these two songs that feature the use of Jennings death growls and both Souls and Snow are easily my favourite two tracks from the demo. The amount of influences that Haken have thrown into their music on both these and the 2008 songs has created a sound that is truly special and listening to this it’s not hard to see why this demo got them signed and able to record Aquarius.

Overall there’s just something about the two 2007 songs that just sticks out above the 2008 ones. If both sets had been of the same level I’d probably give this a perfect score, but as is I feel the need to deduct just one point since the 2008 songs just don’t have quite the same impact on me, while still being very good and very praiseworthy.

(Review originally written for Heavy Metal Haven)