VELVET THUNDER

UK progressive, alternative metal band HAKEN have thrown me a bit on this one! This EP, In a Fever Dream, was released digitally via InsideOut Music in July, and now physically as CD and vinyl, but also a deluxe digital edition “now featuring instrumental versions of all tracks” – so depending on your tastes make sure you know which version you might want! I’m reviewing the version with vocals.

Co-produced and mixed by George Lever (Loathe, Sleep Token), and featuring bass contributions from Bryan Beller (Joe Satriani, The Aristocrats) & Adam ‘Nolly’ Getgood (Periphery), the band have crafted some of the most emotionally direct material of their career so far. The EP has so far received a fairly mixed bag of reviewes from fans and critics, depending on folks’ thoughts about the band’s evolution and where the future direction of the band and their sound might be going. I’ll lay my cards out now and say I don’t know much of the bands previous material, so I’m reviewing this “cold”, without any previous knowledge/”baggage”!

The band has slimmed down in number from previous incarnations, now containing Ross Jennings on vocals, Richard Henshall on a wide variety of instruments including guitars, Pete Jones on keys and Ray Hearne on drums – and tuba! Okay, the EP showcases five new tracks, all in the broad church of Prog Metal, starting with the title number. The early sections remind me strongly on The Pineapple Thief, and even more strongly of Stephen Wilson’s Porcupine Tree – such is the sphere of influence of the man, you can write these words about so many bands, but in my humble opnion they do particularly well apply to Haken. Gentle, pastoral passages compete with solod slabs of metal, soothing sweet vocals morph into growl then choral chants, there’s a bit of everything in here. There’s lots of melody in here, lots of hooks, in fact lots of everything!

Delirium is shorter, tense, fuzzed elecronica, its a complicated arrangement, to me it sounds a little over-fussy, perhaps too dominated by metallic keys, but hey maybe that’s just me? It does occur to me at this point that an instrumental version of this track wouldn’t really work? Next up is Eclipsed By You, really quite brief at 3:25 minutes, and after the intensity of Delirium I do like the vibe, the clarity of this one, really good percussion being one highlight, underlining the similarity to TPTX2. Nice.

Bleeding Sky continues this intricate exploration of sounds and the spaces between them, see the official visualiser below. It’s a clever composition, expertly structured and assiduously performed, but I can’t make up my mind whether I really like it or whether it passes me by without really touching the emotions? (I think for me than can apply to a lot of modern Prog-metal though…)

Lotus brings this short set to an end, at 7:23 this is the EP’s longest track and, like the title track, feels like a distillation of all that is the band in a single track. Lots of melody again, fuzzed yet dispassionate guitars and synths, the keys in particular sort of swamping the overall mix – I find the band’s quiter, more reflective moods more engaging.

So – to sum up as a “HAKEN Newby”, I think the production comes across as a bit derivative and formulaic, the songs doing the usual thing of veering between electronica and metal, the overall effect (for me at least) sometimes being a bit sterile in a way that seems quite commonplace in Prog right now (ooh- controversial!) Still – one man’s meat…

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The second video below shows the band in the act of creation, it’s an interesting slice of what makes them tick right now?

As a footnote, the band are set to embark on a European headline tour in September & October 2026, with support from IHLO on all dates, as well as Benthos, AVKRVST, IONS & Ancient Fragments on select dates. Find the full list of dates below, tickets on sale now. 

23^rd September – Razzmatazz 2, Barcelona, Spain

25^th September – Kiff, Aarau, Switzerland

26^th September – Trabendo, Paris, France

27^th September – Euroblast Festival, Cologne, Germany

28^th September – Backstage Halle, Munich, Germany

29^th September – Dürer Kert Man Hall, Budapest, Hungary

30^th September – Roxy, Prague, Czech Republic

1^st October – Simm City, Vienna, Austria

3^rd October – Magazzini Generali, Milan, Italy

4^th October – Largo, Rome, Italy

6^th October – Frannz Club, Berlin, Germany

7^th October – Oczki, Warsaw, Poland

9^th October – Olympia-Kortteli, Tampere, Finland

10^th October – Logomo Teatro, Turku, Finland

11^th October – Tavastia, Helsinki, Finland

12^th October – Debaser Strand, Stockholm, Sweden

13^th October – Rockefeller, Oslo, Norway

15^th October – Vega, Copenhagen, Denmark 

UK/Ireland tour 2027:

1^st February – The Limelight 2, Belfast

2^nd February – Academy, Dublin

3^rd February – Slay, Glasgow

4^th February – Academy 2, Manchester

5^th February – Trinity, Bristol

6^th February – Institute 2, Birmingham

7^th February – Islington Assembly Hall, London