In the field of progressive metal, the English of 'Haken' have forged a good reputation and each new album is always a surprise to discover but, for this new opus, 'Virus', released during this year a little special with everything that we have known with the COVID-19, the title is ultimately only a pure coincidence with the health crisis and takes us back into the world of this band which, release after release, renews a little more the progressive musical landscape by exploring new horizons a bit like 'Leprous', 'Opeth' or 'Pain of Salvation' (new review to come).
The cover, very close to 'Vector' certainly shows that we are in the continuity of the previous recording and it starts strong, with 'Prostheric' which beats up severe from the introduction, then, we are embarked in a captivating atmosphere with a rhythm section of 'Ray Hearne' worthy of a certain 'Mike Portnoy' which prints an always very fluctuating rhythm, following the guitar riffs which gives everything its strength to this title. And after so much energy, the whole of the 2 tracks 'The Strain' / 'Canary Yellow', even if the first remains energetic at the level of the rhythm section, is more affordable at the melodic level and allows a few beneficial moments of recovery in the second part, all this probably being to prepare us kindly for the main course of the album. Indeed, the last 19 minutes are reserved for the suite 'Messiah Complex' which hooks from 'Ovory Tower' with its atmosphere close to 'Leprous' and which has one of the most accessible melodies of the album, then we find with 'A Glutton for Punishment' the 'Haken' which takes us on unbridled sound paths more difficult to tame but of an overflowing imagination, which we find again on the following titles with the short 'Marigold' which, cut in two, explodes in a contemporary surge in the second part and constitutes for me, the same counterpart between melodic and progressive metal that we have known between classical and contemporary music at the end of the second world war, 'The Sect' continuing in this style with a remarkable part sung almost a capella which rubs shoulders with powerful guitar riffs, the rhythm section still playing a preponderant role, often marking all times. The album ends with, first of all, the last chapter of this brilliant sequel, 'Ecobius Rex' with an epic and powerful finale and more accessible melodic lines and finally, the calm and stripped down 'Only Stars' which constitutes a magnificent end while relaxing after all these tensions and which comes at the right time to come back to reality, as if we were coming out of a waking dream.
In summary, this new 'Haken' shows once again all that overflowing imagination, making the English progressive metal pioneers and which will undoubtedly make 'Virus' an essential album in the discography of any lover of this style as were the first albums of 'Dream Theater' or 'Porcupine Tree', but the other side of the coin, which will necessarily be limited to an informed audience... | |
