Fused Festival - April 03, 2011 by Andy Read (Dutch Progressive Rock Page)

If a ProgMetal band can be described as 'exquisite' then this performance was just that. Based in London, Haken's debut offering Aquarius caused quite a buzz among critics last year. Personally, having listened to the promo, its constant mad-cap, genre-hopping explorations frustrated more than it pleased. I warmed significantly to their music later in the year when I saw it performed in a live setting at ProgPower Europe. In both the album and the live setting it was the somewhat inconsistent performance of singer Ross Jennings that still had me wavering.

It may have been as simple as calming down his stage antics a little to concentrate on his singing, but in Lydney Ross not only nailed every single note but there was an added depth and intensity to his voice that captivated the crowd from beginning to end. Improvements could be heard everywhere.

The whole band is now an incredibly tight unit and they were clearly enjoying their time onstage. Two new tracks were aired and sounded very impressive. Both Conspiracy and (I think) Numbered sounded more direct and darker in mood. The band seems to have reworked some their songs to great effect too.

Many regulars I spoke to afterwards said this was easily the best performance they've ever seen Haken deliver. I've now seen the light and bought a copy of Aquarius.

Setlist Haken:
Streams
Eternal Rain
Conspiracy
Numbered
Drowning In The Flood
Celestial Elixir