The Haken thread v. Restoration

[ariich]

Is it the china gong at the very end? 

The same thought crossed my mind as well, but it has to be more.

 

Love the track. Although some of the stuff I really enjoyed about the demo-version is missing, but still absolutely fantastic.

Same as with Darkest Light. I love everything they have added or reworked, but I miss the stuff that was removed.

Yep, but as I said earlier in the thread, makes the songs more like sequels than re-recordings. Means there is a place for both versions.

[YtseJamittaja]

Wow! That song Absolutely fantastic!!

No idea about the MP cameo though.

[mikemangioy]

Amazing song. The first section is great, the second not so much. Too repetitive. Then there's the medieval part with the a cappella thing and from there the song is completely 
The instrumental section is mental, truly crazy stuff. And nice ending.

[ariich]

The instrumental section is the only bit that bothers me slightly, I really don't feel that it fits with the rest of the song, and I find it a bit of a distracting addition to the song. Apart from that though, it's an epic upgrade to Snow!

[LordCost]

It could be the song of the year, fantastic work! It's strange that they have cut two of the three slightly different choruses of Snow and save only the "someone's calling me" one

[jonnybaxy]

Not heard the new EP yet...

But who's going to Manchester gig, if I'm going does anyone fancy a meet up?

[ariich]

It could be the song of the year, fantastic work! It's strange that they have cut two of the three slightly different choruses of Snow and save only the "someone's calling me" one

Have to say, although I'm really digging Crystallised (of course) and despite all the reviews basically praising it as the greatest thing ever, I would say it's my least favourite.

[me7]

Agree. Crystallised is nowhere near the level of Celestial Elixir and Visions (the song).
I guess they did the EP in a hurry as a side project and didn't take enough writing time to realise the material's full potential. Some sections seem a bit stacked together without the natural flow I'm used to from Haken and it lacks the dramaturgy prog epics often have, which makes it sound like an oversized simple song rather than en epic.

It's still an awesome song, just not as good as Haken's previous epics.

[ariich]

Oh I meant least favourite on the EP, rather than of their epics. Haven't yet thought through how it compares with their other albums.

And I wouldn't say the EP feels rushed to me at all, far from it actually, I think the updating of their sound is brilliant and the songs on the whole flow really well. Even Crystallised is on the whole much more mature than Snow was. The only bit I think that stands out a little awkwardly is the wacky instrumental towards the end. Other than that, I think it's great!

[krands85]

Agree. Crystallised is nowhere near the level of Celestial Elixir and Visions (the song).
I guess they did the EP in a hurry as a side project and didn't take enough writing time to realise the material's full potential. Some sections seem a bit stacked together without the natural flow I'm used to from Haken and it lacks the dramaturgy prog epics often have, which makes it sound like an oversized simple song rather than en epic.

It's still an awesome song, just not as good as Haken's previous epics.

I've only listened to it twice, but I don't think I'll like it as much as Visions or Celestial Elixir either. If they play it on the upcoming tour - which seems likely - I hope it doesn't mean they'll have to refrain from playing playing either of the other 2 epics. 

[Zydar]

It's a 20 minute epic so it needs many many spins for me before I can judge it

[ariich]

It's a 20 minute epic so it needs many many spins for me before I can judge it

For sure!

[BlackInk]

So far I'd say that it's probably better than Visions, but not quite on the level of Celestial Elixir.

And I really like the last instrumental section, especially the Meshuggah-ish riff at 14:09 and after. Really cool.

[LordCost]

I haven't listened to Earthlings yet, but I think I like Crystallized more than Darkest Light which I'm still not sure if it's better than Blind (it has been transformed from a song in the style of Point Of No Return to a song like In Memoriam, it's still hard to accept the change).
I don't know if it's better than the other epics, but even Visions had a cool but weird part near the end and an instrumental part after the second chorus that didn't fit so well with the rest. Don't know how it compares to Celestial Elixir yet

[kirksnosehair]

Geez, after one listen, I think this might be my favorite Haken song 

[YtseJamittaja]

Geez, after one listen, I think this might be my favorite Haken song 

Mine too!

[PwnsomeWin]

Very impressed with Haken. Love their instrumental sections. I've listened to Aquarius and The Mountain, and my favorite is definitely Celestial Elixir. Amazing song.

I don't get all the hype for Falling Back To Earth though. It feels very repetitive.

[jonnybaxy]

Ordered my ticket to Manchester gig, as I mentioned earlier, does anyone fancy a meet-up / a few pints beforehand?

[BlackInk]

I don't get all the hype for Falling Back To Earth though. It feels very repetitive.

For me, that's a track that takes a lot of time to get used to (just like the entire Mountain album). I felt a bit like you when I first heard it, but now later and after many listens I love it. But it took me quite a while to get there.

[krands85]

I don't get all the hype for Falling Back To Earth though. It feels very repetitive.

For me, that's a track that takes a lot of time to get used to (just like the entire Mountain album). I felt a but like you when I first heard it, but now later and after many listens I love it. But it took me quite a while to get there.

I was the same with Cockroach King.

[Heretic]

Crystallised is absolutely fantastic. Perhaps my favorite they've done. The a Capella sections are just outstanding.

[jonnybaxy]

I don't get all the hype for Falling Back To Earth though. It feels very repetitive.

For me, that's a track that takes a lot of time to get used to (just like the entire Mountain album). I felt a bit like you when I first heard it, but now later and after many listens I love it. But it took me quite a while to get there.

Falling back to earth is probably 1st or 2nd best off the mountain for me, So much power in it!

[me7]

Just listened to Earthlings. Compared to the demo, Earthlings made the biggest leap forward.
Blind and Snow were already first tier songs held back by bad production, but I wasn't impressed by Black Seed. I didn't see much potential for the remake....and Haken proved me wrong.

[ariich]

Earthlings is amazing. Actually fairly different melodically to Black Seed.

[BlackInk]

Earthlings was fantastic. Though I will have to take some time to get used to the new chorus. I liked it, but it threw me off a bit when I first heard that it didn't 'climb down' the way the Black Seed chorus does. But a few days with this and it should all be good.

Amazing EP.

[ariich]

Earthlings was fantastic. Though I will have to take some time to get used to the new chorus. I liked it, but it threw me off a bit when I first heard that it didn't 'climb down' the way the Black Seed chorus does. But a few days with this and it should all be good.

Amazing EP.

Yeah that takes some getting used to. But on the plus side, the chorus is no longer a King Crimson rip-off.

I pretty much love Darkest Light and Earthlings equally. Crystallised is great, but not nearly as great as the other two.

[krands85]

Setlist from last night, I tried to put it in the post and make the font small for those who don't want spoilers, but wasn't sure how to get it tiny, the smallest option still seemed quite readable to me     

Was anyone there last night? When did the gig finish? It seems like there was about 3 hours of music in all, so I'm guessing it was pretty close to 11pm when you got out if the doors opened at 7pm? I'm just trying to figure out what transport to use to get back home after I see them in Edinburgh next weekend.   

[jammindude]

Setlist from last night, I tried to put it in the post and make the font small for those who don't want spoilers, but wasn't sure how to get it tiny, the smallest option still seemed quite readable to me     

Was anyone there last night? When did the gig finish? It seems like there was about 3 hours of music in all, so I'm guessing it was pretty close to 11pm when you got out if the doors opened at 7pm? I'm just trying to figure out what transport to use to get back home after I see them in Edinburgh next weekend.

The studio versions of the songs on that list only total up to about 80 minutes...but that seems fairly typical for the Haken setlists I've seen so far.   

[jonnybaxy]

Setlist from last night, I tried to put it in the post and make the font small for those who don't want spoilers, but wasn't sure how to get it tiny, the smallest option still seemed quite readable to me     

Was anyone there last night? When did the gig finish? It seems like there was about 3 hours of music in all, so I'm guessing it was pretty close to 11pm when you got out if the doors opened at 7pm? I'm just trying to figure out what transport to use to get back home after I see them in Edinburgh next weekend.

Yeah I was about to say... Looks like a Rather short gig, I've never heard of the 2 bands playing before them though so hopefully they'll be worth the time taken away from Haken.
The studio versions of the songs on that list only total up to about 80 minutes...but that seems fairly typical for the Haken setlists I've seen so far.

[krands85]

Setlist from last night, I tried to put it in the post and make the font small for those who don't want spoilers, but wasn't sure how to get it tiny, the smallest option still seemed quite readable to me     

Was anyone there last night? When did the gig finish? It seems like there was about 3 hours of music in all, so I'm guessing it was pretty close to 11pm when you got out if the doors opened at 7pm? I'm just trying to figure out what transport to use to get back home after I see them in Edinburgh next weekend.

The studio versions of the songs on that list only total up to about 80 minutes...but that seems fairly typical for the Haken setlists I've seen so far.   

Leprous seemed to have a similar amount of time on stage judging by their setlist. Pity, I would have much preferred to see a bit more Haken 

[LordCost]

This morning I listened to Sun, Deathless and Somebody and I think Earthlings is the best of them. It's the only song from the EP that doesn't leave me wanting to listen to the version of the demo, I don't miss anything of the previous version and everything is been improved 

[YtseJamittaja]

That EP is the highlight of my music year. Awesome compositions, Earthlings too. Crystallised is now my new Octavarium or Visions! 

[Nick]

FUUUUUUUCK.

My restoration vinyl shipped from Burning Shed. Now if Haken posts those limited ones I either will have two copies or decide to forego it.

[Zydar]

My LP/CD copy shipped today from Inside Out

[ariich]

FUUUUUUUCK.

My restoration vinyl shipped from Burning Shed. Now if Haken posts those limited ones I either will have two copies or decide to forego it.

Do you mean the clear ones? It sounds like they're selling them at shows and then if they have any left over after the tour they'll sell them from their own website.