Haken v. new single Nightingale (April 26)

[KevShmev]

So my middle son (he's 11) is really getting into HAKEN...he listens to them quite a bit. It's kind of neat....like, last weekend I walked into his room and he's just jamming to 'The Mountain' while painting his model War Hammer figures he's been building.

Anyway, yesterday he comes up to me and says "Dad, you want to hear me sing my version of 'Falling Back to Earth'? I say, 'sure'....he then breaks into a controlled scream:

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA   


as his voice trails off. 


I know it's corny and I'm his Dad.....but I lost it. It caught me off guard and I thought it was pretty funny.

[Ninjabait]

I'm still not the biggest fan of Vector or Nil by Mouth, but I'm not going to lie that synth drop at 1:45 in Nil by Mouth is the squelchiest, nastiest, dirtiest thing I've ever heard. It's easily the best part of the song and imo the entire album.

Like that's a Top 5 Haken moment there. It's so FILTHY

[Pettor]

Trying to get into Haken has been a bit hard for me. Specially since I love some parts of the sound but find the overall sound to be a bit hit and miss. Even find it to lack variation. But puzzle box is the best overall song I heard from them. A good song to understand and get into Haken since it shows unique aspects of their sound but within a very solid listenable experience. Maybe even more so since I am a DT-guy and love that sound so much and Puzzle Box somehow resonates with the DT-sound a bit. The crazy part at ~5:20 is just awesome 

[Elite]

Puzzle Box is easily the best song on Vector and one of the best they've done overall I'd say.

[Zydar]

It's my favourite song on Vector, very closely followed by Veil.

[me7]

Trying to get into Haken has been a bit hard for me. Specially since I love some parts of the sound but find the overall sound to be a bit hit and miss. Even find it to lack variation. But puzzle box is the best overall song I heard from them. A good song to understand and get into Haken since it shows unique aspects of their sound but within a very solid listenable experience. Maybe even more so since I am a DT-guy and love that sound so much and Puzzle Box somehow resonates with the DT-sound a bit. The crazy part at ~5:20 is just awesome 

Being a DT-guy, how do you feel about Veil?

[Pettor]

Trying to get into Haken has been a bit hard for me. Specially since I love some parts of the sound but find the overall sound to be a bit hit and miss. Even find it to lack variation. But puzzle box is the best overall song I heard from them. A good song to understand and get into Haken since it shows unique aspects of their sound but within a very solid listenable experience. Maybe even more so since I am a DT-guy and love that sound so much and Puzzle Box somehow resonates with the DT-sound a bit. The crazy part at ~5:20 is just awesome 

Being a DT-guy, how do you feel about Veil?

It's ok. But it feels quite more standard Haken imo. It uses the unique aspects with these wobbly synth sounds, riffing and all that, but the chorus and insane wobbly parts from Puzzle Box isn't there. I wish they used more classic keyboard/synth sounds like the one at 0:56. Just a nice string synth adding some nice variation. Now it more becomes a song in the same vein as Puzzle Box but without having a strong hook and cool riff parts.

[Implode]

Someone posted on Reddit asking about the rhythm at 10:55 of Veil. This is my guess. Does that sound right to you guys?

[BRGM]

Someone posted on Reddit asking about the rhythm at 10:55 of Veil. This is my guess. Does that sound right to you guys?

Not Great at Music notations so I'm Not sure what The 7:5 actually means. However, I think The entire solo trading section switches between 8/8 and 10/8 except for that one bar at 10:55 which seems to be in 9/8? Perhaps I'm misinterpreting The question? And maybe I'm misinterpreting The Music as well? 

[Implode]

The 7:5 just means 7 eighth notes in the space of 5. I got 5/8 from tapping the eighth notes and the measure seems to be 5 notes long...almost. It seems very slightly off, but that could just be a performance thing because they immediately correct when continuing on. And then there are 7 hits in that rhythm they are actually playing so....7:5.

[Ninjabait]

I threw it in a DAW and recreated it in MuseScore and it sounds right.

Also, you don't need the :5 part of it. Just the indication that it's a septuplet and a bar line will do fine. It'll be pretty clear from context that it's 7 notes taking up the space of the bar, and you don't need the redundant information (and honestly it's a waste of ink haha).

[Elite]

To me it sounds more like 2 triplets followed by a regular eighth note, but I'm not sure either.

or rather; a triplet rhythm but with the seventh note (same length as the previous notes) tacked onto the end. Note that this is not the same as a septuplet.

[Implode]

Oh, that'd be a really fun metric modulation, but I'm not sure that's it. When I tap out triplets to the beat, the notes they are playing seem just a hair slower.

[Mladen]

I come back to Vector every now and then and I'm still surprised by how good it is. I still stand behind saying that The Good doctor / Puzzle box / Veil is their best streak of songs, and while I didn't find Nil by mouth all too memorable at first, there are some awesome bits in it that stuck with me over time.

It's great to be able to put on a rather short progressive metal record on and just rock out for no longer than 45 minutes. The band can still improve on it, though, given that I wasn't crazy about Host and A Cell divides. The idea of finishing an album with a ballad and a short rocker works great on parer, but I didn't find those songs to be that good. If the next album is in similar vein, I'd like it to be more consistent and have a strong ending.

[Rattlehead]

Puzzle Box is easily the best song on Vector and one of the best they've done overall I'd say.

I completely agree... it's easily a top 5 Haken song at this point for me. I'd even go as far as saying it's one of my favorite songs from the last 10 years.

[Fritzinger]

The guys return to Europe in the summer and even to my hometown Dresden! 

[cramx3]

If anyone is interested in a used Korg Karma

https://www.ebay.com/itm/333178948346?fbclid=IwAR2g8Q6QQyBKI1tQHutGbs-0hPuvUD-sbZs-qakL3epyNPwQ_TWSqGh-lfs

Thought these notes were interesting

Condition:   Used :
Seller Notes:   "Unit is fully functional, with the exception of the floppy drive.The unit is in bad aesthetic shape:- Left and right end plastic caps are cracked/broken.- All original rotary knobs are missing.- One of the 2 rivets that hold the keybed in place is broken, resulting in dangling of the lower register of the keybed."

I feel like the fact it got used to death is really cool.  If I were a collector and had a lot of money to spend, I'd totally like to have something like that in my collection vs. a mint unit.

[CodyWanKenobi]

If anyone is interested in a used Korg Karma

https://www.ebay.com/itm/333178948346?fbclid=IwAR2g8Q6QQyBKI1tQHutGbs-0hPuvUD-sbZs-qakL3epyNPwQ_TWSqGh-lfs

Thought these notes were interesting

Condition:   Used :
Seller Notes:   "Unit is fully functional, with the exception of the floppy drive.The unit is in bad aesthetic shape:- Left and right end plastic caps are cracked/broken.- All original rotary knobs are missing.- One of the 2 rivets that hold the keybed in place is broken, resulting in dangling of the lower register of the keybed."

I feel like the fact it got used to death is really cool.  If I were a collector and had a lot of money to spend, I'd totally like to have something like that in my collection vs. a mint unit.

Pretty sweet. Wish I had the money laying around.

[Buddyhunter1]

Been re-listening to Vector recently and I gotta say, if the whole record was on the same quality level as Puzzle Box and Veil it would have been an amazing album. But the rest is just so underwhelming.

[KevShmev]

Change that to Veil and Host, and I'd be in total agreement. I like Puzzle Box, but to me, Veil and Host are the clear standouts from the record.  Those are the only three songs I ever listen to anymore from the record.

[nattmorker]

For me, the only song I don't love is Host, it's only ok. The rest of the album is perfect IMO.

[jammindude]

It's excellent.

It's just overshadowed by the perfection of the first 4.

[jammindude]

There was a bit of disappointment.

A band was coming out of the gate with possibly the greatest opening 4 album run in all of progressive rock history, possibly on pace to usurp even the greatest bands of all time.....and then release a 5th album that is only "really really good".

On its own, it would be better. But it's hard not compare with the previous 4, and that makes it seem like the weakest link somehow

[gzarruk]

The first half is perfect, then the quality drops and never gets back up, imo.

[me7]

To my ears, it is as good as anything they did before, maybe even the most solid album they did to date. It's just the first time they didn't outdo themselves and surprise me.
I still spin Vector once a week and it has replaced Affinity as my default Haken album.

[cramx3]

After Veil the album goes a bit downhill.  Not bad, but it doesn't keep up the quality of how good it starts and it's just not that long to be able to recover from a couple uninteresting songs (Host, A Cell Divides).  Good album for sure, but doesn't top what they've done before.

[Mladen]

The only two songs that do not do a whole lot for me are the last two. If they were overall as strong as the rest of the album, Vector would probably be my favorite release of theirs.

[Evermind]

The only song that doesn't do anything for me is Nil By Mouth. I think the rest is stellar, excellent Haken material. I like Vector way more than Affinity, although I wish it had one or two more songs.

[Dublagent66]

I like the album a lot, but it's not overwhelming or ground breaking as far as Haken albums go.  I'd say they're still on track and I'm looking forward to the next release.

[RoeDent]

The only two songs that do not do a whole lot for me are the last two.

This.

The fact the album's so short by modern standards (and by Haken's own standards) puts this, despite having some stellar songs otherwise, at the bottom of my Haken album ranking. But only because something's got to come last.

[MinistroRaven]

Ladies and Gentlemen we hereby present to you "Nil by Mouth... by Mouth"
Brought to you by the good doctors at Freqstv & Zoom Deutschland

After the success of our acapella version of Toto's 'Africa', a new assignment was set to perform one of our own songs acapella... naturally we chose one of our instrumental pieces, and we still didn't let Ross join in!

Also on Youtube: https://youtu.be/2nmCWz65rco

Catch us at a select few summer shows across Europe in June/July. Info, Tickets & VIP upgrades here: https://www.hakenmusic.com/tour

https://www.facebook.com/324552258051454/posts/620693191770691?s=517009568&sfns=xmwa

[gzarruk]

Ladies and Gentlemen we hereby present to you "Nil by Mouth... by Mouth"
Brought to you by the good doctors at Freqstv & Zoom Deutschland

After the success of our acapella version of Toto's 'Africa', a new assignment was set to perform one of our own songs acapella... naturally we chose one of our instrumental pieces, and we still didn't let Ross join in!

Also on Youtube: https://youtu.be/2nmCWz65rco

Catch us at a select few summer shows across Europe in June/July. Info, Tickets & VIP upgrades here: https://www.hakenmusic.com/tour

https://www.facebook.com/324552258051454/posts/620693191770691?s=517009568&sfns=xmwa

This is the best video I never knew I needed untill now

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

Ladies and Gentlemen we hereby present to you "Nil by Mouth... by Mouth"
Brought to you by the good doctors at Freqstv & Zoom Deutschland

After the success of our acapella version of Toto's 'Africa', a new assignment was set to perform one of our own songs acapella... naturally we chose one of our instrumental pieces, and we still didn't let Ross join in!

Also on Youtube: https://youtu.be/2nmCWz65rco

Catch us at a select few summer shows across Europe in June/July. Info, Tickets & VIP upgrades here: https://www.hakenmusic.com/tour

https://www.facebook.com/324552258051454/posts/620693191770691?s=517009568&sfns=xmwa

This is the best video I never knew I needed untill now

Yea that was hilarious. 

[Implode]

  That's amazing.

[?]

I saw Haken at a festival last night and even though I'm not a diehard fan and they only had a 60-minute slot, they wiped the floor with all the other bands. The show was in a tent, so the crowd wasn't massive, but made up for it with enthusiasm - there were even mosh pits, which you rarely see at prog gigs in Finland. 1985 =