Haken v. new single Nightingale (April 26)

[Buddyhunter1]

I can't believe Ariich is in Haken

[Zydar]

I can't believe Ariich is in Haken

That post go well with your avatar

[King Postwhore]

Nice!

I guess congrats are in order, Rich.

Not to me, but I'll happily pass them to Pete from DTF.

Please do.  Just saw the Facebook post.

[TAC]

That's awesome Rich!

You'll hook us all up with some Haken swag now amirite?

[Kwyjibo]

Was it mandatory to grow a beard to join Haken? 

[Elite]

How long have you known?

[ariich]

Was it mandatory to grow a beard to join Haken? 

Yes, according to Haken:

How long have you known?

It's been on the cards for a few months.

[Buddyhunter1]

Was it mandatory to grow a beard to join Haken? 

Yes, according to Haken:

So that's why the old bassist left...

[hefdaddy42]

Nice!

[gzarruk]

Great news! And after his involvement with Nova Collective + Vector/Virus, it was a no-brainer, really. Congrats to your brother, Rich!

As for this:

Meanwhile, Diego has been recording music with a new band which seems to include Eric Gillette

I saw that Diego is doing something, which excites me, but where did you read about Eric?

It's just about putting pieces together, really. There was an interview with Diego from years ago (I think it's the one that MinistroRaven did, but I'm not entirely sure) where he said he'd love to collaborate with Eric and Baard Kolstad someday. Fast-forward to present day, Diego's post says he got his first options for each of the band members AND Eric also shared a video clip of him recording for a new, secret project that sounds an awful lot like Haken when they Diego was actually present in the mix (https://www.facebook.com/EricGilletteMusic/videos/4880315675347487/)

[devieira73]

Great news!! Congratulations to Pete!!

[Progmetty]

Hell yeah!! I came as soon as I saw the fb post!
Excited to see them with Pete, please pass congrats to him ariich!

[MinistroRaven]

Great news! And after his involvement with Nova Collective + Vector/Virus, it was a no-brainer, really. Congrats to your brother, Rich!

As for this:

Meanwhile, Diego has been recording music with a new band which seems to include Eric Gillette

I saw that Diego is doing something, which excites me, but where did you read about Eric?

It's just about putting pieces together, really. There was an interview with Diego from years ago (I think it's the one that MinistroRaven did, but I'm not entirely sure) where he said he'd love to collaborate with Eric and Baard Kolstad someday. Fast-forward to present day, Diego's post says he got his first options for each of the band members AND Eric also shared a video clip of him recording for a new, secret project that sounds an awful lot like Haken when they Diego was actually present in the mix (https://www.facebook.com/EricGilletteMusic/videos/4880315675347487/)

You, here: https://www.sonicperspectives.com/interviews/interview-with-diego-tejeida/

[The Letter M]

Exciting news! I wonder how long it'll be before they start working on new material with Peter in the band again. Think we'll see a new album this year?

-Marc.

[cramx3]

Very cool for this to finally be announced.

[Max Kuehnau]

Exciting news! I wonder how long it'll be before they start working on new material with Peter in the band again. Think we'll see a new album this year?

-Marc.

IIRC, I read Ross Jennings (?,not sure.  Their singer.) mentioning them being in the studio at some point soon ish for their seventh album yes.

[ProfessorPeart]

So when is the announcement that Pete is the new (old) keyboardist?

Old news. I called it 2 months ago. 

[ariich]

So when is the announcement that Pete is the new (old) keyboardist?

Old news. I called it 2 months ago. 

Some people were calling it 2 years ago (or close enough anyway), genuinely before it was even a thing.

[ariich]

Exciting news! I wonder how long it'll be before they start working on new material with Peter in the band again. Think we'll see a new album this year?

-Marc.

Not sure about the timing of an album, but possibly! They have already started working on ideas and Pete has been fully involved already. My understanding from what he's said is that some of the ideas are pretty well developed already, but it's hard to guess how long it'll take to have a full album well developed and ready to record.

[gzarruk]

Great news! And after his involvement with Nova Collective + Vector/Virus, it was a no-brainer, really. Congrats to your brother, Rich!

As for this:

Meanwhile, Diego has been recording music with a new band which seems to include Eric Gillette

I saw that Diego is doing something, which excites me, but where did you read about Eric?

It's just about putting pieces together, really. There was an interview with Diego from years ago (I think it's the one that MinistroRaven did, but I'm not entirely sure) where he said he'd love to collaborate with Eric and Baard Kolstad someday. Fast-forward to present day, Diego's post says he got his first options for each of the band members AND Eric also shared a video clip of him recording for a new, secret project that sounds an awful lot like Haken when they Diego was actually present in the mix (https://www.facebook.com/EricGilletteMusic/videos/4880315675347487/)

You, here: https://www.sonicperspectives.com/interviews/interview-with-diego-tejeida/

That's the one

[King Postwhore]

Rich, let Pete know that all the fans have to have a beard to get into the venues to see them as well.  LOL

[Kram]

Great news! And after his involvement with Nova Collective + Vector/Virus, it was a no-brainer, really. Congrats to your brother, Rich!

As for this:

Meanwhile, Diego has been recording music with a new band which seems to include Eric Gillette

I saw that Diego is doing something, which excites me, but where did you read about Eric?

It's just about putting pieces together, really. There was an interview with Diego from years ago (I think it's the one that MinistroRaven did, but I'm not entirely sure) where he said he'd love to collaborate with Eric and Baard Kolstad someday. Fast-forward to present day, Diego's post says he got his first options for each of the band members AND Eric also shared a video clip of him recording for a new, secret project that sounds an awful lot like Haken when they Diego was actually present in the mix (https://www.facebook.com/EricGilletteMusic/videos/4880315675347487/)

Yes, I saw Eric's post on FB.  Plus I felt they had great chemistry together when the played with MP's Shattered Fortress.

[cramx3]

Rich, let Pete know that all the fans have to have a beard to get into the venues to see them as well.  LOL

Damn, locking me out of Haken concerts 

[Buddyhunter1]

Rich, let Pete know that all the fans have to have a beard to get into the venues to see them as well.  LOL

This probably doesn't affect at least 50% of their current fanbase.

[jammindude]

Really happy to hear this news.  I do hope that their material moving forward has a bit more keyboards out front.

I still can't help but be curious about whether Diego's parts were being forced out because they just happen to be writing more guitar oriented stuff....or if the stuff was more guitar oriented because Diego's contributions just weren't something they were clicking with anymore.   Chicken or the egg.

In any event.  Sometimes things like this can light a spark.

[Glasser]

I found Haken in 2009 when someone gave me the first demo and loved it. My favorite album is still Aquarius with Visions a close second. After that they became just another cool prog band. Restoration is reworked demo tunes which is excellent but Virus shows them becoming run of the mill. I like Haken but their identity that captured me when they broke onto the scene has vanished.

[hefdaddy42]

Rich, let Pete know that all the fans have to have a beard to get into the venues to see them as well.  LOL

I'm safe!

[Fritzinger]

I found Haken in 2009 when someone gave me the first demo and loved it. My favorite album is still Aquarius with Visions a close second. After that they became just another cool prog band. Restoration is reworked demo tunes which is excellent but Virus shows them becoming run of the mill. I like Haken but their identity that captured me when they broke onto the scene has vanished.

I absolutely can't understand how that is possible  Their last albums are just insanely good and I know no band who can produce albums like that.

[me7]

I love all Haken albums, but I can't deny that something changed with The Mountain. It mostly changed for the better IMO, but some amount of slow paced neo-prog innocence was lost along the way. Now Haken do shorter albums that have more ideas crammed into them.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

Yeah, I'll admit that outside of a few songs (Crystallised, Earthrise) Haken haven't really done anything that's interested me since The Mountain. None of it's been bad necessarily, but they seem to have lost a lot of the quirkiness that defined their early stuff and consequently their new music is just kind of unmemorable.

Seems like they're more popular than ever though so I get that this isn't the majority opinion.

[gzarruk]

I discovered them around 2011 after Visions was released, but it was actually Celestial Elixir that introduced me to the band. I instantly became a fan, but it was with The Mountain that they became one of my favorite bands of all time, only behind DT. I remained a huge fan untill a few months after Vector was out, because that album didn't do quite well with me, but it was still enjoyable and I still followed them closely. Then the dang virus came and it completely killed the band for me (and I'm not talking about covid ). Hoping the next one, whenever ends up being released, doesn't sound anything like Vector/Virus and that they find their love/use for keyboards again. Let's go, Pete!

[The Letter M]

Well since we're all bringing up when we discovered Haken, I looked back through my emails and Amazon orders and noticed I had ordered Visions back in February of 2013 (along with the first Redemption album). I guess I found them around that time, before The Mountain came out later that year, though apparently I didn't order The Mountain until April 2016. I guess I discovered Haken but they didn't stick with me at the time because I'm not sure why I wouldn't have ordered The Mountain in 2013 after it came out. For some reason, I waited 3 years and ordered it just before Affinity came out, which is an album I really enjoy. I think I may have heard The Mountain online and wasn't too impressed by it at the time, but I remember loving Visions since I got it. Aquarius was really good too when I first heard it.

In retrospect, I'd say Visions and Affinity are still my two favorites. Vector and Virus are fine, but start to veer into territory that feels familiar to other bands and sounds. I really enjoyed what they had going on before hand, as those albums stand out among the rest of my collection and listening. With their original keyboardist back in, I hope they reflect on where they've been and try to rekindled the spark that their earlier work had. I think most fans will appreciate it if their next album wasn't so closely tied to Vector/Virus in terms of over-all sound and feel and do something new and unique for them, like Affinity.

-Marc.

[Glasser]

I found Haken in 2009 when someone gave me the first demo and loved it. My favorite album is still Aquarius with Visions a close second. After that they became just another cool prog band. Restoration is reworked demo tunes which is excellent but Virus shows them becoming run of the mill. I like Haken but their identity that captured me when they broke onto the scene has vanished.

I absolutely can't understand how that is possible  Their last albums are just insanely good and I know no band who can produce albums like that.

I agree, they are great. That's not my point. I just think they became more typical.

[devieira73]

From that sonicperspectives interview. it seems that Diego was a bit uninterested on prog music lately, hence, this can be the reason for the keyboards being less prominent, specially on Virus. And maybe why he parted ways with the band.
About Vector/Virus I do think they are great, but I just prefer The Mountain and Affinity from all their albums.

[ronnibran]

I actually didn't discover Haken until hearing the first D'virgilio Morse Jennings song and liked it enough to check them out again.  I've kind of checked them out throughout the years but didn't try hard.  I think normally my initial reaction was not liking the singer much, so I didn't give them much of a chance.  But recently when fully discovering them I like the singing.

I decided to start at the beginning of the discography so listened to Aquarius first.  Totally loved it and instantly loved the band.  Since then I have listened to Virus and Vector quite a bit.  Love those albums too but Aquarius is still my favorite. 

Trying to get to know the albums pretty well before moving onto the next albums.  I'm kind of half familiar with Affinity at this point but haven't dug at all into Mountain or Visions yet.