Haken was my favorite or 2nd favorite band during the Aquarius - Visions - The Mountain period.
I have a bit lost interest in the band from Affinity onwards, but Fauna is impressive to me and made me enthusiast about the band again.
If I had to describe with one word Vector/Virus I would say "heavy", for Fauna I would say "eclectic" or "experimental".
I don't see that much similarity with Vector/Virus as just another Haken album with their new modern sound, because Fauna really tries to incorporate lots of different influences and it's so much inspired
It feels like listening to Bilateral by Leprous a decade after, which at that time I felt as very innovative and inspired in the prog metal genre.
I feel that Fauna similarly to that album has a distinctive unifying sound, but at the same time every song has a strong identity and tries to explore a different style and direction on every song, sometimes taking more risks than in the recent past (Alphabet of Me, Beneath The White Rainbow and Elephants Never Forget above all).
I don't remember any wasted second or uninspired moment in Fauna, as I can say also for other early Haken albums I love as Aquarius, but in Fauna I can recognize also a higher level of maturity, both technical and in songwriting.
I think it is not exaggerating to say that it can be at the top of the ranking of their albums to me. For sure I have more emotional attachment to The Mountain and Aquarius, but this new one feels too much well done to not put it above those.
I can't do song rankings yet, I am just at this listen. I just know that Taurus is my least favorite, but it's not a bad song, just a normal one among more interesting ones. Maybe Alphabet of Me second to last, but I appreciate it a lot more in the context of album as it sticks out nicely from the prog metal style of most of the album.
The rest of the songs have all chance to be 1st, it's too early to tell.