London-based progressive metallers Haken recently announced the release of the 'Restoration' EP on October 27, 2014 (US digital release date: November 11), coinciding with their UK & Ireland tour with label mates Leprous & Maschine. Now the band are pleased to reveal a brand new video for the track 'Darkest Light' taken from that EP, and you can view that here:
The band had this to say: ''Darkest Light' was our first chance to work creatively with our new bass player Conner Green. It was a natural fit right from the start as not only did he bring with him some insanely cool bass playing, but also a great positive energy that made the whole Restoration EP incredibly fun to make.'
Ray adds: ''Darkest Light' is based on 'Blind', one of our favourite tracks from the original 07/08 demo. We've managed to chop the old song in half, cut away all the excess fat and produce a 6 minute rowdy riff roller-coaster that will surely find a home in the heavier side of our live show.'
'Restoration' is comprised of three reworked and updated songs which originally appeared on their 2007/08 self-produced demo, and the release has been mixed & mastered by Jens Bogren at Fascination Street Studios. It will be released as a digital download, and a vinyl LP including CD.
Vocalist Ross Jennings explains: 'Redoing a few of our favourite tracks from the demo is something we've talked about doing for ages and the fans have been asking for it constantly. We were also excited about working creatively with our new bassist Conner Green, so this seemed like the perfect way to welcome him aboard.'
Guitarist Charlie Griffiths continues: 'merely re-recording the demo songs would have felt musically redundant and dishonest, since three of us didn't play on the original recordings. The band's sound has evolved considerably in the last few years so we used the demo tracks as a starting point and gave ourselves free reign to reimagine them and make them relevant to who we are today. These are now the definitive versions and we couldn't be happier with how they turned out'.
The track list and playing times are as follows:
1. Darkest Light (6:44)
2. Earthlings (7:52)
3. Crystallised (19:23)
The final track is a no holds barred epic including guest 'cameo' appearances by Pete Rinaldi (Headspace) and Mike Portnoy (Transatlantic / Flying Colors).
The vinyl with CD is now available to pre-order from the following places:
The band also recently announced a run of UK & Irish dates with label-mates Leprous & Maschine for later this year. This will be the band's biggest run of dates in their own country yet and they can be found below:
Haken, Leprous & Maschine:
Presented by Prog Magazine
23rd October, 2014 - London, The Garage
24th October, 2014 - Leamington Spa, Assembly
26th October, 2014 - Bristol, The Fleece
27th October, 2014 - Wolverhampton, Robin 2
29th October, 2014 - Dublin, The Village
30th October, 2014 - Liverpool, O2 Academy 2
31st October, 2014 - Manchester, Club Academy
1st November, 2014 - Edinburgh, The Liquid Room
2nd November, 2014 - York, The Duchess
HAKEN online:
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Progressive Rock & Progressive Metal - E-ZINE
