Haken

HAKEN are arguably the most exciting sound to emerge from the modern progressive movement. Formed in 2007 by three school friends Richard Henshall, Ross Jennings and Matthew Marshall (ex-guitarist), Haken is a virtuosic and eclectic progressive rock/metal band from London, England, comprising the country's finest young musicians. Having met the band on an online forum, keyboard virtuoso Peter Jones (ex-member) soon slotted into the line-up, bringing with him close friend and drummer Raymond Hearne. After acquiring the support of renowned To-Mera guitarist Tom Maclean on bass, the band soon completed a thirty-five minute demo consisting of three tracks, 'Snow', 'Souls' and 'Manifolds'.
In July 2007, Haken showcased their music for the very first time to a packed out London bar with a great response, followed the next week by a sold out show at "the best live music venue in south-west London", The Peel in Kingston. Within months of this double-debut performance, Haken were billed in support of Riverside (Inside Out) at Camden’s prestigious Underworld. Haken continued performing sets to packed houses throughout London and the UK during this time, most notably several sold-out shows at The Peel, as well as producing an additional three tracks for their demo, 'Blind', 'Sleeping Thoughts Wake', and 'Black Seed', the last of which featured on the cover CD for the second issue of 'Classic Rock presents Prog' magazine in June 2009.
In 2008, Haken received a massive blow in personnel and parted ways with Jones and Marshall, who went on to pursue other careers. It wasn’t long, however, before acclaimed Linear Sphere/Anchorhead guitarist Charlie Griffiths fitted the bill, shortly followed by gifted keyboardist Diego Tejeida late in 2008. In the last year, Haken have gone on to enjoy UK tours in support of cult metal bands King’s X (Inside Out), Bigelf (Custard Records), and To-Mera and continue to extend their fan base, as well as developing an eighty-minute epic concept album entitled ‘Aquarius’.
Early on in the writing process for the album, Haken were contacted by the Laser’s Edge group who later signed the band to their specialist progressive metal label Sensory Records, through which Aquarius will be released on MARCH 29th 2010 (March 30th in the USA).
In their brief existence, Haken are already highly respected within the British metal community, and their unique and imaginative genre-bending approach to music has garnered praise from all corners of the globe.