Earlier this summer, a new book dedicated to the resurgence of one of music’s most enduring and underrated genres was announced from The Prog Report. Essential Modern Progressive Rock Albums: Images and Words Behind Prog’s Most Celebrated Albums 1990-2016, authored by Prog Report editor Roie Avin, is the first book to shine a light exclusively on the important albums of the modern progressive rock era. This new book showcases more than 50 albums from the last quarter century of prog, with each chapter dedicated to one album.
Featuring full-color images of the artists live, original press photos and brilliant album cover art, this 280+ page, softcover coffee table book will be one every prog fan will want to display proudly as a badge of their fandom.
Preorders come with a download of a chapter from the book on Transatlantic’s The Whirlwind.
Highlighted in the book are prolific and pioneering artists such as Dream Theater, Porcupine Tree, Opeth, Spock’s Beard, Marillion, The Flower Kings, Enchant, Fates Warning, Queensryche, and Big Big Train, along with more recent bands like Haken, Karnivool, Riverside, Between the Buried and Me, and The Dear Hunter, among the more than 30 bands included. Drawing on original interviews with band members such as Mike Portnoy, Neal Morse, Steven Wilson, John Petrucci, Mikael Åkerfeldt, Roine Stolt, Pete Trewavas, Ross Jennings, and dozens more, the book offers an in-depth look at the stories behind the albums that shaped the next wave of progressive rock. This book focuses solely on bands that carried the mantle of the genre’s initial ’70s explosion, artists that expanded the genre further, incorporating new sounds and elements to reach new audiences worldwide.
“The last 25+ years have been an incredibly fruitful period for progressive music, as this book indicates. The albums chosen here represent some of the most exciting music created in the modern progressive period, and it’s only right that they claim their moment in the spotlight.” – Jerry Ewing, Prog Magazine “There certainly was a period when the majority of bands of the New Prog generation, whilst more than competent, sounded just a bit too derivative of their first generation idols. But Roie Avin’s book goes some way to establish the credentials of the more recent Neo-Prog bands as having a far more individual and original voice whether it be the virtuosity of Dream Theater, the creativity and appeal of Big Big Train, or the highly impressive path carved out by Steven Wilson firstly with Porcupine Tree and latterly, in his own right.” – Anthony Phillips, Genesis founding member, and guitarist “This looks to be an amazing book and a MUST HAVE for Prog fans!” – Mike Portnoy
Haken Release New Video ‘Lapse’ In Advance Of North American Tour
Haken are set to hit the road in North America later this month for their Haken 10th Anniversary Tour. In advance of that, the band have released a brand new animated video for the track ‘Lapse’, taken from last year’s critically acclaimed album ‘Affinity’ and created by Miles Skarin at Crystal Spotlight.
Continued Below Video
The band comments:
“Lapse was one of the first tracks we wrote for Affinity. Now more than a year since the album’s release, it’s great to finally give this song a chance to stand out on its own, as it’s one of our favorites!”
The band continues
“Visually, we wanted to maintain a consistency with our videos for ‘Initiate’, ‘Earthrise’ and ‘The Endless Knot’, so we returned to Miles Skarin at Crystal Spotlight to complete the series. The video incorporates a 3D motion capture technique (previously used on Frost*’s ‘Numbers’ video) to tie in with Affinity’s themes of artificial intelligence/consciousness.”
‘Haken X’ Tour North American dates
with special guests Sithu Aye (except Atlanta and Mexico)
AUG 23- DETROIT, MI @ THE SHELTER AUG 24- TORONTO, ON @ LEE’S PALACE AUG 25- MONTREAL, QC @ CLUB SODA AUG 26- QUEBEC CITY, QC @ SALLE MULTI AUG 27- BOSTON, MA @ BRIGHTON MUSIC HALL AUG 29- COLUMBUS, OH @ SKULLY’S MUSIC DINER AUG 30- CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, OH @ THE GROG SHOP AUG 31- PITTSBURGH, PA @ REX THEATER SEP 01- PHILADELPHIA, PA @ FOUNDRY @ THE FILLMORE SEP 02- NEW YORK, NY @ HIGHLINE BALLROOM SEP 03- WASHINGTON, DC @ ROCK & ROLL HOTEL SEP 05- DURHAM, NC @ MOTORCO MUSIC HALL SEP 06- ATLANTA, GA @ PROGPOWER USA XVIII SEP 10- MEXCO CITY, MX @ EL PLAZA CONDESA SEP 12- ANAHEIM, CA @ THE HOUSE OF BLUES SEP 13- SAN FRANCISCO, CA @ SLIM’S SEP 14- W.HOLLYWOOD, CA @ THE ROXY THEATRE SEP 15- LAS VEGAS, NV @ BACKSTAGE BAR & BILLIARDS SEP 16- SALT LAKE CITY, UT @ URBAN LOUNGE SEP 17- DENVER, CO @ MARQUIS THEATER SEP 19- ST.PAUL, MN @ AMSTERDAM BAR & HALL SEP 20- MILWAUKEE, WI @ SHANK HALL SEP 21- INDIANAPOLIS, IN @ THE EMERSON THEATER SEP 22- ST.LOUIS, MO @ DELMAR HALL SEP 23- CHICAGO, IL @ BOTTOM LOUNGE
It gives us great pleasure to announce our return to North America! We had an incredible time last year promoting and performing our latest album ‘Affinity’. This time round, we hope to up the ante by bringing our 10th Anniversary Tour to a whole bunch of new cities and venues, as well as revisiting some of our favorite locations!
We look forward to celebrating our career so far with all our fans and friends, old and new.
Tickets go on sale Wednesday, midday EST!
23 AUG – DETROIT, MI @ THE SHELTER
24 AUG – TORONTO, ON @ LEE’S PALACE
25 AUG – MONTREAL, QC @ CLUB SODA
26 AUG – QUEBEC CITY, QC @ SALLE MULTI
27 AUG – BOSTON, MA @ BRIGHTON MUSIC HALL
29 AUG – COLUMBUS, OH @ SKULLY’S MUSIC DINER
30 AUG – CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, OH @ THE GROG SHOP
31 AUG – PITTSBURGH, PA @ REX THEATER
01 SEP – PHILADELPHIA, PA @ FOUNDRY @ THE FILLMORE
02 SEP – NEW YORK, NY @ HIGHLINE BALLROOM
03 SEP – WASHINGTON, DC @ ROCK & ROLL HOTEL
05 SEP – DURHAM, NC @ MOTORCO MUSIC HALL
06 SEP – ATLANTA, GA @ ProgPower USA XVIII
10 SEP – MEXCO CITY, MX @ EL PLAZA CONDESA
12 SEP – ANAHEIM, CA @ THE HOUSE OF BLUES
13 SEP – SAN FRANCISCO, CA @ SLIM’S
14 SEP – W.HOLLYWOOD, CA @ THE ROXY THEATRE
15 SEP – LAS VEGAS, NV @ BACKSTAGE BAR & BILLARDS
16 SEP – SALT LAKE CITY, UT @ URBAN LOUNGE
17 SEP – DENVER, CO @ MARQUIS THEATER
19 SEP – ST.PAUL, MN @ AMSTERDAM BAR & HALL
20 SEP – MILWAUKEE, WI @ SHANK HALL
21 SEP – INDIANAPOLIS, IN @ THE EMERSON THEATER
22 SEP – ST.LOUIS, MO @ DELMAR HALL
23 SEP – CHICAGO, IL @ BOTTOM LOUNGE
with special guests Sithu Aye (except Atlanta and Mexico)
The Shattered Fortress is Mike Portnoy and an all-star Prog lineup consisting of members of HAKEN and the NEAL MORSE BAND performing Dream Theater’s 12 Step Suite live in it’s entirety for the first time…
This is not “a new band or project”, it is “an exclusive EVENT” that will be making several exclusive live appearances in select markets throughout the world ONLY in 2017
The setlist at the show will be comprised of the 12 Step Suite and select other classic Mike Portnoy/Dream Theater songs
As of now, these are the ONLY Shattered Fortress shows…after 2017, this will NOT be happening again….So don’t miss this ONCE IN A LIFETIME event while you can!
All Tickets on Sale this evening! Wednesday March 15th at 7pm GMT
London-based progressive metal band Haken celebrate their 10th anniversary in 2017, hot on the heels of the release of their critically acclaimed fourth album ‘Affinity’. Coinciding with this, the band will go out on a headline tour of Europe in March & April, with tickets on sale this Wednesday at 10am GMT. InsideOutMusic will also be reissuing the band’s first two albums, ‘Aquarius’ & ‘Visions’, on the 3rd February 2017 in new remastered 2CD editions, as well as vinyl for the very first time.
The band had this to say
“We are delighted to announce our ‘Haken X’ European tour in celebration of our 10th anniversary. We’ll be returning to some of our favourite cities and also paying a visit to several new countries including Austria, Hungary, Luxembourg and the Czech Republic. In honour of the ten years Haken has existed, we’ll be revisiting material from our entire back catalogue with a special focus on our first two albums ‘Aquarius’ and ‘Visions’, which are to be re-released in advance of the tour. We sincerely hope you join us for this special run of shows and we’d be overjoyed to see each of y’all there!”
On the reissues they comment
“We can’t wait for people to hear these albums in their brilliant new and remastered form. Both ‘Aquarius’ and ‘Visions’ hold a special place in our hearts as well as the fans’ and we wanted to make sure we brought them back in a fresh and exciting way. Listeners will be able to enjoy the nuances in our instrumental arrangements and also embrace the complete audio experience of vinyl. We’re looking forward to revisiting much of this music on stage for our fans around Europe in our upcoming 10th anniversary tour.”
The full list of European tour dates can be found below, tickets on sale Wednesday 23rd November at 10am GMT. VIP upgrades will become available for selected shows.
‘HAKEN X’ EUROPEAN TOUR 2017
22nd March – Rescue Rooms, Nottingham, UK
23rd March – O2 ABC2, Glasgow, UK
24th March – Academy 3, Manchester, UK
25th March – O2 Academy 2, Birmingham, UK
26th March – Islington Assembly Hall, London, UK
28th March – Le Splendid, Lille, France
29th March – La Maroquinerie, Paris, France
30th March – La Laiterie, Strasbourg, France
31st March – KIFF, Aarau, Switzerland
1st April – Keller Klub, Stuttgart, Germany
3rd April – Zona Roveri, Bologna, Italy
4th April – Szene, Vienna, Austria
5th April – Dürer-Kert, Budapest, Hungary
6th April – Futurum, Prague, Czech Republic
7th April – Beatpol, Dresden, Germany
9th April – Chez Heinz, Hannover, Germany
10th April – Kesselhaus, Wiesbaden, Germany
11th April – Turock, Essen, Germany
12th April – Rockhal, Esch-Sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
13th April – Melkweg OZ, Amsterdam, Holland
15th April – Bascula Club, Tel Aviv, Israel
The band’s first and second albums ‘Aquarius’ & ‘Visions’ have been newly remastered by the renowned Jens Bogren (Devin Townsend Project, Between the Buried & Me) who worked with the band on their last two albums, bringing these records up to the sonic quality of their most recent output. They will both be available as 2CD Digipaks including the entire albums as instrumentals, and it will also mark the first time that either album has been available on vinyl, arriving as Gatefold heavyweight 2LP editions with the full album on CD included.
Latest album ‘Affinity’ was released in April this year, and received great reactions from press; find a selection of them below:
“Affinity proves what a unique and spellbinding band Haken are” – Metal Hammer 8/10
“inescapable melodic hooks and absorbing textures” – Total Guitar 4/5
“Affinity will be hailed as one of the landmarks of 2016 and beyond” – Powerplay 9/10
Recorded during the winter months of 2015, ‘Affinity’ marks a new approach to the song-writing process for Haken.
as vocalist Ross Jennings explains
“It is the most collaborative we have ever been on an album. We wanted to develop and expand our sound by having every member contribute initial ideas from the very beginning of the process. It naturally takes longer to filter through the mass of material and fit it all together coherently, but this approach has helped to create something completely fresh whilst maintaining the core elements of Haken’s sound.”
The band once again called upon Jens Bogren at Fascination Street Studios (Opeth, Devin Townsend, Between The Buried And Me) for mixing and mastering duties.
keyboardist Diego Tejeida remarks
“He is a wizard in this department! We are always confident his mix will bring out the best from our performance and this is no exception”
Like much of Haken’s previous music, ‘Affinity’ is full of surprises and ‘The Architect’, the album’s centrepiece, is no exception. Blasting through a dizzying array of instrumental insanity coupled with down-tempo atmospheric tenuity, Haken welcomes friend and Leprous frontman Einar Solberg mid-song for a spot of guest vocals! Just one of many twists and turns throughout this 60-minute musical lobotomy, Haken’s ‘Affinity’ will open up a new dimension in this UK sextet’s trajectory.
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