Haken (/ˈheɪkən/)[1] are an English progressive metal band formed in 2007 by multi-instrumentalist Richard Henshall, guitarist Matthew Marshall, and vocalist Ross Jennings.
Richard Henshall, Matthew Marshall, and Ross Jennings had grown up as friends in their teenage years and first had the idea to form Haken in 2004, when they would regularly play together in "casual bedroom jams".
[2] Henshall mentioned on some occasions that "Haken" was the name of a fictional character he and some friends came up with in their school days,[2] under the influence of alcohol[1] or weed.
[3] At the time the three considered the jams as a hobby, but they eventually chose to focus on studying their instruments and rejoined three years later to form the band.
[10] On 25 September, Haken announced that MacLean would be leaving the band after completing the Prog Stage Festival in Israel in October 2013.
[13] "Darkest Light", a reworked version of "Blind", was released with a music video featuring footage from the recording process of Restoration on 24 September.
[19] Haken band began to tour with Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy and Neal Morse Band guitarist Eric Gillette in 2017, performing the Twelve-step Suite in its entirety (among other Dream Theater songs), the outfit named Mike Portnoy's Shattered Fortress.
One thing is certain: We will endeavor to stick to our mandate of strong melodies and Killer riffs!Vector was then released on 26 October 2018 with positive reviews.
[19] In August 2019, Henshall released a solo album titled The Cocoon, featuring Jennings on vocals in one song.
[26] On 22 November 2021, the band announced that keyboardist Diego Tejeida had parted ways with them due to both parties having "very different musical visions".
[31] On 24 November 2022, the band launched a game whose prize was an excerpt from a piece called 'The Alphabet of Me' on their upcoming album Fauna (released on 3 March 2023)[32] and its cover art.
[33] Haken is known to occasionally release short videos of rehearsals and writing sessions on the members respective public social media accounts.