Late last year, extra-curricular activities, personnel departures and concert cancellations inspired rumours that Haken might be no more. Fortunately they were false: the band are returned with new EP In A Fever Dream, their first new music since 2023’s Fauna, which features some very special guests. Vocalist Ross Jennings tells Prog about the band’s latest chapter.
Sometimes an EP can be a standalone project that allows artists to experiment with concepts, creativity and tone; to have a little fun and let off steam with ideas they might not carry through to their next full album. Haken’s In A Fever Dream feels like a far more pivotal release than that. It certainly plays with new sounds and approaches, but it’s more of a stepping stone than a standalone exercise. ‘I’m finding a way to say goodbye/A new day rises from the ashes,’ sings Ross Jennings on Bleeding Sky.
“The whole EP is about transformation,” says the singer; “a transformational period in a relationship, or maybe you’re changing your life in some way. Reflecting on the band as well, we’re going through some stylistic changes and it serves as a kind of bridge to what we might be working on in the future. All without trying not to alienate people too much – not throwing too many changes at our fans in one go. We’re really excited to be drawing on new influences and shifting how we work in some way.”
Haken have certainly dealt with major changes recently. At the start of the year they announced the departures of longtime guitarist Charlie Griffiths and bassist Conner Green. That came soon after the band pulled out of a tour supporting Coheed And Cambria, citing only “reasons beyond our control” and spurring fan gossip. Haken still aren’t looking to wash their dirty linen in public, and Jennings is keen to pay tribute to the pair’s previous contributions.
“The situation was quite raw for all of us – Charlie and Conner were monumental fixtures in the band,” he says. “They contributed so much to the songwriting and the sound of the band. So it was a really hard time to navigate; but some things were necessary. Change is hard; and the band is like any marriage. But this is life: to move forward and deal with these things appropriately and keep positive.”
As a result, there were changes in the way Haken approached the songs on In A Fever Dream. There are still plenty of progressive touches and intricate rhythms in there – but elements have been pared down, with a wall of sound production and dense, emotional heft replacing some of the more complex dynamics fans have become used to. Part of the shift might have been imposed by the abridged line-up, but there’s also an intentional evolution at play.
“We’re down one guitarist so we’ve had to rewrite material to lend itself to just Rich Henshall playing, working more with collaborations between guitars and keys rather than that extra guitarist to fill gaps,” Jennings says. “It’s totally reshaped how we approach new songs.”
Another change was their decision to work with an outside producer for the first time in their near-20-year career. George Lever is known for his work with bands from the djent side of prog metal, including Monuments and, most prominently, Sleep Token. It didn’t take long for fans to jump on that – and it’s safe to say not everyone is on board. “That’s been a monumental shift in how we work, how we record; having that outside viewpoint that we never had,” Jennings says. “I’ve noticed in some comments about how different it’s sounding. That was intentional.
“A large part of what drew him to us, and us to him, was because he’s a fan of some of the older Haken stuff. We obviously love what Sleep Token have done; we’re huge fans. We didn’t want to copy too much, but naturally there’s going to be an element of the sounds and sound design that he integrated into those records. For better or for worse? I don’t know.”
He assures us that Haken won’t be taking to wearing masks, but they’re certainly not averse to taking inspiration from a new generation of bands who have taken modern metal with progressive touches to huge audiences. It can be a difficult balance for any artist to take on new influences while retaining their core identity, as he acknowledges: “The jury will be out on that. I don’t think we can really say if we’ve achieved that or not, but that ’s certainly the intention. We’re definitely inspired by a lot of modern metal bands coming up doing great things.
“Obviously we want to keep our audience young; but we don’t want to alienate our longstanding loyal fanbase, whom we love. There’ll always be a bit of the classic prog in there, and the way I sing is never going to change drastically. So there will always be that link – but we’re an ever-evolving band that never wants to get stagnant.”
On the subject of his vocal performance, there are moments on the title track and closer Lotus where he accentuates his heavier elements with harsh singing. he’s done it before, albeit in small doses, on debut album Aquarius and in live performances; but he says: “I was never truly satisfied with how those parts came across, and for a while I didn’t really enjoy singing in that way. But certainly since we recorded Vector onwards and started leaning more into the heavier aspect of our sound, I started to think about reintegrating some of that. This project felt like the perfect time to do that.”
If we’re just doing the same stuff with every release, we’re going to be playing the same venues in 20 years to the same lovely fans
Jennings credits co-vocalist Pipi Gogerl from side-project Novena with helping him make sure his “growling game was up to scratch,” and adds that there may be “bits and pieces” of the style on future records. What there won’t be, at least for the immediate future, are full-time replacements for Griffiths and Green.
“We’ve decided to continue as a four-piece and live with a session bassist for now,” he explains. “We’re happy with the dynamics on the EP. Connor’s shoes are hard to fill – he was a great bassist. We don’t want to rush into filling that spot, but eventually we’ll land on someone.”
In A Fever Dream features contributions from Aristocrats bassist Bryan Beller – who’s also worked with James LaBrie, Dweezil Zappa and Joe Satriani – and former Periphery man Adam ‘Nolly’ Getgood. “We thought it was cool to invite a couple of players that we’re inspired by and are friends with,” Jennings says. “Bryan came to mind. He’d worked with Ray Hearne, our drummer, before. The bass parts were essentially all written by us, but we gave him licence to add his spin on it, and he did a really solid job. Nolly mixed Vector and Virus, so there’s a bit of history between us. He’s a solid bass player; we had songs in mind that required his style, so that collaboration worked perfectly.”
It will be Haken’s 20th anniversary next year, but don’t expect any major celebrations. “I don’t think I’m in a place to be celebrating 20 years like an old dog,” says Jennings with a laugh. “We still feel young as a band and we feel there’s so much more of that mountain to climb – the mountain we were singing about however many years ago,” he adds, referring to 2013 album The Mountain and its precipitous metaphor for life.
In retrospect, their most recent album, 2023’s Fauna, could come to be seen as the end of one Haken era and the beginning of a new one, with 2024’s career-spanning An Evening With Haken tour making a spectacular bookend. The shows featured Fauna in its entirety followed by a set of fan favourites, with the London stop also immortalised as a live album.
“We wanted to represent everything we’d done to that point with the classic prog stuff and the metal stuff and also nods to the future, a bit like we’re doing now,” Jennings reports. “It felt right to tour it as An Evening With... It was a lot of fun, an amazing tour, and I’m glad we documented it in our hometown.”
That’s the past, though, and Haken are now looking firmly towards the future. Jennings reveals that they already have “an album’s worth” of new music besides the EP, and that the “mixing and final tweaking stages” are underway. “I’d expect it in 2027,” he adds when pushed.
There’s a good chance it will divide fan opinion – but he’s unrepentant about Haken’s refusal to stand still. He’s also happy to take a few cues from bands like Sleep Token.“That’s what we want to see really: that people who listen to straight-up metal can open their minds to the stuff that we do,” he says.
“Every band wants to progress and grow their fanbase. If we’re just doing the same stuff with every release, we’re going to see ourselves playing the same venues in 20 years’ time to the same lovely fans that we have. We’re hoping to keep the momentum going.”
In A Fever Dream is on sale now.
