AQUARIUS

Haken

Heavy Prog

4.04 | 1163 ratings

From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

After listening to Ayreon - "The Human Equation" (by Arjen Lucassen) I was sure that I won't be mindblowed for a long time.

Many days passed.

So I stare through the glass of my aquarium, watching fishes swimming around. Now I believe that their little minds are as beautiful as sound of water flowing from my speakers. Because my dear friends - I am mindblowed again. Now I am Aquarius.

It is difficult for me to write about album like Aquarius. It is hard enough to speak about it in polish, my first language, so how can I find perfect words in english to describe such a perfect music?! Even word "perfect" isn't perfect enough.

It's meaningless to write about skills of musicians from Haken. It's impossible to listen to their music and not notice that they can play their instruments in a full-scale way, there's no doubt about it. So what could I tell about Aquarius?

Variety of sounds, that strictly means variety of emotions while listening. Yeah, this guys know how to make you feel delighted, frightened, amazed, touched, or even amused. Simultaneously. Flurry of ideas and sounds are perfectly balanced in whole album. Starting from eminent introduction, finding emotional break down in "Aquarium", then seamlessly bringing you up in Eternal Rain with explosive solo just to depress you in next two dramatic tracks. That all finds top in finale, "Celestial Elixir", that gradually is going higher and higher (with vaudeville interludium in between), mixing absolutely stunning ideas, where one part unexpectly, but seamlessly turns into another. Perfect sinusoid, like encircling flowing stream. Massive musical story, merciless playing with your emotions, that leaves you defenceless.

One and only masterpiece released in 2010 that well deserves five stars. There are some runners up, but this one full 100%. How the hell they are gonna record second album, that will be a worthy successor of Aquarius?

Highlights: whole album. Seriously. If I had to point one or two - "Celestial Elixir", and "Eternal Rain" solo.

kontra | 5/5 | 2010-12-8

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