''Aquarius'' is the debut studio

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

by the British

progressive metal Progressive metal (sometimes shortened to prog metal) is a broad fusion music genre melding heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified guitar-driven sound of the former with the more experimental, cerebral ...

band Haken. Despite the band having released two previous demos, none of the multiple songs already recorded were re-released on this album. A 22-minute medley of the whole album, except for the song "Sun", was included in their live album '' L-1VE''. ''Aquarius'' was largely written on the piano by guitarist/keyboardist

Richard Henshall Richard James "Hen" Henshall is a British progressive metal multi-instrumentalist. He is best known for being the guitarist and keyboardist for the bands To-Mera, Haken (band), Haken, Nova Collective, and Opinaut. He has released one album ('' ...

and then developed with contributions from the rest of the band. Its track lengths are typical of progressive rock and progressive metal, with the shortest track being just under 7 minutes and the longest being nearly 17. AllMusic guide page for Aquarius with track listing.Retrieved 2010-08-18. It is a concept album about a mermaid, discovered by a fisherman and sold to a circus, whose blood is the only thing capable of saving the human race from a flood resulting from

global warming In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

issues. She ultimately dies for mankind's sake. The album artwork was created by Dennis Sibeijn, who has also worked with 3, Job for a Cowboy, and See You Next Tuesday, among others.

The Story Of The Album

The Point Of No Return The album opens up with the song "The Point Of No Return". In the song we learn about a couple that is expecting a baby. In the birth of the child, the couple sees that the child is a

mermaid In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Asia, and Africa. Mermaids are sometimes ass ...

and decides to throw the child into the sea. Stream In the song "Streams" we learn that the child from before is happy in the sea swimming with the fish. The song also uses

harsh vocals A death growl, or simply growl, is an extended vocal technique usually employed in extreme styles of music, particularly in death metal and other extreme subgenres of heavy metal music. Death growl vocals are sometimes criticized for their ...

to showcase the mermaid's insecurities. Aquarium The third song "Aquarium" opens from the perspective of a

fisherman A fisher or fisherman is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishers and fish farmers. Fishers may be professional or rec ...

who finds the

while fishing. The fisherman captures the mermaid and puts her in his Aquarium for people to see. In the chorus, the mermaid shouts at the fisherman to release her. In the middle of the song we find out that the fisherman and the mermaid fell in love despite what he had done to her. Eternal Rain The song "Eternal Rain" takes the story to a darker tone, An approaching storm is threatening to end humanity and scientists found a way to save humanity that involves the mermaid. The fisherman also releases the mermaid. Drowning In The Flood In the fifth song "Drowning In The Flood" the storm is coming and causes a wave of destruction. Scientists have found a way to save humanity at the cost of her life and she accepts her fate. The fisherman hasn't taken it well and he is drowning in the flood while he is heartbroken. Sun The song "Sun" brings all the emotions to the front. The fisherman grieves over the mermaid's death thinking it was his fault that she died. He thinks that if he had never discovered her she might have lived. He thinks that maybe humanity would have found a different way to survive if he had not found her and that maybe humanity would have gone extinct but it would be worth it if she survives. Celestial Elixir The grand finale of the album "Celestial Elixir" tells us that her sacrifice worked. Her blood was able to create a cure that turns humans into mermaids giving them the ability to survive the flood. The life of the mermaid was a tragic one, the fisherman survives with only her memory.

Reception

The reception of this album was generally positive. Eduardo Rivadavia of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

praised it as the strongest prog album yet to come out in the 2010s.

Classic Rock Magazine ''Classic Rock'' is a British magazine and website dedicated to rock music, owned and published by Future. It was launched in October 1998 and is based in London. The magazine publishes 13 editions a year, mainly covering rock bands from the 60, ...

featured the song "Eternal Rain" as a free track of the day on 15 April 2010. The small review given was positive, calling it "interesting music from a young London band who combine jazz, metal and prog, delivered with excellent musicianship."

Track listing

Personnel

;Haken * Ross Jennings –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

* Richard "Hen" Henshall –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

and keyboards * Charlie Griffiths – guitar *

Thomas MacLean Tom MacLean is an English progressive metal multi-instrumentalist. He is best known as the guitarist of To-Mera and as the former bassist of Haken. MacLean was taught the classical guitar at the age of 10 and changed to electric at 14. It was not ...

–

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

* Ray Hearne – drums,

tuba The tuba (; ) is the lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece. It first appeared in the mid-19th century, making it one of the ne ...

, djembe * Diego Tejeida – keyboards ;Additional musicians * Craig Beattie –

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...

* Alex Benwell –

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

* Pablo Inda Garcia – clarinet * Marged Hall – harp * Darren Moore – trumpet * Jon Roskilly – trombone * Dave Ruff – flute ;Production and design * Misha Nikolic –

recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, r ...

* Tony Ashby – recording * Loz Anslow – recording * Christian Moos – mixing * Eroc – mastering * Dennis Sibeijn – artwork,

design A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design' ...

References

External links

* AllMusic Guide to Aquarius
ProgArchives Aquarius page

iTunes Aquarius page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aquarius (Haken Album) 2010 debut albums Haken (band) albums