''The Cocoon'' is the debut solo album by British guitarist and 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 ('' ...

of Haken fame. It was released on 9 August 2019. It features guest performances of his Haken bandmate

Ross Jennings Ross James Jennings (13 November 1944 – 25 March 2016) was a New Zealand actor, becoming one of New Zealand's most experienced television producers and directors, whose credits included ''The Mad Dog Gang'', '' Close to Home'', Moynihan, Insi ...

(vocals), among other guests. The main members include bassist Conner Green (also of Haken) and Cynic drummer Matt Lynch. It was initially planned for a 26 July release. Henshall cites

Bon Iver Bon Iver ( ) is an American indie folk band founded in 2006 by singer-songwriter Justin Vernon. Vernon released Bon Iver's debut album, ''For Emma, Forever Ago,'' independently in July 2007. The majority of the album was recorded while Vernon ...

Meshuggah Meshuggah () is a Swedish extreme metal band formed in Umeå in 1985. Originally, the band's name was Metallien. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist Jens Kidman, guitarists Fredrik Thordendal and Mårten Hagström, drummer Tomas ...

and

Squarepusher Tom Jenkinson (born 17 January 1975), known professionally as Squarepusher, is an English electronic musician, record producer, bassist, multi-instrumentalist and DJ. His music spans several genres including drum and bass, IDM, acid house, ...

as influences and says the album reflects his tastes for electronic music, jazz and metal. The song "Twisted Shadows", which features guest performances from

Jennings Jennings is a surname of early medieval English origin (also the Anglicised version of the Irish surnames Mac Sheóinín or MacJonin). Notable people with the surname include: *Jennings (Swedish noble family) A–G *Adam Jennings (born 1982), A ...

and from

Dream Theater Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by John Petrucci, John Myung and Mike Portnoy while they attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. They subsequently dropped out of the ...

keyboardist

Jordan Rudess Jordan Rudess (born Jordan Charles Rudes; November 4, 1956) is an American musician, software developer and composer best known as a member of the progressive metal band Dream Theater and the progressive metal supergroup Liquid Tension Experime ...

, started with some improvisations at Henshall's piano and is influenced by

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by wikt:nonconformity, nonconformity, Free improvisation, free-form improvisation, sound experimen ...

The Dear Hunter The Dear Hunter is an American progressive rock band originating in Providence, Rhode Island. It began as a side project of Casey Crescenzo when he was a member of the Receiving End of Sirens, before becoming his main band in 2006. The band's s ...

and Meshuggah.

Track listing

Personnel

Adapted from the album's page at

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...

: *

- guitars, keyboards and vocals * Conner Green - bass *

Matt Lynch Matt Lynch (born June 11, 1951) is an American attorney, politician, and jurist serving as a Judge of the Ohio Court of Appeals for the Eleventh District which includes Ashtabula, Geauga, Lake, Portage and Trumbull Counties. Lynch previously se ...

- drums Guest performances * Ben Levin - vocals on "Lunar Room" *

Jessica Kion Bent Knee is an American art rock band formed in Boston, Massachusetts, in 2009. The band performs in multiple genres and draws from multiple influences, including pop, industrial rock, progressive rock, and avant-garde. The band is known for unp ...

- vocals on "Lunar Room" *

- vocals on "Twisted Shadows" *

- keyboard solo on "Twisted Shadows" *

Marco Sfogli Marco Sfogli (born April 4, 1980) is an Italian heavy metal and rock guitarist. He's the guitar player for James LaBrie, PFM and Icefish. He appeared on several albums. History Born in 1980, his first attempt with music came in 1984 when h ...

- guitar solo on "Lunar Room" * David Maxim Micic - guitar solo on "Silken Chains" *

Chris Baum Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, Christine, and Christos. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common. People with the given name *Chris Abani (born 1966), Nige ...

- strings on "Afterglow" *

Adam Carrillo Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...

- saxophone on "Cocoon" Technical personnel * Richard Henshall - production * Simon Grove - production, reamping, mixing and mastering * Joe Hamilton - additional drum editing * Sevcan Yuksel Henshall - artwork

References

2019 debut albums Richard Henshall albums {{2010s-metal-album-stub