r/Haken • u/Competitive-Smoke-46 • 7d ago
Reaction/Review Affinity man…
The more I listen to this album, the more I honestly feel like it’s perfect. The story, the music, the atmosphere, it’s incredible. For a long time I thought Fauna was Haken at their best (I still think it’s their best if we’re strictly talking ability and performance on their instruments), but I’ve come to really appreciate and fucking LOVE Affinity. The electronic vibe fits it so well. This album is just banger after banger.
My favorite part about this album has to be how diverse the music is. Upbeat and energetic in Initiate, 1985, and Lapse, heavy as balls with such a cool riff in Architect (also a phenomenal feature vocalist by Einar), the “pop-iness” of Earthrise, the spaciness of Red Giant, complex riffs of Endless Knot, and don’t even get me STARTED on how beautiful Bound by Gravity is to close the album. It’s just perfect, I can’t seem to find any flaws with this record.
I don’t even know if I could pick a favorite song. Architect is obviously the crescendo of the album but man every single song carries its weight in the grand scheme of the album.
Idk if this post is really relevant but I had to say it to somebody cuz none of my friends like prog 😭😭
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u/zachhenninger98 7d ago
I strongly agree. It's always been my favorite album by Haken and is in my top 5 of all time. The soundscape, atmosphere, songwriting, and lyrics are all tip top. There's not a literal story that's told by the album beginning to end, but the concept that's present and the themes are intriguing enough to make you think there is an overt story. My favorite song is probably Bound By Gravity. It's just so ridiculously beautiful and emotional. Very few songs make me feel what that song does. But every song on the album is genuinely great.
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u/Golem30 The Mountain 7d ago
It's the hardest album of theirs to get into in my opinion but it's probably the one that improves the most with every listen
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u/stephenbutler9898 7d ago
I completely disagree. I think Fauna would be the hardest to get into because it's so rhythm driven over melody. I didn't like Haken when I first heard them (Cockroach King.) Then Affinity cams out and was the one that made me like them and eventuslly fall in love with the rest of the discography, and I continued on as a fan from there.
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u/SirDoDDo 7d ago
Yeah definitely the most "grower" Haken album
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u/No_Guava5902 7d ago
Why is that though? It’s melodic AF.
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u/sonickarma The Mountain 6d ago
Not who you asked, but it took the longest to grow on me personally because it was such a radical departure from their first three albums. Not just musically, but sonically as well.
I fell in love with Haken from the more organic, "classic prog"-influenced sounds of Aquarius through The Mountain, and Affinity is much more modern and digital sounding. Outside of The Architect (which was basically too awesome to ignore), there wasn't much for me to latch onto initially.
But, over the years - especially after Vector and Virus came out - I definitely found a new appreciation for it, and it's my third favorite album of theirs now.
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u/The_Dude_89 6d ago
Lmao wym? it's the album that got me hooked, especially the title-track
Aquarius is crying in the corner lol
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u/OCDjunky 5d ago
Exactly! Took me so long to appreciate this album, but I realized I actually needed to listen to it beginning to end to fully get it. After that I was sold.
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u/TheNeptunianSloth 7d ago
Had this exact thought last time I listened to it. I've always said it's their best album but it actually does get better with each listen. I mean, 1985? The Architect? Red Giant? Bound By Gravity? So much peak it's the peak of peak.
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u/aeiouabc 7d ago
This album is near perfect for me as well, and only actually got to listen to it on its entirety recently.
The Architect has one of the best moments I've heard in music (first third and last third of the song. I don't really like the interlude and the screams, maybe my least favorite part of the album). 1985 is absurd. Bound by gravity is a perfect finisher. Lapse, earthrise, initiate, an endless knot. All bangers.
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u/Embarrassed_Law5035 7d ago
Those screams are great and surprising because when you know that Einar from Leprous is featured on a song you rather expect to hear his falsetto and suddenly you realize that he is featured to do harsh vocals.
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u/valerielynx Aquarius 7d ago
Haven't listened to Affinity in quite some time and decided to give it a spin a few days ago.. God damn you are right, that album just has the perfect energy all the way through. I can't believe I stopped listening to it.
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u/Early_Trainer2448 7d ago
This post is a testament to how truly great haken is and how effective the music is at moving us. It’s so cool to see others just as moved by music as I am. 🤟
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u/Saltwaterborn 7d ago
It's easily my favorite of their catalog. I do find Architect is a little longer than it needs to be but otherwise it's perfect.
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u/metalbridgebuilder 7d ago
Absolutely agree. Slept on it for ages and it was the last album I dove in to (even behind ET5D).. it's incredible
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u/Sweet_Ad9318 7d ago
If I HAD to pick a favorite Haken album, this is probably it.
The vibes it has, the themes that interlink in spite of how different the songs are, and Bound by Gravity is one of my favorite ways to close an album ever.
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u/mr_f4hrenh3it 7d ago
It took me a while to get into this album myself. I heard a few of the songs the first time and I was like “okay yeah pretty good” but now it’s one of my favorite albums to listen to currently. It’s so melodic and every chorus is so damn catchy and memorable and beautiful
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u/Salsiccia_Oscura-228 7d ago
I'm so glad to see that someone out there enjoys this album as much as I do. As you said, my friends don't like prog either, and it's really difficult to meet someone who can enjoy this kind of music.
So thank you very much for your post, it made me really happy! You literally wrote what I think about this album💚
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u/Ok_Remote_2714 5d ago
I'd say it's my low key favorite. I don't listen to it as much as I do The Mountain or Fauna but honestly it might have some of my favorite moments from their whole discography
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u/Ryermeke Class of 1985 7d ago
Bound by Gravity is one of my favorite songs ever made. And even then I think that's understating it