Virus (Ltd. 2CD Mediabook & Sticker)＜完全生産限定盤＞

モダンプログメタル界を牽引する新鋭=Haken(ヘイケン)の最凶新作『Virus』

2007年ロンドンにて結成された6人組プログレッシブ・ロックバンドHaken(ヘイケン)。2010年にデビューし、これまでに5枚のスタジオ・アルバムをリリース。モダンメタルと70年代のプログレッシブ・ロックが、極上のメロディーを備えつつエピカルに融合したサウンドが特徴的。今モダンプログメタル界で最も勢いのあるバンド。

2018年に前作をリリース以降、世界中をヘッドライナーとしてツアーし、プログ・アワードを受賞するなど精力的に活動していた彼ら。
その間、秘密裡かつ静かに制作を進めていたのが『Virus』(ヴァイラス)と名付けられた今作。今作は権力への上昇、暴政、そしてその後の終局を描いている。リフの猛攻に端を発するウイルスは、生物・心理・テクノロジー・環境・政治といった人間生活のあらゆる側面を蝕んでゆくともいえるだろう。バンド史上最も多彩な内容であり、音楽的アイデアの実験の集大成であり、このバンドの未来の魅力的な可能性を秘めている傑作。

In the booklet to 2018s Vector, Haken offered these words of thanks to fans: Keep spreading the virus. Virus, the bands eighth album, may share its title with the COVID-19 pandemic gripping the planet, but the album germinated during the writing sessions for Vector and were completed as a conceptual extension. Songs were penned and arranged on their tour bus after gigs with Devin Townsend. The concept here is set 20 years after Vectors open-ended conclusion, A Cell Divides, created the need for a sequel to complete its labyrinthine narrative and character study that simultaneously involved everything from a catatonic protagonist to puzzle boxes to fallen empires. The massive, machine gun-like staccato riff from a detuned eight-string guitar on Prosthetic has much in common with music by Meshuggah and Dream Theater. With its shifting rhythms, crash-and-burn verses, and hooky, harmonically expansive chorus and unhinged bridge, its challenging prog tropes and blastbeat drums offer delight. Single Invasion is introduced by singer Ross Jennings complex melodic harmonies offered in polyrhythmic cadences as guitars, basses, and electronics prod him on. The tune travels effortlessly through prog and metal. While Carousel begins with a brief, poppy intro, it comes into aural view via immense keyboards, bass and guitar vamps, and drum flourishes that create tension between dynamic poles that are never resolved during its ten-minute duration. Canary Yellow harkens back to a younger Haken, with an eerie melody and pastoral keyboard passages; its complex rhythmic palette is the mature flowering of tenets showcased on Vectors Veil. On the 17-minute, five-song suite Messiah Complex, Haken travel all the way back to 2013s The Mountain to answer the question that has long flummoxed the band as well as fans: Who is the Cockroach King? and fills in the landscape by tying that revelation to Vector, too. There are many referents in the suites five songs. Ivory Tower is a lushly melodic and harmonically complex jam that opens a doorway into the metallic heaviness and chaos that is realized in full on A Glutton for Punishment, with its detuned riffing, maniacal blastbeats, and cascading keyboards. The Sect combines post-djent vamps with sweeping, knotty prog keyboards, then directly adopts Gentle Giants trademark vocal counterpoint. Only Stars is a short, lilting ballad that reflects the travails and blessings of memory amid the conclusion of the narrative. Its nadir is framed by ghostly ambiences, strummed acoustic guitars, and muted pianos. Though different musically, Vector and Virus were meant to be heard in tandem, and while the earlier record provides context, Virus can be taken on its own as a challenging creative work that showcases the breadth and fullness of Hakens vision as commensurate with their ability to execute it flawlessly. ~ Thom Jurek

美しいメロディと超絶テクニカルな演奏で高い人気を誇るUKプログメタルの雄による6作目。イエスらの先人からドリーム・シアターを経て10年代のモダン・メタルを吸収した音像はセンス抜群で、10分超えの"Carousel"に加え、 圧巻は5章に及ぶ17分の組曲"Messiah Complex"。ゲーム音楽、ジェント、アコギを導入し、ヘヴィーかつ緊張感溢れる曲構成で聴き手を異次元に誘う。
bounce (C)荒金良介