Virus is the sixth studio album by British progressive metal band Haken. The album was initially planned for a 5 June release, but was
postponed three times from 5 June to 19 June, 19 June to 10 July and from 10 July to 25 July, due to disrupted distribution due to the
2020 COVID-19 Pandemic. The album functions as the second half of a two-album rock opera, beginning with 2018's Vector.
The album's first single, "Prosthetic", was teased at the end of an official bootleg posted to InsideOut Music's
official YouTube channel. The single would be released the following day, along with an announcement of the album. Subsequent singles were "Canary Yellow," released
1 May 2020 and "Invasion," released 22 May 2020.
Basis
NOTE: Some of the following may fall into the realm of fan speculation. The band has left much of the album's meaning unclear.
The storyline of Virus acts as a direct follow-up to the events of the band's previous album, Vector, and their 2013 single "Cockroach King." The story
takes place at a mental ward named "Mountview Institution" and follows the happenings of Dr. E. C. Tobias Rex and his experiments
on a mental patient, known as Patient 21. The album follows Dr. Rex and the Patient's journey, likely telling of the patient's transformation into the Cockroach King.
Due to the unclear nature of the story, the story either likely ends with Dr. Rex being overthrown by the patient, now transformed into the Cockroach King, or the Cockroach
King himself being overthrown.
According to the band, there are also broader themes tackled in Virus, such as abusive relationships, mental illness and politics.
Production
Virus' production began in 2017, in tandem with that of Vector, with many ideas being tossed between both albums. The album's title was chosen around this time,
leading to unfortunate timing as the album's announcement co-incided with the rapid increase in severity of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Vocalist Ross Jennings has firmly stated
that such alignment was coincidental.
Tracklist
Japanese Release
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55:59 |
| 12. |
"Canary Yellow (Acoustic)" |
4:05 |
Personnel
Haken
- Ross Jennings - vocals
- Richard Henshall - guitars
- Charlie Griffiths - guitars
- Diego Tejeida - keyboards
- Conner Green - bass
- Raymond Hearne - drums
Additional Personnel
- Peter Jones - additional keyboards on "Messiah Complex", drum programming on "The Strain", production and arrangement on "Only Stars"
- Pete Rinaldi - acoustic guitar on "Prosthetic" and "Messiah Complex"
- Adam "Nolly" Getgood - bass solo on "Messiah Complex"
Production and Design
- Adam "Nolly" Getgood - mixing, drum engineering
- Anthony Leung - drum engineering
- James Stephenson - drum editing
- Chris McKenzie - assistant vocal engineering
- Ermin Hamidovic - mastering
- Blacklake - art and design
- Corey Meyers - logo
- Jeroen Moons - web design
Quotes from the Band
"Since releasing 'The Mountain' in 2013, one question has been asked of us time and time again, "who is the Cockroach King?". This is something we were interested
in exploring more deeply too, so we essentially did that through our music... ...The end result is in an arc which spans across two albums: 'Vector' and 'Virus'."
-Raymond Hearne
"Using Nolly again was a no-brainer, as we wanted the two albums to be sonically connected. But having just spent a day mixing with him in his studio,
it's obvious that this album will be an evolution of the Vector sound. These songs seem to allow a lot more freedom of creativity with the production,
so we're excited to see where it leads."-Richard Henshall
Trivia
- Virus is the second Haken album to be mixed by Adam "Nolly" Getgood and the final album to feature
Diego Tejeida, who offically left the band in November of the following year.
- The album's title aligns with its' chronology, as VI is the roman numeral for six.
- Virus contains callbacks to numerous past songs in Haken's discography.
- The typeface used in the band's logo is an edited version of "Boho A Gogo NF".
- The typeface used in the album's title is called "Nexa Rust Sans, Book 01".
- The album's cover depicts a bacteriophage.
- The back of the lyric-sheet contains thank-yous from Ray Hearne to otters, hummus, Ben & Jerry and Satan.
Vinyl gatefold back
Vinyl gatefold inside
A-Side of the Vinyl LP (Black)
CD from the Vinyl release
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| Virus |
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| Studio album by Haken |
| Released |
24 July 2020 |
| Recorded |
2019-2020 |
| Genre |
Progressive Metal, Progressive Rock, Djent |
| Length |
51:54 (International)
55:59 (Japanese) |
| Label |
InsideOut Music |
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