LIVE REVIEW: Haken & Between The Buried And Me @ Academy 2, Manchester

A triple header of experimental progressive metal bands sounds like a hell of a way to spend a Friday evening, doesn’t it? When those bands include BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME and HAKEN, it gets even better! A quick jaunt across, some travel issues excepted and there is just time to settle in position before our first support are on just 15 minutes after doors open.

CRYPTODIRA come on stage to no fanfare and just get straight into tearing we early arrivals a new one. Dual vocalists, in turn meshing rough with clean vocals, in tandem and alternating at different times work well on both sides. The blend between harsh noise and true delicacy works very well, providing an excellent contrast to keep hold of everyone’s attention, with definite hints towards the likes of THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN as much as THE MELVINS and similar acts in their off-beat, experimental approach. Both vocalists, when only performing guitar duties, start dancing like convulsing marionettes, clearly getting off on their own music as much as the rapidly growing audience seems to be. It’s genuinely noticeable throughout the crowd how many heads start moving as they work through a very entertaining set, clearly gaining fans and enhancing their reputation.

Rating: 8/10

BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME are the first of our designated headliners for the evening and they seem immediately up for the challenge that the very able CRYPTODIRA have laid down. It’s quite interesting that their set comprises a lot more of their more melodic catalogue than as much of the dirty stuff displayed on previous tours, though there are definitely times that their darker side pulsates through, too. Vocalist Tommy Giles Rogers‘ sense of humour shines through as he announces “this one’s called Champagne Supernova“ about halfway through their allotted time – time you don’t even notice has flown past, so tight and engrossing the performance is.

Even as they wind into their heavier catalogue, with blast beats and weird time signatures aplenty, the heads of the crowd around the room never stop banging away, a clear indication of just how good the set is. The transitions between styles are also quite seamless, feeling more like being taken on a journey, each part slotting perfectly into place. Another highly enjoyable set, played and planned expertly. Giles announces the last song, Voice Of Trespass and the mosh pit inevitably kicks off. The casual jazz breakdowns are something else, something noticed on occasion in other songs on tonight’s setlist, but more so in our – rather disappointingly – last track from BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME. The gloves are well and truly off, what can HAKEN come up with in response?

Rating: 9/10

Ten minutes early than billed, HAKEN arrive to the brutal aural assault of Prosthetic, showing their intent to make sure everyone in the venue – even those at other shows above and below this room – have at least 13 new holes ripped in them. Somehow, they’re taking the ridiculous standards already set tonight and raising them higher still. At times the definition of a hot mess, the discordant, off-kilter, tempo-shifting likes of The Alphabet Of Me just works so well in a live setting that you can do little but just appreciate the sheer talent performing in front of your very eyes. Juxtaposed against the highly melodic nature of so much of what they do, the sheer contrast can only serve to highlight quite what the levels of this talented six-piece.

While there may have been a couple of niggles in the sound at times during previous bands, it’s clear that all the levels are set sublimely for the second of our dual headliners. When even loud, abrasive parts of tracks sound as good as HAKEN are laying down, it’s made easier with the sound this well set up. It takes some performance to still be the highlight of a bill like this evening’s, yet with the likes of Carousel and the various Messiah Complex parts, it’s a role that HAKEN take on with consummate ease. On a night where the performance of any of the bands on the bill would have been worthy of the headline slot, it’s a continuing sign of their meteoric rise through the release of Vector and onwards that they continue to prove just how capable they are, as well as how worthy of a place at the top table of modern progressive metal they continue to be.

Rating: 9/10

Check out our photo gallery of the night’s action in Manchester from k4tiephotogr4phy here:

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