Written by phanto on 08.10.2013 at 21:35

First 2 songs are AMAZING.
3rd song (cockroach king) is ABYSMAL.
Rest is okay.

The Cockroach King is my favorite track of this album, because of its awkwardness, but then again I've begun to really appreciate avant-garde music (Unexpect, Leprous, DFD) and this song definitely belongs to that category. Besides the the end of the song is just so EPIC!

This band just gets better and better. Aquarius had a lot of incredible prog moments but suffered from easily being their cheesiest outing, with overly prominent held keyboard chords and more questionable keyboard voicings, as well as having the most over-the-top vocals (the growl sections were cringeworthy, albeit sparse) and silly lyrics. Visions was a vast improvement with all the things I mentioned about the previous album being mostly touched up or removed completely. But The Mountain has them having refined their sound even further to glorious results. Cockroach King and Falling Back To Earth are my favorites currently, but every track has something great to offer. This is by far my album of the year pick and I don't see that changing. Really hope I end up getting to go on the Progressive Nation At Sea cruise to see them...although their bassist did leave recently, which is very disappointing as he was one of the strongest elements of their sound in my opinion.

I still like their debut better. This sounds exactly like their previous :/

Written by tea[m]ster on 07.11.2013 at 16:16

I still like their debut better. This sounds exactly like their previous :/

Yeah, me too... It kind of sounds like their previous but minus the amazing eclectic opus...

Saw these guys in London last night - absolutely amazing. They played the whole 22 minutes of Visions as an encore!

Written by BloodJuNkie on 01.10.2013 at 19:02

Average album!

Yeah, you tend to see prog like this everywhere

Written by phanto on 08.10.2013 at 21:35

First 2 songs are AMAZING.
Rest is okay.

Curious...I've listened to the first six tracks so far and my opinion is the inverse of yours....

Written by LeKiwi on 04.12.2013 at 23:36

Written by BloodJuNkie on 01.10.2013 at 19:02

Average album!

Yeah, you tend to see prog like this everywhere

Actually Progressive Metal is one of my favorite genres, so i give such albums another listen. If i didn't like it after all so be it, i'm not supposed to like all the progressive metal albums on earth.

Written by BloodJuNkie on 05.12.2013 at 09:57

Actually Progressive Metal is one of my favorite genres, so i give such albums another listen. If i didn't like it after all so be it, i'm not supposed to like all the progressive metal albums on earth.

Fair enough, but I don't think it would be fair to call this average quality. Even if I don't enjoy a particular album or style, I try to give it all the merit deserved.

Written by LeKiwi on 05.12.2013 at 10:08

Written by BloodJuNkie on 05.12.2013 at 09:57

Actually Progressive Metal is one of my favorite genres, so i give such albums another listen. If i didn't like it after all so be it, i'm not supposed to like all the progressive metal albums on earth.

Fair enough, but I don't think it would be fair to call this average quality. Even if I don't enjoy a particular album or style, I try to give it all the merit deserved.

Well, if i don't enjoy a particular style i "try" to prevent myself from judging on it. But as i said that was just my 1st impression about the album, it was kinda boring for me (i already like Cockroach King, In Memoriam & Falling Back To Earth) but the rest are boring. You can give the merits deserved to a genre or style you don't like but can't give it to an album you don't like.

Written by BloodJuNkie on 05.12.2013 at 10:18

Well, if i don't enjoy a particular style i "try" to prevent myself from judging on it. But as i said that was just my 1st impression about the album, it was kinda boring for me (i already like Cockroach King, In Memoriam & Falling Back To Earth) but the rest are boring. You can give the merits deserved to a genre or style you don't like but can't give it to an album you don't like.

Each to his own I've recently given a 9 to an album I don't like

Written by LeKiwi on 05.12.2013 at 10:30

Written by BloodJuNkie on 05.12.2013 at 10:18

Well, if i don't enjoy a particular style i "try" to prevent myself from judging on it. But as i said that was just my 1st impression about the album, it was kinda boring for me (i already like Cockroach King, In Memoriam & Falling Back To Earth) but the rest are boring. You can give the merits deserved to a genre or style you don't like but can't give it to an album you don't like.

Each to his own I've recently given a 9 to an album I don't like

Well, just finished listening to it for the 2nd time. Seriously i don't know how did i like "Falling Back To Earth", in my opinion it's unnecessarily long (gave it 4/5), but i enjoyed "Atlas Stone" and "Pareidolia". So i think from 6 to 7 is fair enough.

When I first listened to this album, I thought it was seriously overrated.
However, it's something that just keeps getting better with each and every listen.

It really is a journey and there's some incredible emotional significance to each song, a lot of which I can strongly relate to at the moment. One of the few metal albums where I'd truly pay heed to the lyrics.

I started off listening to this album and gave it a 7.
About 5 listens later, my vote had gone up to an 8, and then a 9.
...I might actually be considering giving it a 10 now.

This album doesn't really sound like anything too special on the surface, but when you delve a little deeper into the emotional representation of the music and lyrics, it becomes a truly beautiful story that you never want to stop.

Written by Lethrokai on 06.12.2013 at 13:56

When I first listened to this album, I thought it was seriously overrated.
However, it's something that just keeps getting better with each and every listen.

It really is a journey and there's some incredible emotional significance to each song, a lot of which I can strongly relate to at the moment. One of the few metal albums where I'd truly pay heed to the lyrics.

I started off listening to this album and gave it a 7.
About 5 listens later, my vote had gone up to an 8, and then a 9.
...I might actually be considering giving it a 10 now.

This album doesn't really sound like anything too special on the surface, but when you delve a little deeper into the emotional representation of the music and lyrics, it becomes a truly beautiful story that you never want to stop.

I have listened to The Mountain 6 times or so, and my rating has remained a 7. Now it has been 1.5 months since I last heard, and it might be time to go back. Maybe I will have the same kind of evolution you had with this album... let's see; I have had that many times before with other albums.

Written by K✞ulu on 07.12.2013 at 00:22

Written by Lethrokai on 06.12.2013 at 13:56

When I first listened to this album, I thought it was seriously overrated.
However, it's something that just keeps getting better with each and every listen.

It really is a journey and there's some incredible emotional significance to each song, a lot of which I can strongly relate to at the moment. One of the few metal albums where I'd truly pay heed to the lyrics.

I started off listening to this album and gave it a 7.
About 5 listens later, my vote had gone up to an 8, and then a 9.
...I might actually be considering giving it a 10 now.

This album doesn't really sound like anything too special on the surface, but when you delve a little deeper into the emotional representation of the music and lyrics, it becomes a truly beautiful story that you never want to stop.

I have listened to The Mountain 6 times or so, and my rating has remained a 7. Now it has been 1.5 months since I last heard, and it might be time to go back. Maybe I will have the same kind of evolution you had with this album... let's see; I have had that many times before with other albums.

I'm not sure I would expect the same kind of evolution with this album. I think it is one of those albums in which you'll know very quickly whether or not you truly enjoy the journey. In my case, I thought the album was not only extremely consistent but enrapturing from the first listen, and I have found that these feelings dissipated only slightly with each successive listen.

The one thing about concept albums that helps me out as well is finding the centerpiece. Of course, it can be a very subjective process but in my opinion Falling Back to Earth is certainly the one for this album, in my honest opinion. When I focus on every other track's relation to that one, I find that the album is actually quite cohesive.

Written by K✞ulu on 07.12.2013 at 00:22

I have listened to The Mountain 6 times or so, and my rating has remained a 7. Now it has been 1.5 months since I last heard, and it might be time to go back. Maybe I will have the same kind of evolution you had with this album... let's see; I have had that many times before with other albums.

I don't think I'm going back. My opinion won't change. Their debut was great but the mystic has now worn off. This sounds like exactly like their last album. I like To-Mera's latest much more.

Written by Diverge on 07.12.2013 at 05:39


I'm not sure I would expect the same kind of evolution with this album. I think it is one of those albums in which you'll know very quickly whether or not you truly enjoy the journey. In my case, I thought the album was not only extremely consistent but enrapturing from the first listen, and I have found that these feelings dissipated only slightly with each successive listen.

The one thing about concept albums that helps me out as well is finding the centerpiece. Of course, it can be a very subjective process but in my opinion Falling Back to Earth is certainly the one for this album, in my honest opinion. When I focus on every other track's relation to that one, I find that the album is actually quite cohesive.

That's funny, because that evolution is exactly what happened with me. I hardly enjoyed this album upon first listen, and took me until around finishing my 5th listen that I began to truly appreciate this one for what it was.

As for the centerpiece, I'd have to agree with Falling Back To Earth, but I'd also like to add Because It's There, as it brings the theme of the album full circle. Placing these two songs dab-smack in the middle of the album was the smartest thing Haken could have done.

Written by tea[m]ster on 08.12.2013 at 11:21

Written by K✞ulu on 07.12.2013 at 00:22

I have listened to The Mountain 6 times or so, and my rating has remained a 7. Now it has been 1.5 months since I last heard, and it might be time to go back. Maybe I will have the same kind of evolution you had with this album... let's see; I have had that many times before with other albums.

I don't think I'm going back. My opinion won't change. Their debut was great but the mystic has now worn off. This sounds like exactly like their last album. I like To-Mera's latest much more.

Yeah, the difference between To-Mera's latest and The Mountain is that with each it unveiled something new and kept me interested to go back and discover regardless of how seemingly complicated album it was. The Mountain, on the other hand, is like a wall: I try to find something there, but it seems that whatever has been discovered on the first listens is all there is, and I just keep bumping my ahead against it... (actually, now I want go back to the last To-Mera and their back catalog )

Not my type.

I really liked it. And Cockroach King is definitely a great track!

Well any progressive style means that the band should improve their previous releases or implement some new fresh ideas in the upcoming albums. I haven't found any mentioned factors in this Haken album.

This is the best "Metal" album of 2013?Good God!

Written by Gerula37 on 19.01.2014 at 14:21

This is the best "Metal" album of 2013?Good God!

so what wrong with this album if you give it just 2 (meaning pure shit - really?) ?

Written by Gerula37 on 19.01.2014 at 14:21

This is the best "Metal" album of 2013?Good God!

"Pareidolia" & "Cockroach King" are great songs, so at the worst case you should give it a 5. I advice you to give it another listen i didn't like it so much at the beginning but seriously it's a good album!

I love this album, What a great band and what a great album .

Great album. Excellent prog.

Somehow I wasn't able to get into two previous albums of Haken. The bigger the surprise was to me, when I found myself liking Mountain quite a lot. The record is sufficiently diverse and interesting-sounding.
True enough, it's not revolutionary, but, on the other hand, despite its name, progressive metal doesn't seem to be having a lot of progress in recent years. Most bands just build up on the foundation of their previous works without daring to tread into new territories. I can't blame them for that, though - it's a task worthy of Hercules to come up with something new nowadays...
Favourite tracks: Cockroach King, In Memoriam, Pareidolia, Somebody.

Not really my favorite Progressive Metal style. Progressive Metal label can be deceiving sometimes, it's not a bad band by any means I just prefer Pagan's Mind, Symphony X, Voyager etc... by far...

So is this really good or just another overhyped prog metal album?

Took me a few attempts to get into this album, but having listened through the whole thing now I can appreciate how much of an epic, original masterpiece this is.

Time to check out the rest of their discography.