Friday: Consider the Source - Put Another Rock in That Bag (Single Edit)

     Was Wednesday's Haken post just not proggy enough for? Too "mainstream prog rock" and not enough "haunted space prog"? Don't worry, I've got you covered.

     Well, actually, New York three-piece Consider the Source have you covered with the first sort-of single from their latest release World War Trio. Sort-of single, you ask? Allow me to try and get things straight: World War Trio is an epic three-part piece, part one of which is an EP consisting of a single, multi-movement song, "Put Another Rock in That Bag". The second and third parts of the record will be out sometime early next year.

     But what if you don't have a half hour or so in which to get proggy? Consider the Source have considered you there too, releasing a "single edit" version of "Put Another Rock in That Bag" that distills the EP's space prog madness down to a more reasonable five minutes or so. It's a real trip, so you should definitely don some headphones and turn this one up.

Wednesday: Haken - Darkest Light

     We're going a little less metal and a lot more prog for your Wednesday song, so hold onto your demiquavers, music dorks.

     British prog purveyors Haken made quite an international name for themselves on the strength of last year's The Mountain, and now they've released a follow-up EP that is apparently based on some of the material from the band's very first 2008 demo recording. Said older material has definitely had the 2014 Haken update put on it though, as every bit of it sounds like a step forward from the band's last LP.

     Let "Darkest Light", the opening track from the Restoration EP, be your barometer for the new/old material. It's full of intricate, labyrinthine riffing that still manages to have great groove. And besides being pretty epic, the whole thing's heavier than you might be used to from Haken as well. Check it out.

Haken - Falling Back to Earth

     I'm going to try and eat another eleven minutes of your time this evening, but I promise it'll be worth it. Would I lie to you?

     One of last year's most talked about prog albums was The Mountain, the third disc from the British badasses in Haken. I featured the song "Cockroach King" back when this record first came out, with its music video's just-right combination of the menacing music with the Muppet-style puppet visuals. But Haken and The Mountain are not so one dimensional as all that.

     Your song this evening is "Falling Back to Earth", an epic prog journey replete with both dreamy melancholy and some twisted, evil grooves. The eleven minutes will fly by, trust me, and you'll be left achin' for more Haken. See what I did there? It may have been terrible, but that doesn't mean "Falling Back to Earth" isn't another great reason to check out The Mountain and discover this underrated gem from across the pond.

Song of the Day: Haken - Cockroach King

     Most of the time, when I pick the daily song, the choice is based on the music first. It's either a song I know to be awesome, or one I've been told is awesome by someone else that I have subsequently confirmed is awesome.