When Haken‘s fourth full-length album ‘Affinity‘ was unleashed to the world in 2016, they truly cemented their position as one of the UK‘s leading artists for the next generation of Prog/Metal. Delving into their love of 80‘s music and fusing it with modern metal and big anthems was a masterstroke that led to even bigger career opportunities such as being chosen for Mike Portnoy‘s band ‘The Shattered Fortress‘ for the once in a Livetime event performing DreamTheater‘s ‘12-Step Suite‘ across the world. Their own ever-expanding affiniTOURS saw them perform to new territories in the USA, India and Australia whilst subsequently, a successful re-issue campaign of their first 2 albums and a 10 year anniversary tour throughout Eurpope and North America only reminded the world that Haken is a force on the rise and not to be reckoned with. The “L+1VE” LP includes the audio of four live tracks that had previously only been released as bonus video material on the “L-1VE” DVD release, captured from their performance at ProgPower USA 2016 in Atlanta. The band comments: “Although festival performances and band changeovers can be a logistical nightmare, this one turned out to be a very special show for us on our first extensive US tour. Despite battling with some technical issues, the show went on, so to speak, and here we have handpicked our favorite 4 tracks from that performance. A preverbial cherry on top was getting Mike Portnoy to agree to come on stage and re-enact his cameo appearance on ‘Crystallised‘ with his signature gong!” Behind the scenes, the band have chosen Neal Morse and Winery Dogs alumni ‘Jerry Guidroz‘ for mixing duties on the live audio. The LP includes the 4 songs on CD.
