Haven Of Echoes - Memento Vivere - 2024
“... the second Haven Of Echoes album ...”
intro
Haven Of Echoes is a collaboration between Andreas Hack (Frequency Drift) and Paul Sadler (Spires). The latter comes from the metal act Spires and because progVisions does not focus on this genre, I am not familiar with his work. For Andreas Hack this is of course different, you can find several reviews on progVisions of his previous band Frequency Drift and I saw the band live several times at Dutch prog festivals. Haven Of Echoes released their debut album 'The Indifferent Stars' in the year 2022 and now two years later there is the successor 'Memento Vivere'. Just like on their debut album, a band member from Andreas' previous band Frequency Drift is present here. Electric harpist Nerissa Schwarz enriches the sound palette on this album with ambient soundscapes and energetic outburst. Lyrically the album deals primarily with the theme of impermanence and the way in which we are all affected by the knowledge of our own mortality.
line-up
Paul Sadler - all vocals and guitars; Andreas Hack - all other instruments except; Nerissa Schwarz - electric harp (2, 4), keyboards (2); Wolfgang Ostermann - drums
review
On this fine album you will find only four songs. The opener is called 'Non Sum, Non Curo' (17:02). The character of the music is quite calm for the first four minutes and it seems that you are listening to a progressive rock album, but then this changes and the music becomes somewhat darker in terms of atmosphere and the heavy guitar parts and the metal drums come forward. Fortunately, the atmosphere of the first minutes returns but it goes a step further when you suddenly listen to atmospheric soundscapes and there is also beautiful melodic guitar work to be heard. In the later part the intensity of the music slowly increases and a climax is slowly worked towards. A very varied and intriguing opening track. The second track 'Ad Infinitum' (8:44) is a lot shorter and is composed by Nerissa Schwarz. After an ambient soundscape follows a delicately sung part with beautiful melodies. The vocalist Paul Sadler, unknown to me, convinces me in this beautiful song. In the later part the atmosphere becomes a bit grimmer and darker. Musically the music remains captivating. A beautiful number which proves that this album belongs on progVisions.
'It Walks Among Us' (14:02) opens musically with a dark, threatening atmosphere. This is followed by another beautiful vocal section with delicate singing. Musically, this track has cinematic qualities and some influences from Neo-Classical music. Personally, I am very charmed by the varied and intriguing atmospheres, which can also be combined well with the heavier atmospheres of the last part. Slowly, a beautiful climax is built up with heavy and beautiful guitar work and threatening keyboard orchestrations. A varied but above all impressive track. In the opening of the closing track 'Assimilation' (8:14) you can clearly hear the electric harp of Nerissa Schwarz. Her harp and keyboard sounds really expand the sound palette of this album. This track was released as a single and gives a good impression of what you can expect on this album. The atmosphere is generally a bit lighter than the previous tracks. But at the end that dark and heavier side also comes to the surface in this track.
conclusion
progVisions may be a bit late to the party with this late review, but this album still deserves the attention of our readers. So if you missed this album, I would like to invite you to listen to it and give it a chance. You can simply find the album on the BandCamp platform. It is a varied and mature album with beautiful and intriguing music that is a bit difficult to describe because of its originality. But these are often the better albums, because you have to put in a bit of effort, and it only reveals its true beauty after a few listens.