COMPLETE Musical Analysis of Carousel by Haken!!

Haken is one of the best modern Progressive Metal bands around, and one of my personal favorites. Haken does an incredible job of blending classic and modern Progressive Metal, and no song showcases this more than Carousel, from their latest album Virus.

In this analysis video I'm going to break down all of the musical elements that make this song so great.

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00:00 - Carousel
01:11 - Intro Chorus
03:07 - Main Riffs
05:49 - Verses
08:39 - 2nd Chorus
09:18 - 1st Bridge
13:03 - Solos
15:19 - 3rd Chorus
15:40 - 2nd Bridge
18:27 - Last Chorus
19:17 - Ending
19:53 - Conclusion

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[erik]

Amazing, finally some Haken analysis on YouTube! That's really rare unfortunately, but you nailed it

[hyalinamusic]

Of all the modern progressive metal bands out there, Haken have to be my favorite. I think they really define what it means to be progressive in the way they combine familiar sounds from the past with all their homages to bands like Rush, Yes, Gentle Giant, Dream Theater, Opeth, etc. and modern sounds (Periphery, Meshuggah, TesseracT, Animals as Leaders, and Leprous to name a few) to create something new. You really hit that point on the head with this analysis.

Virus might be my favorite Haken album. It just speaks to where I'm at in life right now, especially Carousel, which might have my favorite lyrics on the whole album. My only gripe is how little presence Diego had; his sound design and keyboard playing on their previous records is some of my favorite in all of prog.

One last note, the main riff reminds me much more of Tool than Opeth or Mastodon, although I can see the similarities. Those drop-d triplet hammer-on riffs are a staple of Adam Jones' playing.

[dystopianreverie]

Another masterful analysis of a great song! Big Haken fan here too. I REALLY love that chord change from Gm9 to Gmaj9/B in the chorus. During the first listen it sounded so unexpected to me, and so cool. Once it 'sinks in', it just sounds Haken.

My favourite Haken album is The Mountain. When it comes to songs I find it hard to pick just one - I'd go for either Falling Back to Earth, The Architect or Cristallised.

By the way, not in a prog context but I recently came across a similar 'planing chords' progression in the song Blessings Upon the Throne of Tyranny by Dimmu Borgir. I was trying to play the song on the piano and I suddenly struggled with getting the chords of a specific part right. It didn't really make sense to me at first (even though I thought it sounded really cool) and took me some time to "forget" about theory and just follow my ears. It turned out to be a progression exclusively made of minor chords. It's the section between 2:35 and 3:26 of that song in case you're curious.

[ArrowtheACL]

I just found this, and while I am not versed in music theory, I find these videos fascinating and was always curious as to why Haken is my favorite band. One that I would be interested in is what makes Celestial Elixir's chorus so amazing. Also, why are there two types people in this world? Those who love the middle circus section and those who hate it. There is no one I met that has really felt indifferent about it. I love the motifs from earlier in the concept album and the cheesiness but the seriousness of the entire album. Thanks for the breakdowns. I will be checking out more.

[victormontielpiano]

Maaan I love this song so much, my favorite from Virus as well. Congrats for your prog channel with interesting well made content, I hope that you get a bigger audience! You deserve it ;)

[naserazarnejad]

I was listening to Carousel few hours ago and wondered how this wierd chords sound. I picked my guitar and tried chords and melodies and found out the modal mixture in D. Then to be sure I watched your video and so much enjoyed as well as your whole channel. I'm a big fan of you and love your dedication on prog. Thank you!

[zoedoesmusic]

OMG thank you so much for posting this to the Haken Subreddit, I need to go Binge your entire channel now

[williamschickling]

Thank you for this. I'm a retired accountant who originally started college as a music major (French Horn) and is now trying to get back into music. I enjoy "western art music", jazz (mostly fusion), and prog rock/metal. I've taken four semesters of theory with the idea of some day doing some crossover writing, which I also really enjoy. For example I'd love to be able to take some elements of Haken's music and mix them together in a piece for chamber orchestra. I haven't yet started on trying to break down any of their pieces and am not sure I have the ear (and certainly don't have background frames of reference) to be able to do very well. But this may get me started, as I did understand your analysis. Well presented.

[MaestroKatProductions]

Late to this vid, but OMG, glad u made a vid bout Carousel!
I've been playing that song the most out of all songs on Virus and it's just... so good to listen.

[thundersnow]

Next up: Please do an analysis of Haken's Nightingale. That song has some incredibly complex structure!

[mcardmusic]

This video is much needed for me. Thanks so much!

[daniprieto]

Awesome! Great work and lesson! Thank you

[danpop]

I think an analysis of Cockroach King will be cool because there are so many time signatures and weird rhythms in the middle, also I love the chord progression in Aquarium and an analysis would be very helpful. This video is amazing!!! Keep on the good work

[gkmartin]

Thanks for putting the time into this! Great video!

[NebulaOblangata]

Awesome stuff! So happy you did this. Would love to hear more Haken breakdowns!

[MJ-vdbj]

The main riff is definitely one of their best