Takipnik – Awakened Album Review

Reviewed by Skid

I’m still not entirely sure how to pronounce the band’s name — is it tacky-pea-nick or tuh-kip-nik? Either way, before this record, Takipnik had completely flown under my radar. What I do know now is that they hail from Denver, USA, formed in 2019, and as a three-piece have just released their second album, Awakened. And what an incredible piece of work it is.

Running just over 45 minutes across eight tracks, Awakened surges, swirls, and soars in equal measure. The haunting vocals, intricate melodies, and razor-sharp musicianship are nothing short of captivating. This is an album that feels cinematic in scope, yet intimate in delivery—an emotional journey wrapped in layers of technical precision. Takipnik’s sound lives somewhere between progressive metal and post-rock, but with a distinctly modern sensibility that makes every note feel vital.

Three songs, the album opener “Dawn”, the title track “Awakened”, and closer “Dusk,” all stretch beyond seven minutes, serving as the album’s conceptual pillars. “Dawn” begins with shimmering ambience before crashing into a wave of surging riffs and rhythmic complexity, setting the tone for what’s to come. The title track, “Awakened”, is perhaps the record’s emotional centrepiece — a sprawling epic that balances aggression with melody, its soaring chorus carrying both hope and melancholy. By the time “Dusk” arrives, the listener has been through an entire sonic and emotional journey; it’s the perfect closer, fading out like the last light of a long day, leaving a sense of calm reflection in its wake.

Elsewhere, the band flexes their versatility. There’s the anthemic punch of “Seeing Red”, a track that feels tailor-made for live shows with its chugging rhythm and cathartic chorus. “The Finding” brings monstrous energy, all driving basslines and sharp transitions that never lose focus. “Floating on Air” offers a complete change of pace, a shimmering and ethereal piece that shows the band’s softer side without ever losing their intensity. It’s these shifts in mood and tone that make Awakened such a compelling listen from start to finish.

Production-wise, the album is a triumph. Every instrument has space to breathe, the mix balancing clarity and power with remarkable finesse. The guitars are layered but never cluttered, the drums hit hard without overpowering, and the vocals—haunting yet human—float above it all with emotional weight. There’s a warmth in the production that’s often missing in modern metal, giving Awakened a timeless feel.

If Metallica and Coldplay had a love child raised on Radiohead, Takipnik may have been the result. The trio manage to fuse emotional depth, technical artistry, and melodic sophistication into something that feels both familiar and new. Without question, and by a long stretch, this is the finest rock/metal album of the year. It might not shatter genre boundaries, but it could easily stand among the best rock albums released in the last decade. Awakened is that good.

Takipnik, however you pronounce it, deserves to be packing stadiums worldwide. There’s a sincerity and power in what they do that demands to be heard—music crafted not just for streaming playlists, but for moments of real connection.

Skip the downloads—buy it directly from the artists. Learn more and support them at https://takipnik.com/