Richard Henshall

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English progressive metal multi-instrumentalist

title: "Richard Henshall" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["progressive-metal-guitarists", "english-heavy-metal-guitarists", "english-heavy-metal-keyboardists", "english-rock-bass-guitarists", "english-male-bass-guitarists", "english-heavy-metal-drummers", "english-composers", "living-people", "1984-births", "21st-century-english-drummers", "21st-century-english-bass-guitarists", "21st-century-british-male-musicians"] description: "English progressive metal multi-instrumentalist" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Henshall" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary English progressive metal multi-instrumentalist ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox musical artist"]

Field	Value
name	Richard Henshall
image	MIKE PORTNOY @ Teatro ABC (37281295214) (cropped).jpg
caption	Henshall performing with Mike Portnoy's Shattered Fortress in 2017
birth_name	Richard James Henshall
alias	Hen
birth_date
origin	England
instrument	Guitar, piano, keyboards, vocals, clarinet, drums, bass guitar
genre	Progressive metal, progressive rock, heavy metal
occupation	Musician
years_active	2004–present
label	Candlelight Records, Sensory Records, Inside Out
current_member_of	Haken, To-Mera, Nova Collective
website	To-Mera Home, Haken home, https://www.richardhenshall.net,
::

Richard James "Hen" Henshall (born 9 August 1984) is an English progressive metal multi-instrumentalist. He is best known as the guitarist and keyboardist for the bands To-Mera, Haken, Nova Collective, and Opinaut. He has released one album (Exile) with To-Mera, seven (Aquarius, Visions, The Mountain, Affinity, Vector, Virus and Fauna) with Haken, and one solo album (The Cocoon). He has also released EPs and singles: Oxygen (with Opinaut), Redemption (with Alma West), Earthbound (with To-Mera), and Restoration (with Haken). Henshall was classically trained on the piano from the age of seven. By the age of 11 to 12, he started playing the guitar on a self-taught basis. He also had drums and clarinet classes.

To-Mera

Main article: To-Mera

To-Mera formed in 2005 between a few friends, Julie Kiss (vocals), Thomas MacLean (guitar), Lee Barrett (bass), Akos Pirisi (drums), Hugo Sheppard (keyboard). They released a demo, which caught the attention of Candlelight Records. The band's musical style was drastically different from conventional progressive metal; the band drew upon a plethora of influences such as progressive rock. In 2006, To-Mera released Transcendental through Candlelight. The radical new style opened up slots to open for groups such as Dream Theater, Fates Warning, and Emperor. In 2008, To-Mera released their next album, Delusions. In 2009, they parted with Candlelight. Hugo Sheppard left after this, and they hired Henshall as replacement. They then self-released their EP Earthbound.

Haken

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/Haken_@_Euroblast_2015_15.jpg" caption="Henshall performing with Haken in 2015."] ::

Main article: Haken (band)

Haken was formed by school friends Ross Jennings (vocals), Matthew Marshall (guitar), and Henshall at first in 2004. The members parted ways for a while to study at university, reuniting in 2007. The current members hired Peter Jones on keyboards and Raymond Hearne on drums. Jones left soon after, and was replaced by Diego Tejeida. Charlie Griffiths was found on guitar, and Henshall brought in To-Mera bandmate Tom Maclean on bass.

Henshall has composed most of Haken's songs by himself and contributed to some of the lyrics. He composed the whole Aquarius album alone, most of Visions (except "Premonition", co-written with keyboardist Diego Tejeida and bassist Thomas MacLean; and "Insomnia", written by all members), and most of The Mountain (except "As Death Embraces", written by Tejeida). In this album, Henshall (as well as every other instrumentalist in the band) contributed with lyrics for the first time, on the song "Cockroach King". He would be credited as a lyricist again in the band's 2014 EP Restoration, for the song "Crystallised" (co-written with Hearne and Griffiths). Affinity (2016) and Vector (2018) both credited all songwriting to every band member.

Opinaut

Opinaut formed in early 2011 from a group of four musicians working at the Sutton Music Centre. All four were talented multi-instrumentalists who worked in music full-time as session players and tutors. The members are: Jon Hart on vocals, John Vince on drums, Henshall on guitar, and Samuel Brooks on bass. Opinaut’s style is a merge of drum and bass rock with dreamy electro vibes and epic chord sequences. Their EP Oxygen was released in 2011 and is available online.

Discography

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Richard-henshall-1361087590.jpg" caption="Henshall in 2012."] ::

Solo

(2019) The Cocoon
(2024) Mu Vol. I (EP)

With [[To-Mera]]

(2009) Earthbound (EP)
(2012) Exile

With [[Haken (band)|Haken]]

Demo (2007)
Enter the 5th Dimension (Demo) (2008)
Aquarius (2010)
Visions (2011)
The Mountain (2013)
Restoration (EP) (2014)
Affinity (2016)
L-1VE (Live Album) (2018)
Vector (2018)
Virus (2020)
Fauna (2023)
Liveforms (Live Album) (2025)

With Nova Collective

The Further Side (2017)

With Opinaut

(2011) Oxygen (EP)

With Rainmask

(2018) Walls (Single)
(2018) Lighting Up the Sky (Single)

With Alma West

(2019) Redemption

With Andy Simmons

(2020) Duplicated Motion (EP)

References

"Another birthday?". Facebook.
Serafine, Frank. (September 23, 2011). "Haken Explains Story Behind "Visions," Favorite Bands, And Musical Training".
[http://s298973778.websitehome.co.uk/biography.html To-Mera biography] {{webarchive. link. (3 November 2010)
"Haken homepage, with discography".
(2019-04-28). "ALMA WEST: Redemption".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::