Prog-metal for people who don't like prog-metal

Message Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic Printable Version Translate Topic

   Anybody who follows developments among the community here at PA will have undoubtably noticed (whichever side of it you may place yourself on) some hostility of sorts towards the progressive metal category.  Bands like Dream Theater and Opeth have well established themselves in the prog-metal world, to the delight of many but to the disdain of others, many of whom have now sadly decided the prog-metal universe is "not for them" on the basis of a couple of the genre's more seminal artists.  Whether it will have any success whatsoever is something I'm unsure of at best, but I've decided that in an effort to spread some recognition of this misunderstood subgenre I'm going to recommend some albums that those who don't necessarily appreciate Dream Theater's mind-boggling technical w**kery or Opeth's roaring guitars and growled vocals may be able to sink their teeth into... or at least so I hope.  This list will continue to grow as I think of more/have more time to update it, so if you're at all interested please stay tuned. 

Anyway, without further adieu...

Band: Subterranean Masquerade
Album: Suspended Animation Dreams
PA Link
Samples: http://www.submasq.com/ (click the "downloads" button)
Truly one of prog's most interesting current bands, the "metal" tag is a little misleading when dealing with these guys.  They do include heavy sections in their music (even some occasional growls, though not enough that it should scare anybody off), yet they deliver such an eclectic sound as to encorperate horn instruments, jazzy sections, spacey jamming, even harmonica into their (generally fairly melodic) palette of sounds.  As crazy and unpredictable as they may sound, SM avoid falling into avant-garde  pretentions and actually manage to be very listenable and accessible while still maintaining an impressive sense of originality.  Though Suspended Animation Dreams isn't a hard album to like right away, you'll keep finding new joys buried within it for countless spins into the future.

Band: Hammers of Misfortune
Album: The Locust Years
PA Link
Samples: http://myspace.com/hammersofmisfortune
If you supported the inclusion of Iron Maiden on PA, you'll most likely appreciate that the end of the metal spectrum that these guys veer closest to is heavy metal.  These guys aren't Iron Maiden though, their diversity and somewhat darker tone brings back memories of King Crimson while their operatic conceptual bombast and fantastic organ sound (more emphasized on this album than either of their previous two) would make ELP proud.  Though the vocals are mostly a threatrical but powerful midrange male voice (don't worry, this isn't James LaBrie we're dealing with), we also hear some fantastic female fronted bits and several acoustic or piano driven interludes to the extremely catchy harder ones.  Quite accessible, original, avoiding the descent into cheese that most bands of their style fall prey to, and of course delivering some splendid and very immersing compositions, these guys are truly among the genre's underrated rising stars, mixing prog and metal in a way that anybody should be able to appreciate.

Band: Nightingale
Album: Alive Again
PA Link
Samples: See PA link
Fans of neo-prog, this one's for you.  Dan Swano is best known for fronting progressive death metal band Edge of Sanity (who I also highly recommend, albeit not for anyone who can't tolerate growled vocals), but he's involved himself in a multitude of projects, even including neo-prog band Unicorn (of whom I'm not a huge fan, but that's just me).  Nightingale began life as a one-man project inspired by gothic metal band Sisters of Mercy, but after recruiting his brother Dag and completing the full band, Nightingale have taken on an aesthetic not dissimilar to one you might see from a neo-prog outfit (not too surprising, considering Marillion is Dan's all time favorite band): Tons of 70s style keyboards and a sound clearly inspired by classic prog, condensed into an accessible, often more straightforward style of songwriting that bases itself more on emotion than technical abilities.  The songs on Alive Again (with the exception of the fantastic 11 minute epic "Eternal") are generally pretty straightforward, basing themselves around a distorted but not too heavy guitar tone, the heavily present use of keyboards and Dan Swano's OUTSTANDING clean vocals (which really are the highlight of the album, this man can really sing), not really breaking any new ground but accompanying themselves with such powerful delivery from the band that it's difficult not to be drawn in.  This isn't the type of thing I would normally be interested in, but Alive Again is one of those albums I've had a very hard time putting down since I found it used for $5, and if fantastic melodies, hooks and vocals without going overboard on the ambition scale are what make up your idea of a great prog album, you won't be let down.

More to come in time, feel free to comment on even add your own inupt.  If you're not generally a fan of prog-metal (or even if you are and aren't aware of these three albums) I would love to hear what you think... if I can open one person's eyes to the true beauty of this style then I will consider this endeavor to have been a success.

Post Reply	Page 12 3 7 >