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

Well, I think a well deserved bump is order.

A B Negative wrote: OK. I haven't heard much prog metal but I like Opeth, Voivod and Mastodon, and I don't like Pain of Salvation, Dream Theater or anything involving Mike Patton.   What would you recommend?

maudlin of the Well

srsly

I assume you've looked into Mammatus [http://www.myspace.com/mammatus] and the other 'stoner-metal' bands, like Mammoth

Xeroth wrote: Well, I would have to say that Dream Theater is one of my favorite bands of all time, so I don't quite understand what everyone hates about them because all that stuff about emotionless--to technical--blah, blah, blah

Neither do I dude. To me, bands like Dream Theater, Opeth, Death, Pain of Salvation and Ayreon pretty much sums up the sub-genre, just like Magma itself sums Zehul, Yes and Genesis pretty much sums Synphonic prog, Pink Floyd pretty much sums up space rock, King Crimson, Gentle Giant and Peter Hammil sums up eclectic prog.

However, these bands have hermetic music. I clearly remember how difficult and painful it were to listen a full King Crimson, Dream Theater, Pain of Salvation, Yes, Genesis, etc album for the very 1st time. it took me some months to get used to the music, but, when i got used, i became addicted to it.

You guys just have to give time to time, just like any progressive rock album would demand to be well listen.

BaldFriede wrote: There are three things I dislike about prog metal. The first is double bass drumming, which I consider to be a childish gimmick. The second is growling, for which the same applies. The third is the sound of the bass guitar on many prog metal albums; it sounds way too dry and, yes, metallic. Nothing against a heavy and distorted bass; I really love that. But this metallic sounding bass is horrible to my ears. Any recommendations for Prog Metal without these features?

dont know any prog metal band without ANY these features. And i think it will be very hard to find any band without all of them.


Edited by CCVP - March 18 2008 at 21:38

though I didn't like 'Dowsing',  I'd agree KD are a good rec in this case

BaldFriede wrote: I agree with most of your assessments, except for Pink Floyd summing up Space Rock. Space Rock would not be what it is without bands like Gong and Hawkwind; they are essential Space Rock.

Well, there is true in what you say, but i consider these bands as merely important to the genre, since Pink Floyd basically invented the genre back in 68 with a "Saurcerful of Secrets" album. It is not a good debut for the genre, but what the hell, all the basics are there! It is also true that Hawkwind was also one of the pioneers and also Eloy was a very important band. i really know nothing about Gong, but what i know is that the band had a incredible flexibility in its sound, changing its "genre" some times that you cant pinpoint what kind of prog they made and maybe this is the biggest problem with this web site: creating sub-genres out of nothing and fitting bands in it omitting  some of the band's  main characteristic, like  happens in the  unbelievable "Italian symphonic prog" which puts in the same bag bands that have quite different sound. If these strange genre creating had any criteria at all it should be a exclusive sub-genre for the Brazilian band "Os Mutantes", since they did NOT, and i repeat with more emphasis, THEY DID NOT IN ANY MOMENT OF THEIR EARLY CAREER made a single psychedelic rock album EVER. They were part of a exclusive Brazilian musical movement called "TROPICÁLIA", which consisted in making true Brazilian music mixing international influences (like rock in the Os Mutantes case) and Brazilian traditional music and some inventions made by the musicians, since there was a intense creative work here at that time (60's - 70's). Also made part of the Tropicália movement Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, and some other important Brazilian musicians that i cant recall the name right now.

Anyhow, going back to the point here, since Pink Floyd made, chronologically, albums that would strongly characterizes space rock for ever (like their 1st masterpiece: atom heart mother) and, because of that were more important to the genre that the warrior on the edge of time and ocean, for example. Hell, meddle and dark side of the moon came 1st then hall of the mountain grill and they where far more important then hall.

Because of that, i think that Pink Floyd WAS and still IS the main influence of space rock because, even if the bands today get their influence from Hawkwind or Eloy, both of these bands were influenced 1st by Pink Floyd.




Edited by CCVP - March 19 2008 at 11:50

BaldFriede wrote: Because of that, i think that Pink Floyd WAS and still IS the main influence of space rock because, even if the bands today get their influence from Hawkwind or Eloy, both of these bands were influenced 1st by Pink Floyd. Not really; Hawkwind were more influenced by Krautrock.

True, but kraut shared a lot of features with space rock. Eloy's 2nd and 3rd albums are pure kraut to me, for exemple. I think kraut was a specie of space rock that emerged in Germany because of some reasons and  its not the time to list those reasons here.

Besides, since hawkwind was so much influenced by kraut, you just threw the influence responsibility to kraut.

Maybe krautrock is Germany's way to make space rock . . . .


Edited by CCVP - March 20 2008 at 20:31