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Topic ClosedHelp me find some Prog Metal i'll actually enjoy

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AdamHearst View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Topic: Help me find some Prog Metal i'll actually enjoy
    Posted: December 04 2008 at 16:09
I am a long time fan of both Prog Rock and Metal (mostly the more extreme forms)... but, for some reason, when the two genres are fused together I just can't get into it.

I despise Dream Theatre and bands with that kind of sound. I don't like Opeth except for their most NON-METAL album Damnation (which is excellent) and i enjoy their acoustic passages. I checked out Unexpect and found it almost unlistenable, heh...

I am a big fan of "Brutal" and some "Technical" Death Metal (Nile, later Morbid Angel, Necrophagist, Immolation) and i don't know if any of it could be considered 'Prog', but a lot of it is very progressive in my view (more so than a lot of Prog Rock bands).

The ONLY band i've found so far that is widely considered "Prog Metal" that i actually enjoy is Cynic... so, i'm looking for recommendations on other bands to check out. So far most bands haven't delivered what i'm looking for. Cry

I am NOT a fan of "Power Metal" or most 80's-sounding Metal at all (which most prog-metal sounds like to me, heh)... i want to find the most brutal, deathly Prog in the universe. Dead.

help?! Embarrassed


I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity...
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Plankowner View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 04 2008 at 23:19
Persefone
Psycroptic
Ansur
Gojira
Baroness
Mastodon
Between the Buried and Me
Blotted Science
Canvas Solaris
Behold..The Arctopus
Intronaut
Cult of Luna
Mouth of the Architect
Devin Townsend
Pain of Salvation
Indukti
Riverside
Green Carnation
Isis
Neurosis
Pelican
 
..these are nowhere near power metal, enjoy
 
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 05 2008 at 00:45
If you're familiar with Cynic, you probably know about their connections with Atheist and Death? Pestilence is another band that is said to have been in that vein, though I've never heard them.

If you like black metal, there was a thread about progressive black metal not long ago.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 05 2008 at 01:50
The list of bands Planky made should be sufficient to crush your face, which I'm certain is the effect you want.

One thing to bear in mind, bands like Pelican, Isis, Neurosis, Cult Of Luna are more atmosphere focused and aren't about virtuosity and technical riffing at all.

I would add Meshuggah to that list.
Arguably still one of the most brutal and crushing bands ever.
The absolute antithesis of overly melodic prog metal and power metal, that's for sure.

Also, on Between the Buried and Me, their sound changed a lot from their debut album to how they sound now.
Their debut was very much metalcore, with about one song that might be considered proggy, and then one their latest release, Colors, they lost the metalcore aspect almost entirely, with proper death growl.
Pretty technical album too, lots of insane riffage and very impressive sweep picking chops from the lead guitarist.


Edited by HughesJB4 - December 05 2008 at 01:54
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 05 2008 at 02:59
Havn't been into prog metal for a long time, but still...

Opeth - Orchid, Blackwater Park, Deliverance, Ghost Reveries
Atheist - Piece of Time, Unquestionable Presence, Elements
Death - Spiritual Healing, Human, Individual Thought patterns, Symbolic
Judas Priest - Jugulator
Dark Angel - Time does not Heal

These are pretty heavy, dark & Brutal! There might be some melodic stuff here and there, though Tongue

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 05 2008 at 03:14
Umm Alex, he did say he didn't like much Opeth except DamnationWink
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 05 2008 at 04:33
Dark Suns
In the Woods...
Green Carnation
Arcturus
The Pax Cecilia
Virgin Black
Sieges Even
Zero Hour
To-Mera
maudlin of the Well
Psychotic Waltz
Anathema
Orphand Land
Drawn
Lesbian
Enslaved
Wastefall
Yakuza


Spending more than I should on Prog since 2005

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 05 2008 at 10:00
Thanks for all the suggestions guys! I shall systematically go through the listed bands (the ones i haven't heard before) and see if anything sticks. Cool

@spylu - ues, i've heard 'Athiest' and 'Pestilence' and neither were nearly as good (imo) as Cynic (even though they were all connected somehow). There's something very unique about Cynic's "Focus" that i love that those other bands lacked... can't put my finger on it though. I think Cynic's vocal approach is one of the main things i like... the mixture of weird electronic vocoder parts and the Death Metal vocals.

And 'Death' is a band that i definitely respect, and i enjoy some of their albums (Human is my favorite) but other albums i don't like very much for some reason - their later albums feel too hollow. I didn't care for the Control Denied offshoot either.

Maybe i'm too picky when it comes to my Metal?  Tongue




Edited by AdamHearst - December 05 2008 at 10:00
I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity...
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AdamHearst View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 05 2008 at 10:13
Originally posted by HughesJB4 HughesJB4 wrote:


One thing to bear in mind, bands like Pelican, Isis, Neurosis, Cult Of Luna are more atmosphere focused and aren't about virtuosity and technical riffing at all.


Aye, i do know of those bands... what i've heard is pretty close to atmospheric Doom Metal (which i like). I never really thought of any of them as Proggy before... some Neurosis songs have always reminded me of Pink Floyd though. I quite like the album with the Wolf head on the cover... whatever that one was called. Havn't listened to it since the 90's probably.

I know some 'Meshuggah'... in the past their music didn't have much impact on me, but i may check them out again now. They seemed almost too un-melodic, heh... i couldn't find anything memorable in the riffs that hooked me in. Thier riffs seemed to be all about rhythmic complexity and there wasn't much to the songs beyond that... not that there's anything wrong with that really, just not exactly my cup of tea. I like a pinch of melody in my riffs.

I shall give 'Between the Buried and Me' an ear as well.
I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity...
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 07 2008 at 00:11
What do you guys think of extremely technical Death Metal bands like Cryptopsy or (more recently) Beneath the Massacre? Should they be included in the Prog Archives?

The more bands i check out in the 'Tech/Extreme Prog Metal' category the less hope i have for ever getting into the genre in a major way. A lot of the bands are more in the extreme Metalcore camp it seems, and i'm more of an old-fashioned Death Metal fan I guess, hehe.... that 'Arctopus' band is pretty interesting though, i must admit.


Edited by AdamHearst - December 07 2008 at 00:12
I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity...
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 07 2008 at 00:29
If you like Cryptopsy, then you might like Gorguts.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 07 2008 at 00:44
Gojira's amazing.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 07 2008 at 00:51
Originally posted by AdamHearst AdamHearst wrote:

What do you guys think of extremely technical Death Metal bands like Cryptopsy or (more recently) Beneath the Massacre? Should they be included in the Prog Archives?

The more bands i check out in the 'Tech/Extreme Prog Metal' category the less hope i have for ever getting into the genre in a major way. A lot of the bands are more in the extreme Metalcore camp it seems, and i'm more of an old-fashioned Death Metal fan I guess, hehe.... that 'Arctopus' band is pretty interesting though, i must admit.
 
Here's a list provided by Avalanchemaster in the Tech/Extreme Appreciation thread back in July that I've almost gotten through Smile
 
Originally posted by avalanchemaster avalanchemaster wrote:

all right, glad I found this thread.......so this is my bread and butter style in metal, and I noticed that quite a few of the essentials are missing from this thread, so I will try to suggest some of my favorites:

7for4 (heavy fusion)
Sieges Even (the best best best technical prog metal band ever!!!)
Abigor (tech industrial avant garde black metal)
Altered Aeon  (tech thrash death metal)
Anacrusis (tech thrash)
Anata  (tech death metal)
Annon Vin (tech prog metal)
Arcturus (avant garde dark metal)
Arsis (tech death)
ATROX!!!!!!! (avant garde greatness!!!)
The Axis of Perdition (great, weird, dark ambient/industrial black metal)
Mick Barr (avant garde flying mosquitoes of death)
Believer (tech thrash)
Blut Aus Nord (awesome dissonant black metal)
Borknagar (progressive extreme)
Cadaver/Cadaver Inc. (tech thrashy black metal)
Carnival In Coal (avant garde greatness)
Coroner (best thrash band ever??)
Covenant (melodic black metal)
Cynic
Deadsoul Tribe (buddy lackey of Psychotic Waltz- new band)
Deathspell Omega (exceptional, progressive, avant garde black metal-  my all-time fave in the genre)
Diabolical Masquerade (tech death, avant garde)
Depressive Age (tech death)
Depresy (tech death)
Disharmonic Orchestra (old school tech death)
Dodheimsgard/DHG (avant garde industrial black metal)
Dog Fashion Disco (avant gumbo metal- a la faith no more/Mr. Bungle)
Electroction 250 (tech thrash- all over the place metal)
Emperor (the godfathers of modern 2nd and 3rd wave black metal)
Enslaved (mid era is essential for progsters who like it heavy- progressive black metal)
Ephel Duath (started as great progressive black metal- turned into jazzy, jarring, dissonant avant garde metalcore????  highly highly highly recommended!)
Extol- (tech black metal to start, tech thrash, newer stuff is very poppy and not as good)
Fleurety (avant garde black metal)
The f**king Champs (tech thrash instrumentals)
Gorguts (brilliance, no matter how you slice it)
Gorod (tech death)
Gory Blister (tech death)
Helstar (tech thrash greatness)
The Human Abstract (melodic tech deathcore)
illogicist (new album feat. Marco Minneman- tech death)
Into The Moat (dillinger escape plan multiplied times crazy)
Kadenzza (plain shred weirdness)
Kreator (tech thrash-to a degree)
Lengsel (black metal progressive)
Luciferion (tech melodic death)
Manes (avant garde black metal/post black metal)
Martyr (the best tech death, post-thrash, heavy fusion band to ever exist!!!!!!)
Mekong Delta (tech progressive thrash- huge fans of Mussgorsky)
Mirrorthrone (prog black metal)
Lux Occulta (avant garde black metal)
Korova/korovakill (avant garde thrashy blackened wierdness)
Mutant (Theory In Practice side project- black metal)
Necrophagist (tech death)
Neglected Fields (tech death)
Non Human Level (darkane side project- tech death)
Obliveon (tech thrashy death)
Oxiplegatz (avant garde death metal)
Peccatum (avant garde post black metal)
Protest The Hero (tech thrashy death)
Psychotic Waltz (the best?)
Psychotogen (tech death)
Psycroptic (tech death)
Psyopus (spazzcore death tech)
Ram-Zet (avant death)
Realm (tech thrash)
Reflux (tech deathcore)
Rope (avant garde dark jazz)
Sadus (tech thrash/death)
Sceptic (tech death)
Scuptured (progressive avant greatness)
Scholomance (awesome tech death with keys)
Sigh (avant black metal/thrash)
Sikth (tech death a la Meshuggah)
Octopus (tech death a la Meshuggah, only much, much, much better)
Solefald (avant garde post black metal)
Spastic Ink/Blotted Science/Ron Jarzombek
Watchtower (tech thrash- one of the best ever)
Tiamat (only Wildhoney- progressive death metal/doom)
Trepalium (tech death)
Devin Townsend (progressive metal)
Ulcerate (tech death a la Gorguts)
Spawn Of possession (tech death)
Virus (avant garde post black metal)
Vuvr (avant garde strangeness that is fantastic)
Winds (progressive avant garde metal)
Wintersun (tech death)


that oughta keep you busy for a while.....  WinkSmile


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JayDee View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 07 2008 at 01:24
I'll sit this one out.Wink

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Petrovsk Mizinski View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 07 2008 at 02:00
Originally posted by pinkpork pinkpork wrote:

Gojira's amazing.


The man speaks the truth.

I've been listening to them obsessively over the last two days.
They absolute crush faces.
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Petrovsk Mizinski View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 07 2008 at 02:02
Originally posted by AdamHearst AdamHearst wrote:

What do you guys think of extremely technical Death Metal bands like Cryptopsy or (more recently) Beneath the Massacre? Should they be included in the Prog Archives?

The more bands i check out in the 'Tech/Extreme Prog Metal' category the less hope i have for ever getting into the genre in a major way. A lot of the bands are more in the extreme Metalcore camp it seems, and i'm more of an old-fashioned Death Metal fan I guess, hehe.... that 'Arctopus' band is pretty interesting though, i must admit.


I like Cryptopsy and what I've heard of Beneath the Massacre is good stuff, but it's straight tech metal.
If you're wondering, Cryptopsy was rejected by the prog metal team on the grounds of lack of progginess in their music.
Doesn't take away from them being a wicked band though:)
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AdamHearst View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 07 2008 at 02:58
'proginess' is my new favorite word LOL

it's a fine line i suppose... the endless timing and tempo shifts Cryptopsy employ approaches proggy in my book... but i guess it would open the floodgates and every technical death metal band would then have to be included if they were in.

Are there any Extreme Prog Metal bands that heavily use typical "Symphonic Prog Rock" instruments like mellotrons, moogs or even flutes and other classical-type instuments as main elements of their music? I'd love to hear something like this.... something that sounds like Cryptopsy but with long intricate moog synth solos ha... that would be mad. If no one else is doing that, i'm going to start.  Geek




Edited by AdamHearst - December 07 2008 at 02:59
I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity...
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 07 2008 at 11:52
Hi, I think that you should try "Pain of Salvation" - maybe their "One hour by the Concrete Lake" album!!
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 07 2008 at 11:59
Avalanchemaster's list is fairly comprehensive, but a band called Blast Muzungu is missing. Progressive grind, for want of a better word.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 07 2008 at 14:40
Protest The Hero is probably the only one I can add to the suggestions so far. Albeit being mentioned above, they deserve a standout mention. Very technical, very heavy, very progressive, however they remind me more of post-hardcore punk such as Fall Of Troy moreso than death metal. Only better.
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