Sonata Arctica?

 

two other threads (not counting this one came up in the search), but they weren't relevant.

 

This band has been rejected twice now - once following the release of "Unia" and once following the release of "Days Of Gray". Within the guidelines they can be resubmitted if they have released new material since the last rejection, so the forthcoming release of their next album "Stones Grow Her Name" does mean they will be eligible for resubmission... HOWEVER, I suspect that this will be the third-strike and they'll go on the Stratovarius pile of bands perennially suggested and rejected.

 

Not every metal band needs to be included here and being "a bit progressive" isn't enough.

 

To be eligible for Prog Related they really do need to be either strongly influenced by Prog and in some-ways influential on Prog (Metal), or in some-ways influenced by Prog and in strongly influential on Prog (Metal). Power and Symphonic Metal bands rarely fall into either of those. Whatever the admission criteria was for Prog Related in the past no longer applies, so please don't use existing Prog Related artists as reasons for including this one.

1. I have no bias against Progressive Metal, never have. I bought Operation: Mindcrime when it was first released and have been a big Savatage fan since the the early 90s (and Jon Oliva's Pain naturally). I have seen Sonata Artica live, aswell as Children of Bodom, DragonForce, Edenbridge, PowerQuest and many of those other Power Metal bands that get suggested here from time to time. I haven't seen Stratovarious because I freely admit I don't like them. For six years I was the manager of a Gothic/Symphonic/Prog metal band that one day I hope will be admitted here - as long as they release a Prog Metal album that is, because the debut album I produced with them only had one Prog-like track so does not qualify. Dream Theatre are not my favourite Prog Metal band, though I do believe Scenes is probably the 3rd finest Prog Metal album ever made, but on the whole I prefer Pain Of Salvation, Ayreon and Riverside from the Prog Metal category, but my actual interest is more towards Opeth, My Dying Bride, Ihsahn, Ephel Duath, Monumentum, Orphaned Land, In The Woods, Green Carnation, The Gathering, Neurosis... So best not judge a book by it's cover eh?

 

2. The Admins do not decide who gets admitted here - we have genre teams composed of specialists (ie very knowledgeable fans - I don't believe anyone qualifies as a specialist here or anywhere else because there is always something that people don't know or some band that no one has ever heard of). These genre teams are composed of at least three people and they listen to as much of the representative albums as they practically can - some may even be fans with their own copies of these albums - they listen and vote according to what they hear and not through any preconception, what they read on Wikipedia or under pressure from people who really wish the band was here - a simple majority Yes vote and the band is accepted.

 

3. The evaluation of a band isn't done in public and it certainly isn't done with just the YouTube samples that people present as "exhibit a" in the suggestion thread, however the voting of the Prog Metal team can be seen by anyone who wants to look on the ProgFreak website.

 

4. Prog Related is a special category that the Admin team do decide who gets admitted - anyone is free to suggest a band for PR but only Special Collaborators can nominate bands to the Admin team, and that Special Collaborator must propose them and be prepared to add them into the database if successful. Our word is final on any decision - an artist may have all the credentials and may meet all the criteria for addition, but if we feel the band is not suitable for whatever reason, they won't get added.

 

5. Whether for Prog Metal or Prog Related, for any rejected band we do not have to justify our decision to anyone so I (we) don't have to tell you why those songs do or do not qualify.

lol

 

"Please, listen to the songs I posted without bias against Progressive Metal "

 

None of these quotes are persuasive arguments, indeed all they are likely to lead to is entrenchment. If I can offer some candid advice, constructive argument will always work better than suggestions of incompetence and the adopting of a superiority complex.

 

We have to respect the integrity of our teams when it comes to assessing bands. We now have a site dedicated to metal of all types, and I'm sure the band in question will be added there if they are not already.

 

On the question of the default period for the search engine, I can understand the request for this to be changed. Remember however that every search uses server resource. Searching all the threads every time will undoubtedly slow the site down. The majority of searches are probably looking for relatively recent threads, so the default is probably set about right. Perhaps it could be made clearer though that the period of the search can be changed. Best discussed in the Help us improve the site section though.