Listening to dark prog ?

I wouldn't say I listen to dark prog but I do listen to prog that isn't always happy sometimes I like to listen to pain of salvation other times I like to listen to blind guardian or symphony x   now I know these bands are not that dark but what I am not sure about is on a subtle level are they trying to tell me something about my own state of mental well being ? I mean maybe I`m not even aware I am even slightly depressed when I select a CD such as these t ... who knows , did the music create the mood shift or was the mood shift already there before I selected the "art" to express the state of consciousness I`m already at ?   its the chicken and the egg theory applied to music I have been trying to understand for years.



Edited by Yorkie X - August 27 2007 at 01:17

I like Dark Prog - early MARILLION, DISCIPLINE, UNIVERS ZERO, LACRIMOSA, post-rock, doom/drone/some funeral-doom metal, Scandinavian bands (usually dark) etc. It fits me well

drone doom's not dark, to me, I think of it as an emotional null. like metal should be.

for darkness I'd put forward Univers Zero and Archaia.

as for the "subconscious" point you raised, that's part of the fun =) maybe the time you reach for a down-beat CD and catch yourself doing it, maybe you should turn around and put on a Gentle Giant album instead. personally, I let the music dictate MY emotions because I'm a hopeless daydreamer ;P


Edited by laplace - August 27 2007 at 16:07

As a musician and writer, I find that it is much easier to express negative emotions and themes than it is to express positive and happy ones.  But that is just me.  I suspect though that most musicians are like me in the sense of being introspective and thinking deeply on various emotional and philosophical topics (okay, prog only here...........I doubt AC/DC does this  )

But then, you have a band like Yes where most of the music exudes a positive vibe even if the subject of the song is dark (like Close To the Edge or Gates Of Delirium).  So maybe I'm just speculating based on my own experience.  I do remember Steven Wilson saying that the dark and depressing topics of his songs are a way of exorcising such things from his mind and getting them out of himself.  I've had similar feelings with things I've written.  I think for most people it is a way to sort of deal with that dark side through music rather than carrying it over into the rest of life.  You soak up the dark and depressing aspect of the music and in doing so excise it from yourself in the process.  Or something like that.

Listening to depressing music actually makes me happier sometimes. Doesn't that sound backwards? I guess it all depends on your outlook through life. The problem with posing these types of questions online (for people you don't know) you can't really understand fully where they're coming from. I think if you spoke with musicians and such in real life you'd find what you're looking for.

It's a paradox I suppose, but dark/sad music makes me blissfully happy... I can only come up with one reason for this: the music puts me in touch with my deepest emotions - it brings my emotional self up to the surface, which makes me feel...I don't know, more human, more alive?

Now if I'm depressed, I tend to become emotionally numb (=nothing excites me or touches me), and no music in the world would help me, really. (For the record, I prefer watching my Starsky & Hutch dvds in such a lackluster state of mind, lol, now that usually helps a little bit to untie those 'knots' inside of me.)

To me, being depressed and being sad about something are two entirely different things. Music is of help in the latter case but not really in the former.

Van der graaf generator, king crimson and opeth are very dark.

As for non-prog, I'd say Emperor, Xasthur and other assorted, black metal, drone bands etc.

Well many people don't make a difference between dark music and depressive feelings and that upsets me!Because when i listen to something i really like,they all says me that its to depressive and that i shouldn't listen to that ,but music is a personal perception and they dont understand that!My favorite kind of prog is dark and psych but i'm not a depressive kind of person(i was in my teenage years),i really enjoy life,but dark prog is what i like in music :dramatic,passionate,imaginative,profound,celestial...

"what I am not sure about is on a subtle level are they trying to tell me something about my own state of mental well being ? I mean maybe I`m not even aware I am even slightly depressed when I select a CD such as these t ... "

"In Camera" by PH is pretty dark i like lisen to it when i feel depresed or angry it makes me feel beter.