The Hemispheres Of Heavy Prog
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Topic: The Hemispheres Of Heavy Prog
Posted By: Queen By-Tor
Subject: The Hemispheres Of Heavy Prog
Date Posted: July 07 2008 at 15:12
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The Hemispheres Of Heavy Prog (An exercise in self-indulgence by King By-Tor) Heavy prog is just one of those things, one of those things that so many people overlook while others follow religiously. One thing that makes it both popular and controversial is simply the way that band in it make their music. One of the things that must be noticed immediately about every single band in this genre is that they are all a mix of what is traditional in the prog world and what is contemporary in the modern world. Rush is a prime example of this, as a band who has been around just about the entire life of the genre, (and unquestionably the most influential band of the genre – like them or not), they’ve changed from 70s heavy metal/prog to 80s new wave/prog to 90s alternative/prog to modern hard rock/prog. Of course, many other bands would do the same thing, just look at the in terms of when they existed. The 70s bands in this genre mixed 70s hard rock/classic rock/classic metal with their prog leanings while the 90s bands would mix it with alt rock and grunge, modern bands mix their prog with punk and hardcore. Truly this is a subgenre subject to change, and not many of the band within it could be called down as “retro” as they all have a contemporary spin. However, let’s move on… While perhaps not the most important subgenre of Progressive Rock (and even, some could argue, just a figment of the ProgArchives imagination) Heavy Prog has served as a segue between classic hard rock and the progressive realm. To go through an accurate journey of the subgenre we must first find it’s humble beginnings in both the worlds of prog and hard rock, so let’s start with the summer of love and move all the way to today, capturing the most essential and some of the more obscure bands of the genre. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Players/The Bands The 60s… The Psych Scene Cream  Formed in the 60s as a supergroup Cream played some of the best known hard rock and blues tunes known from the era. Their album Disreali Gears still stands as a hallmark psycadellic blues album even to this day thanks to classics like Sunshine Of Your Love, Tales Of Brave Ulysses and Strange Brew. No doubt that its style of guitar (distorted and heavy) has influenced many artists including one of the leading guitar players in the heavy prog movement, Alex Lifeson of Rush who would later cover the Cream tune Crossroads on their 2004 ep Feedback. While the band itself would never turn fully progressive (the term had not even been coined yet) their influence on later prog artists is undeniable. Albums for the Heavy Progger – Disreali Gears (1967), Wheels Of Fire (1968)   Led Zeppelin  Another band formed out of The Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin is another one of those bands that simply does not need introduction. Page’s heavy blues style guitar and Plant’s shrieking high vocals would force waves across the rock and psychedelia scene, changing them vastly. While not often called “progressive” by many critics and journalists, Zeppelin certainly helped to found the subgenre we call Heavy Prog with songs like Dazed And Confused and How Many More Times breaking the rock convention and forcing young musicians and listeners to take notice. Albums for the Heavy Progger – Led Zeppelin (1969), Led Zeppelin II(1969)   Andromeda  Where Prog started to make its way into this heavy rock was with this proto-prog band who’s “heavy” factor was pretty great for a band in ’69. A trio with a skilled guitar player who would later head off for Atomic Rooster this band was never truly influential, but still important. Albums for the Heavy Progger – Andromeda (1969)  High Tide  Arguably the first truly heavy prog band, their debut album Sea Shanties has also been called “the first Prog Metal album” by some. Undeniably heavy, this band took the distorted guitar to another level. Simon House also adds a delightful touch with his electric violin, adding a unique layer to an already outstanding band. Their second album, the self titled High Tide was a bit more lo-key in terms of heaviness, and would see the end of the band unfortunately early, but they have released many posthumanous albums and compilations. Albums for the Heavy Progger – Sea Shanties (1969), High Tide (1970)   The 70s… The Start Of Something Beautiful Deep Purple  Perhaps not prog per se, these guys certainly threw open a lot of doors in the late 60s with their heavy blues based metal. Coming into the 70s with releases like In Rock and Fireball, Deep Purple were getting heavier and heavier, setting the bar for both heavy prog, blues, rock, and metal acts. Songs like the magnificent Child In Time meander deep into heavy prog territory while other such as the title cut off of Fireball and almost the entirety of Machine Head were simply showing others how the guitar and powerful organs could be used to build songs. The band would soon start to lean more towards heavy blues, but those days spent bordering on prog should not be forgotten or overlooked by the Heavy prog goer. Albums for the Heavy Progger – In Rock (1970), Fireball (1971), Machine Head (1972)    Atomic Rooster  Although Heavy Prog’s greatest achievements wouldn’t be made for a number of years this band really helped to kick off the genre. Mixing heavy guitars (thanks to Andromeda guitarist John DuCann) organs, and a pleasant blend of soul music (even if the music was far too dark to be considered soul) this band really got started with Death Walks Behind You in 1970. While Carl Palmer will have already split by this point to go off and form ELP (but of course) this band would continue in a decidedly non-ELP fashion. Their later albums would start to lean closer and closer to soul music (albeit evil soul music) leaving the progressive side behind until their ultimate break-up, but this band’s “classic” recordings remain as staples to the genre of heavy prog. The music, even to this day, sounds surprisingly up to date with the “overdrive” guitar and pressing organs. Albums for the Heavy Progger – Death Walks Behind You (1970), In Hearing Of (1971)   Uriah Heep  Another group which would formulate the beginnings of heavy prog with their debut release Very ‘Eavy, Very ‘Umble, Uriah Heep were sometimes referred to as “The Beach Boys of heavy Metal”. They were heavy, and they were melodic, some argue that their earlier albums, including their opus Salsibury could, in fact, be seen as more symphonic prog than heavy. Regardless, with their heavy organ and guitars continually leading the way this group opened up boundaries much like Atomic Rooster was doing around the same time. More prone to tales of fantasy than real world darkness, Heep was a band who’s head was often out of this world (though not always), especially on releases like Demons and Wizards and The Magician’s Birthday. Albums for the Heavy Progger – Salisbury (1971), Look At Yourself (1971), Demons And Wizards (1972), The Magician’s Birthday (1972), Firefly (1977)      Fuzzy Duck  Fuzzy Duck were an obscure little heavy prog band with only one album to their name. Heavy bass an Hammond organ defines the sound, making for a very 70s feeling album. Albums for the Heavy Progger – Fuzzy Duck (1971)  Captain Beyond  Formed by MK I Deep Purple lead vocalist Rod Evans, Captain Beyond was an excellent mix of hard rock and progressive rock. While none of the songs were 20 minute epics the albums still managed to flow and really did come off like a group of longer songs. While they would never match the success of their first album with later releases (an unfortunate trend in many Heavy Prog groups…) their first album remains a must for Heavy prog collectors. Albums for the Heavy Progger – Captain Beyond (1972)  Babe Ruth  Another one album wonder from the heavy prog world, this band was like Led Zeppelin mixed with Rush (who wasn’t yet recording) with an evil Janis Joplin at the front. Jenny Haan’s powerful vocals mixed with Alan Shacklock’s excellent songwriting and guitars made for a very formidable force. Their debut album First Base is everything that Heavy Prog does well, mixing conventional heavy blues and hard rock with progressive leanings to make for a very pleasing listen. Unfortunately their power would drop sharply for the remainder of their career until the avoidable Kids Stuff which would feature none of the musicians which started on First Base. Albums for the Heavy Progger – First Base (1973)  Rush  Well, it was inevitable that we eventually get to this band. Seen as the forbearers of the heavy prog torch is the Canadian power trio Rush. Influenced by just about all of the above Rush took the prog and the heavy up a notch. While their first albums would see them dabbling more in the hard rock realm Rush eventually moved into the progressive territories on their commercially unviable record Caress Of Steel. From there they would enter their “classic” era which would produce some of Heavy Prog’s crowning achievements. Still kicking, Rush continues into the new millennium producing heavy progressive flavored music with a legion of fans. Albums for the Heavy Progger – 2112 (1976), A Farewell To Kings (1977), Hemispheres (1978), Permanent Waves (1980), Moving Pictures (1981), Counterparts (1993)       The 80s… While open to being proved wrong, this observer sees that there was really no advancements in the field of heavy prog during the 80s. Being a love child of Progressive and classic hard rock (both of which struggled to survive during this time) the subgenre was put almost on hiatus as many of the heavy progs either died off or changed to suit the times. Prog Metal would emerge as would power metal, undoubtedly influenced by the heavy prog bands of the 70s, but the genre would find itself in a temporary rut. The 90s… Resurgence While the 80s had a lot to offer to the musical world it wouldn’t really be until the 90s that people would learn how to put it to proper use. A more aggressive generation of musicians was taking hold and with progressive back on the rise in a new body it was time that heavy prog got some life breathed into it as well. Anekdoten  This Swedish prog powerhouse came out of the blue with their debut, Vemod, and the progressive community must have been pleasantly surprised. Drenched with mellotron and oozing with a dominant bass, Anekdoten’s melancholic madness quenches the heavy thirst quite well. With longer compositions and excellent musicianship, this is a band to watch even now. Albums for the Heavy Progger – Vemod (1993), Nucleus (1995), From Within (1999)    Tiles  Often compared to Rush thanks to their high pitched vocals, this is a group who really tried to use the old school heavy prog sound while maintaining a kind of contemporary feel for the 90s. They even managed to get Alex Lifeson (Rush) to guest perform on their latest album. Using long song format and even paying tribute to Rush with their album cover for their Presents Of Mind album, these guys are great for those who want to hear the old done new. Albums for the Heavy progger – Fence The Clear (1997), Presents Of Mind (1999)   Porcupine Tree  Arguably one of the most important prog bands of their time and having won ProgArchives “Album Of The Year” with both of their last two releases, Porcupine Tree shows that prog can still progress with the times. Though they started life as a psychedelic band in the late 80s Porcupine Tree would evolve into a full fledged Heavy Prog band by the release of their 1996 album Signify. From there on there was no turning back, and the band has grown even heavier with frontman Steve Wilson’s collaborations with bands like Opeth. The skeptics may not want to hear this, but these guys are holding the heavy prog flag the highest of an right now. Albums For The Heavy Progger – Signify (1996), Lightbulb Sun (2000), In Absentia (2002), Deadwing (2005), Fear Of A Blank Planet (2007)      The 00s… Adding fuel to the fire While this decade has not been nearly as fruitful for the heavy prog subgenre, there’s still been a number of bands to add into the fray. This decade has seen the addition of genres to heavy prog that some people would have never deemed possible. Emo, a new form of punk, has even made its way into the genre as well as alternative. The Mars Volta  Breaking all the conventions of song writing is these ex-punkers who write their songs seemingly to be as dissonant as possible. Not exactly an easy listen, these guys are often categorized as Punk, but it’s easy to see – while listening to any of their 15+ minute songs – that thanks to these guys structure and use of instruments that they’re a modern prog force to be reckoned with. With non-sensical lyrics and a blistering guitar, these guys have often been compared as the modern equivalent of Rush or Yes. Whether they are or not, really, is up to you. Albums for the Heavy Progger – De-loused in the Comatorium (2003), Frances The Mute (2005).   Coheed & Cambria  Okay, so before people come after me with pitchforks for this one… Inspired by oldschool prog groups like King Crimson and Rush is this modern punk/emo/prog band. While controversial at times thanks to their modern sound and sometimes less than progressive music, it can’t be denied that if music must progress to be progressive, then joining two mortal enemies (punk and prog) is something very progressive indeed. Over the years Coheed & Cambria has started to loosen up their punk approach and have even had a couple of very Pink Floyd moments. All of the band’s efforts up to this point have been one cohesive storyline that finally ended on their most recent album. Where the band goes from here will really determine their status in the progressive community. High pitched vocals and heavy guitars often earn this band a comparison to Rush, but hardcore prog fans will usually call that one down. Albums for the Heavy Progger – Good Apollo I’m Burning Star IV, Volume I: From Frear Through The Eyes of Madness (2005), Good Apollo I’m Burning Star IV, Volume II: No World For Tomorrow (2007)   The Fall Of Troy  This modern heavy prog band has spent most of their time walking the thin line between hardcore punk and progressive music. With their first albums sounding a lot like the chaos of The Mars Volta but with a more aggressive, post modern kind of feel, this band is great for those who enjoy the modern scene but want something a little more… angry. Albums for the Heavy Progger – Doppelganger (2005)  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ In Hearing Of… 10 of the biggest riffs in Heavy Progdom When it comes to the art of Heavy Prog one of the most undeniable features of the genre is the fantastic riffs from the bands. Starting with bands like Led Zeppelin the guitar became sort of a second vocalist. As stated in the site’s definition of Heavy Prog as well, the Overdrive of a distorted guitar is a large characteristic of the genre, and the masters of that were to become the biggest acts in the genre. Compiled is a list of 10 of the biggest, baddest riffs in Heavy Prog. Let's count them down in no particular order. Intertiatic ESP by The Mars Volta Mars Volta was a great surprise to the progressive scene being the ashes of punk rockers, At The Drive In. I can only imagine what most people where thinking the first time they put this record on, “okay, this is a pretty nice intro song and… WHOA! Where the hell did that come from!?”. While the guitar liked to hide in the shadows for the first minute of Mars Volta’s debut it was pretty clear by the first real track that wouldn’t be the case. While the song is mainly made heavy by a massive rhythm section Omar’s’s blistering yet intricate guitar riff would remain one of the most noticeable features, and one of the only things that one could listen to without getting motion sickness. While most of the time it’s played at a high pitch, the overdrive becomes gleefully apparent around the time of the chorus. Well done boys. Hear it on: De-Loused in The Comatorium (2003)  Omar Rodriguez-Lopez of The Mars Volta Breakthrough by Atomic Rooster Forget the guitar for a moment, and let’s pay tribute to the heaviest piano and organ player to emerge from the scene. Vincent Crane’s blistering work on Atomic Rooster’s album is what defined the band’s sound. Whether he be using a malevolent sound to make for dark tones or just using fast keys to drive the song it’s hard to deny this man’s heaviness. For the band’s most successful album Crane decided to make an attack right off the bat. In Hearing Of… starts with the sound of Crane’s piano before bursting into full motion, the piano showing the guitar which way to go. Purely impressive from start to finish, this is now a rock piano should be played. Hear it on: In Hearing Of… (1972)  Vincent Crane of Atomic Rooster Easy Livin’ by Uriah Heep With organ jumping gleefully along in the background with the vocals flying around who can possibly forget the heavily distorted guitar in this mini-masterpiece by Uriah Heep? While the band had certainly come up with some great stuff this remains as one of their most memorable riffs, even if the song was criminally short. Hear it on: Demons & Wizards (1972)  Mick Box of Uriah Heep Gamma Ray by Birth Control One big riff from this frightening German band could have you in a state of nausea, and in this case it’s an organ riff. These guys may have never been overly well known in the rest of the world, but one thing is for sure, they knew how to rock. While this song is mainly driven by some mean drums after a very chilled keyboard opening with some decidedly Arthur Brown sounding spoken word the song bursts into motion, those organs creeping along for the entire 9-minute ride. The song does feature some wicked guitar solos in the middle, but who could forget that opening organ? No wonder power metaller Kai Hansen would later cover this song with his band of the same name, Gamma Ray. Hear it on: Hoodoo Man (1972) No More White Horses by T2 Add a sense of space and some madman drumming and you have something that could blow your head clean off. While the song features some more chill moments there’s one big thing to be noticed here, the riff. That thing just chugs along to drive the song from cool to insane. Hear it on: It’ll All Work Out In Boomland (1970) Where Solitude Remains by Anekdoten Where would Anekdoten be without their huge, massive sound? On their debut album they really proved that they were a force to be reckoned with, “either listen to us or we’ll plow right over you”. Amongst the album riddled with gems is this amazing standout. Look out for the giant bass riff of this song because it will get you. What a mean way to open a song, a pounding bass section is just the way to get attention. If Chris Squire dominated Yes’s Roundabout then Jan Erik Liljeström hogtied this song and forced it to do terrible, unspeakable things. This riff is pure madness. Hear it on: Vemod (1993)  Jan Erik Liljeström of Anekdoten Wells Fargo by Babe Ruth If anyone could mash on a guitar it’s Alan Shacklock, founding member of the powerful Babe Ruth. And if there’s any one particularly memorable moment of the band’s short career (although there are many) it has to be the opening riff of the opening song to their debut album. These guys got out of the gate hard and this tune will convince any heavy progger who’s sitting down to listen to the album for the first time. Piano and light bongo drums are blown out of the way of this riff shortly before Haan’s first screaming of lyrics. POW, this is Babe Ruth. Hear it on: Babe Ruth (1973) Blackest Eyes by Porcupine Tree Steve Wilson has taken Porcupine Tree on a bizarre trip through styles. By the early new millennium the band had arrived at a place where they were very, very much a heavy prog band. 1996’s Stupid Dream had seen the band take a more concise and commercial route, and the next two albums after that would become heavier and more dark. The opening track to the second of those albums would show the band in a new skin when this track got rolling. Quiet strings explode into a truly evil riff as Wilson discards all the quiet niceties of the previous albums. Hear it on: In Absentia (2002)  Steve Wilson, founder of Porcupine Tree 2112: Overture/The Temples of Syrinx by Rush A spacey whispering and some whooshes are soon put to rest by a classic riff from Alex Lifeson. This is the point where Rush steped away from their nearly career-ending Caress Of Steel style and adapted what would soon become the classic heavy prog sound. 2112 is seen as one of the band’s greatest hallmarks and that pounding riff from Lifeson (which soon turns into some mean soloing) can certainly be seen as one of the best moments in heavy prog history. Check out that recurring riff in the ending segment of Overture, pure bliss! Wonderfully heavy, but hardly humble, this was a balls-out rocker which was meant for sticking it to the man and that they do in the second part of the song as the pounding riff from Temples Of Syrinx kicks into gear. Who knew that Canadians could get so angry? Hear it on: 2112 (1974)  Alex Lifeson or Rush Dancing Madly Backwards by Captain Beyond Captain Beyond’s debut album was unquestionably built on this riff. The album contained a great many number of short songs, which could, arguably, be seen as several suites forming a longer songs. You’ll hear this riff (and variations thereof) throughout at the album, but it never gets old, even when Dancing Madly Backwards is reprised in Myopic Void and again later on I Can’t Feel Nothing (part I and II). But what an amazing and versatile riff it is! Larry Reinhardt really knew how to build a riff, and though the band would move away from this style after their debut they still had a couple of rifferific moments, check out Bright, Blue Tango off their second album, Sufficiently Breathless Hear it on: Captain Beyond (1972)  Captain Beyond ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ So there you have it, a quick journey through one of the most adventurous, and indeed, progressive, subgenres that exists on our humble archives. Like it or not one can’t deny that this is a quickly shifting genre and thanks to its tendency to borrow from modern ideas we’re not likely to see this one die off for some time. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
Replies:
Posted By: LinusW
Date Posted: July 07 2008 at 15:19
Oh yes, I like it! ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/LinusW88" rel="nofollow - Blargh |
Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: July 07 2008 at 17:29
Great stuff, By-Tor, love your enthusiasm and knowledge.. actually HeavyProg is only partly a PA invention, the term has been used for years as a descriptive term, we just gave it some legitimacy (and some capital letters  )other greats in the HP family; Badger debut (One Live Badger) very underrated project of Tony Kaye's, kinda Traffic meets early Yes Arc short lived post-underground band with a nice mix of prog and hard blues Fusion Orchestra fantastic heavy symph ensemble, as good as Rush in their time, album Skeleton in Armour a lost Prog jewel Elonkorjuu virtually unknown but very good Finnish band Yang Frederic L'Epee's band after Philharmonie, top-notch Solution Science Systems eccentric little group some might like |
Posted By: Queen By-Tor
Date Posted: July 07 2008 at 17:31
Sounds like a couple that have to be added to my "to get" list, cheers! 
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Posted By: Kestrel
Date Posted: July 07 2008 at 17:38
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Awesome, I'll have to check out Andromeda and High Tide. ...And maybe Coheed & Cambria and Fall of Troy, haha. For modern heavy prog though, I love Black Bonzo's (whom I just recommended in Orb's thread) Sound of the Apocalypse. Just check out the song Thorns Upon a Crown on their profile here. Awesome keyboard and drumming work. |
Posted By: Queen By-Tor
Date Posted: July 07 2008 at 17:41
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^^^ Will do! I feel a pt 2 coming on in the future  |
Posted By: Mellotron Storm
Date Posted: July 07 2008 at 23:44
Well done King By-Tor you obviously did your homework.I felt like i was reading through a documentary. Funny but my 3 favourite all-time bands were listed by you.Rush,Porcupine Tree and Anekdoten.------------- "The wind is slowly tearing her apart" "Sad Rain" ANEKDOTEN |
Posted By: Mandrakeroot
Date Posted: July 08 2008 at 10:07
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Great work, King By-Tor! ------------- 
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Posted By: rushfan4
Date Posted: July 08 2008 at 10:40
Excellent work King By-Tor. This was a very enjoyable read. As PA's unofficial Tiles' cheerleader, I must say thank you for their mention. They really are a good Heavy Prog band that could use a bit more attention on PA, although I understand that they don't appeal to everyone. I really do wish that those Anekdoten CD's were more readily available. I think that they might be a band that I would really like, if I could actually hear them to like them.  ------------- 
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Posted By: Padraic
Date Posted: July 08 2008 at 10:45
If you don't mind downloads, Anekdoten is available through Amazon MP3. You can even grab individual tracks if you really just want to sample. |
rushfan4 wrote:Posted By: rushfan4
Date Posted: July 08 2008 at 10:50
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Thanks Pat. That is good to know. I like having original CDs, but I also download quite a bit on my eMusic account so I have gotten used to that as well. I have downloaded some songs from Amazon on occasion too, so that might be the way to go for Anekdoten. -------------
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Posted By: Statutory-Mike
Date Posted: July 08 2008 at 12:44
 Bravo, I loved the bit on Porcupine Tree------------- 
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Posted By: The Quiet One
Date Posted: July 09 2008 at 13:32
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Excellent job there Mike! Glad to see Deep Purple, Atomic Rooster, Cream, Uriah Heep and Captain Beyond.
You might quite as well add some stuff from Jethro Tull, though not being really Heavy Prog, they quite have a lot of hard rocking albums and they quite could be considered Heavy Prog, though that could only be Aqualung I suppose. How about Warhorse? Again, great list Mike! An excellent entry to the magical Heavy Prog scene. Oh! Where's Black Widow's Sacrifice, a must for Heavy Prog fans! |
Posted By: Queen By-Tor
Date Posted: July 09 2008 at 13:42
As for Warhorse and BWS... sounds like some stuff to add to the shopping list!  That's for pt 2 |
Posted By: The Quiet One
Date Posted: July 09 2008 at 13:57
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^ Black Widow - Sacrifice, is a real must, while not being mind-blowing or extremely awsome heavy prog, it's a quite interesting mix of Jethro Tull's flute and acoustic guitars with Rooster's Hammond style.
Warhorse is a little bit weaker, but still, if you have Captain Beyond you must have Warhorse, Rod Evan's band and not Nick Simper's!?! hehe. |
Posted By: Queen By-Tor
Date Posted: July 09 2008 at 14:31
Thanks Mr. Pablo, I'll make sure to check into those 
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Posted By: The Quiet One
Date Posted: July 09 2008 at 18:00
| ^whenever you listen to them, please remember to tell me what you think about them. |
Posted By: ProgBagel
Date Posted: July 09 2008 at 19:55
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After reading your interviews, I was very excited to see you wrote a blog. I enjoyed this one too and like most of the bands listed. Send me a PM if you write any more, especially some of the 90's and 00's.
Excellent job.
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Posted By: Todd
Date Posted: July 10 2008 at 15:56
I use eMusic too--lots of great prog. Anekdoten's album Gravity is available there. The CDs are available at a reasonable price through Greg Walker
http://synphonic.8m.com/catalogs.htm - http://synphonic.8m.com/catalogs.htm
If you buy Vemod, be sure to get the version that has "Sad Rain" as a bonus track.
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Posted By: Todd
Date Posted: July 10 2008 at 15:59
| Oh, and a great review of Heavy Prog! Thanks! Perhaps others could take this and run with it in other sub-genres as well . . . |
Posted By: Draith
Date Posted: July 15 2008 at 02:00
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Bravo, great work! This subgenre of "progressive hard rock," dubbed heavy prog, has had me scratching my head for quite a while. I too have my musical roots in hard rock (mainly "classic" hard rock of the late seventies) and am a die hard progger, and I never could find enough bands to combine both concepts. Hence Rush is and probably always will be my favorite band, especially their mid to late seventies era from 2112 to Moving Pictures. As a result I've been able to branch out in both directions of prog, the classic prog like Yes, Genesis, and ELP to prog metal like Symphony X, DT, and Kamelot. Similarly I've found other bands incorperate distortion guitar in the sense that heavy prog does such as Mahavishnu, Return to Forever, Kansas, King Crimson and Gentle Giant. So I was pretty happy when the subgenre of "heavy prog" was established to allow me to find more "progressive classic hard rock" bands like Rush. I do a search on 70s and 80s heavy prog and the only consistent bands ranking above 3.0 are Rush, Uriah Heep (which I had already discovered thanks to Mike Akerfeldt, ironically) some Atomic Rooster and Lucifer's Friend, which I still have yet to check out. I was a bit disappointed that there weren't more bands that were anything like Rush and that there's was no heavy prog in the 80s in response. Thanks for clearing some things up for me regarding the evolution and nature of heavy prog. Now my goal is to someday form a great heavy prog band to add to the subgenre! |
Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: July 15 2008 at 07:32
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Great work on the blog Mike and for education those not in the know about this amazing genre "Emo, a new form of punk, has even made its way into the genre as well as alternative". According to most documentaries I've seen and books I've read, punk had it's true beginnings in about 1974 (punk proper and not proto-punk bands like the Stooges, New York Dolls et al that existed as early as the 60s). Now , that would mean punk is about 34 years old at this point. Emo first reared its head, as early as 1984. 24 YEARS AGO. I wouldn't call a 24 year old genre a new form of Punk, not by a long shot, especially since newer genres of punk were still being developed in the early '90s. I make a suggestion that for greater accuracy in your blog, you change the line from "Emo, a new form of punk, has even made its way into the genre as well as alternative" to perhaps "Post Hardcore, a form of punk has even made its way into the genre as well as alternative" and this shall improve the accuracy in relation to the '00 bands, in particular TMV and The Fall Of Troy. Indeed, it is Post Hardcore and not emo in which TMV had their roots in, which of course is because Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Cedric Bixler-Zavala were previously in the Post Hardcore outfit At The Drive In. And of course The Fall Of Troy is very much Post Hardcore influenced too. Going back more on heavy prog, I really dig The Mars Volta, The Fall of Troy and Porcupine Tree (the top 3 for me out of the bands listed in the first post) and it was great to see someone giving The Fall of Troy some recognition, a special thanks for that Mike |
Posted By: Queen By-Tor
Date Posted: July 15 2008 at 11:49
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Thanks to those I haven't already followed up on! @ProgBagel - thanks for the support! I'll make sure to keep you posted when this gets updated with the next segment. @Draith - Good to see that this got you thinking! I look forward to what you might work on in the future. If there's something that we need now is more heavy prog bands and people that appreciate it! @Hughes - You make a strong point. Actually, my mention of emo was mostly aimed at the last two bands on the list, although the mention of "post hardcore" actually fits the bill better on the whole when pulling into account TMV and Fall of Troy. |
Posted By: Hirgwath
Date Posted: July 15 2008 at 17:02
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Bless you for including the Fall of Troy! An underrated gem of a band (at least here on the Archives). Of course, practically all of the "scene" kids know about them.
------------- Skwisgaar Skwigelf: taller than a tree. Toki Wartooth: not a bumblebee. |
Posted By: The Quiet One
Date Posted: July 15 2008 at 21:21
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Hey Mike I just realised that Sabbath isn't there!
Black Sabbath(debut), Paranoid, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and Sabotage are sure entries. |
Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: July 16 2008 at 01:07
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other less known HP greats -- Australis ../artist.asp?id=3371 - http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=3371 Freedom's Children ../artist.asp?id=3212 - http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=3212 Zarathustra ../artist.asp?id=783 - http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=783 |
Posted By: Yorkie X
Date Posted: July 17 2008 at 02:02
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Really interesting blog, I`m going to check out a few bands because I read this
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Posted By: AtomicCrimsonRush
Date Posted: July 30 2008 at 20:56
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Great review and easy to read and comprehend. Keep these coming. Do an article perhaps of the new progressive metal acts of 2000 onwards.
Great stuff. ------------- 
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Posted By: debrewguy
Date Posted: July 31 2008 at 14:15
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Do give a gander at the reviews/ratings here at PA for Night Sun's sole album "Mournin". Deep Purple with their 60s Psych bits intact, Yes just a little less virtuosic, and slabs of early 70s heavy prog. No PA collabs/admin/reviewers yet; but us hoi polloi go Oy over it ! ------------- "Here I am talking to some of the smartest people in the world and I didn't even notice,” Lieutenant Columbo, episode The Bye-Bye Sky-High I.Q. Murder Case. |
Posted By: Mandrakeroot
Date Posted: August 01 2008 at 10:29
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I posted this post in http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_topics.asp?FID=1&SID=zz553a139116a3aczeff288a18d9zczf - Suggest New Bands and Artists because this is a good Ex-YU Hevy Prog band!:
I have bought 'Raskorak' by ljubljana Heavy Prog band Oko, remastered by the member of the band Pavel Kavec from original 1976 masters in December 1998.
 Extreme great album for all fans of deep Purple/ Rainbow, Uriah Heep and Eloy and all Heavy progsters!
There are several sites that have Mp-3 of OKO. -------------
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Posted By: SouthSideoftheSky
Date Posted: August 01 2008 at 11:25
I was just about to say the same thing! But I would like to add Master Of Reality as well. Most of these early Black Sabbath albums were quite progressive, more so than Deep Purple MII in my opinion and certainly more so than anything by Led Zeppelin.
Further, some other Black Sabbath albums right up till 1990 were quite proggy as well, listen especially to TYR & Headless Cross and also individual songs like Sign Of The Southern Cross from Mob Rules (even if the album isn't very proggy considered as a whole).
I would say that Black Sabbath is essential listening for any heavy prog fan.
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Posted By: The Quiet One
Date Posted: August 04 2008 at 15:24
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^I agree
But Master of Reality is really Heavy more-so to Metal than Prog. Their debut and Paranoid have a lot of Progression on their songs. And Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and Sabotage are truly Prog albums at cause of the inclusion of keys and less straight-forward hard rock songs. |
Posted By: SouthSideoftheSky
Date Posted: August 06 2008 at 06:03
Yeah, I'm actually working on a similar thing right now inspired by this one. Though mine is going to be a bit different being about the historical roots of prog metal.
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Posted By: The Quiet One
Date Posted: August 06 2008 at 13:49
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Just a suggestion my friend Mike:
-I think Led Zeppelin IV is quite Heavy Prog, or at least Prog Hard Rock, hehe. Stairway to Heaven and When The Levee Breaks are very proggy. As well as No Quarter and Song Remains the Same from Houses of the Holy. While Achilles Last Stand is very Proggy, dunno if the whole album would suit. -You could also add Burn from Deep Purple. It has the entry of the moog and quite the return to roots to MK 2, even though you have the slight Soul-Funk influence. This is not a completely MUST add though. -Heep's debut? It has almost every element of Salisbury, just without the Symphonic Epic. -And well the already said Black Sabbath. Debut, Paranoid, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath(almost every track) and Sabotage(The Writ and Meglomania) are musts for any Heavy Progger. Just a suggestion.
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Posted By: AtomicCrimsonRush
Date Posted: August 13 2008 at 01:55
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Led Zeppelin 4 has to be one of the proggiest albums of LZ and deserves a place on any list. -------------
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Posted By: AtomicCrimsonRush
Date Posted: August 13 2008 at 01:56
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The Black Sabbath debut is a must as well as Paranoid - very early elements of prog are certain.
i agree with these thoughts. -------------
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Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: August 13 2008 at 05:49
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some great new additions to HP today! Oko - Rough but tasteful Yugoslavian heavyprog , vintage stuff from 1976 ../artist.asp?id=3902 - http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=3902 Kingfisher Sky - Highly talented Nederlanders Ivar de Graaf and Judith Rijnveld doing a blend of heavy/Celtic, melodic and beautifully recorded (I'll be adding the album later today) ../artist.asp?id=3903 - http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=3903 |
Posted By: AtomicCrimsonRush
Date Posted: August 13 2008 at 19:39
Great! I will check those out as soon as I can get hold of them.
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Posted By: npjnpj
Date Posted: August 14 2008 at 03:20
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I think this blog is great, really enjoyed the reviews.
There is one more early-era band that might also qualify, one of those obscure outfits that seem to fit in with the 'short-but-influecial' artists, that being 'TheGun' with their self-titled album containing the single: 'Race with the devil'.
Might be of some interest.
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Posted By: glasshouse27
Date Posted: August 15 2008 at 15:57
| All Together a GREAT JOB!! BRAVO!! haha |
Posted By: AtomicCrimsonRush
Date Posted: September 01 2008 at 00:46
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Anyone heard of the legendary Sons of Korah. I wonder if they are close to prog. -------------
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Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: September 01 2008 at 01:12
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Zundapp, outstanding heavy prog-blues band from Tuscany ../artist.asp?id=3938 - http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=3938 http://zundapp.altervista.org/index.htm - http://zundapp.altervista.org/index.htm fans of early Jethro Tull take a look |
Posted By: AtomicCrimsonRush
Date Posted: September 01 2008 at 01:33
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Zundapp? Are they the Italian prog band that record vintage 70s style heavy prog?
Have heard of but do not know any of their albums. -------------
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Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: September 01 2008 at 01:45
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they have a demo CD and a live, both self released |
Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: September 08 2008 at 00:46
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superb early neo-classical HeavyProg quartet Automatic Fine Tuning just added, essential for fans of Schenker, Brian May, or Yngwie ../artist.asp?id=3955 - http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=3955 |
Posted By: Queen By-Tor
Date Posted: September 23 2008 at 14:45
| In celebration of this blog hitting 10,000 views I'm going to be adding another article to it shortly, stay tuned! |
Posted By: Queen By-Tor
Date Posted: September 23 2008 at 16:45
| Bump for update to original post |
Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: October 05 2008 at 19:07
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some recent additions in Heavy P include Russian progcore group Theory of Affect, Two ChileKings from the Philippines, Pittsburgh band Persephone's Dream.. and a very cool recent find unearthed from the early 70s South American scene; Climax-- great rough-and-tumble vintage stuff like Tempest meets ELP in high school, recorded 1970 but released several years later. Historic. |
Posted By: Rocktopus
Date Posted: October 06 2008 at 04:39
I'm quite certain its only the bonus 4 track EP on the reissue that's recorded as early as 69-70. So the stuff you've been listening to, is recorded somewhere inbetween 70-74. Would be fun, and somewhat sensational if this was happening in Bolivia in 69-70, though. Stream the full album http://sool4jo.tistory.com/426 - here Btw; Its a great site with full streams more than 700 rare folk, http://sool4jo.tistory.com/category/%E2%99%A1%20prog..%20rock.. - prog , psych, hardrock etc... albums. ------------- Over land and under ashes In the sunlight, see - it flashes Find a fly and eat his eye But don't believe in me Don't believe in me Don't believe in me |
Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: October 06 2008 at 04:41
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^ OK, good to know for the addition |
Posted By: PetrucciPal
Date Posted: December 28 2008 at 11:24
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This is great! I checked out a few of the bands....lets just say that Swedish 80's band was a little weird...and the Fall of Troy was too angry. lol I'll just stick with the amazing band RUSH!!! <3 ------------- For the <3 of John Petrucci! |
Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: December 28 2008 at 23:05
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some cool additions over the last coup[le months: Ephrat Israeli multi-instrumentalist Omar Ephrat's fine band ExCubus vintage Quebec heavy symph foursome (like a dark ELP) from '74, unreleased material made available this year from Musique Progres as Memoires Incubussiennes, recommended! John Paul Jones Led Zeppelin's legendary bassist/keyboard player finally added |
Posted By: Queen By-Tor
Date Posted: December 29 2008 at 00:11
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That Ephrat debut was really quite good, and very overlooked! I think
that "No One's Words" deserves a lot more attention than it got
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Posted By: Vibrationbaby
Date Posted: December 29 2008 at 04:59
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Wow! I'm very suprised that Rush made it on to your list. JUST KIDDING! good job. ------------- |
Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: December 30 2008 at 00:12
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some other worthies of note; Every Other Fate concept-driven Texas heavyprog Port Mahadia U.S. band featuring guests as Damian Wilson, Natalie Grace Chua, David Ragsdale and Hugh McDowell The Sound of Animals Fighting theatrical prog collective from the U.S. |
Posted By: SilverEclipse
Date Posted: January 13 2009 at 16:36
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Thank you, someone finally had to mention Coheed & Cambria in the Heavy Prog section. Every single one of their albums has had it's progressive moments, and with the most recent two, the punk/emo influence (if that's what you want to call it), has been completely eliminated. Hell, The Willing Well might go down as one of the great prog epics ever written. I've been saying that this band deserve to be in the Heavy Prog section of progarchives.com ever since their last album "Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume 2: No World For Tomorrow" came out. They are my favorite modern band, thanks for recognizing them. ------------- "and if the band your in starts playing different tunes, I'll see you on the dark side of the moon" |
Posted By: JROCHA
Date Posted: January 13 2009 at 18:15
| good stuff, i like |
Posted By: Alberto Muñoz
Date Posted: January 13 2009 at 19:35
I consider Heavy Prog these:
 and These:
 and these:
 -------------  |
Posted By: harmonium.ro
Date Posted: January 14 2009 at 01:43
Images taken from RateYourMusic don't show on other sites  |
Posted By: Queen By-Tor
Date Posted: January 14 2009 at 02:30
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Man, that beige artist sure gets around Let's keep in mind that these are all opinion based - and that while opinions are valid they will likely not be acted upon unless the PROPER team decides to do so. AKA - don't expect to see Cream or Coheed & Cambria in the Heavy Prog subgenre any time soon. |
Posted By: Alberto Muñoz
Date Posted: January 14 2009 at 11:19
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Posted By: SilverEclipse
Date Posted: January 15 2009 at 15:26
I think that "proper team" needs to give the last two Coheed albums (as well as some tracks off their first two) another listen. Which, maybe they've done, I don't know, I can have a pretty loose definition of prog.... but if Metallica and Queen can be prog-related.... Coheed should be considered truly progressive, not just related IMO. And Cream should be proto-prog. (which I believe they are, right?) ------------- "and if the band your in starts playing different tunes, I'll see you on the dark side of the moon" |
Posted By: Queen By-Tor
Date Posted: January 15 2009 at 15:28
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Cream has been suggested and denied, they're strait up blues, despite influencing many artists that would later come. I would say that Coheed's needs to come up with one very truly progressive record to get them out of Related. It was a big enough arguement just to get them onto the archives in the first place. |
Posted By: jammun
Date Posted: January 15 2009 at 20:40
| Really, Cream straight up blues? So that would account for the cello parts on As You Said, the cello being a, let's face it, standard instrument in the blues genre. |
Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: January 15 2009 at 20:49
this as for Cream, I would say they were one of the most important bands ever - absolutely seminal - and certainly started something, but the vast bulk of their material wasn't any more 'progressive' than most of the other great pioneers of that era, as the Stones, Hendrix, or the Dead. Could all those artists qualify as progressive? Sure, but we have to decide whether the artists of the creative explosion of the 1960s are by definition progressive rock. There is a good argument to be made for that, but iis it really what we want? |
Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: January 15 2009 at 20:55
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neat little band the Bitters just added to Heavy P ../artist.asp?id=4222 - http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=4222 and old-timers White Witch ../artist.asp?id=4223 - http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=4223 |
Posted By: lagorno
Date Posted: June 22 2010 at 13:33
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Though it was helpful for learning some of the old school guys (who were awesome btw), i have to give it a C minus for failing to mention king crimson in the 70's section(1969-). As well as calling the 80's vacant of progressive rock livelihood, while f**king dream theater began (1985). Also the 00's were downplayed as "not nearly as fruitful for the heavy prog genre". The scene pretty much exploded in 00's , theres thousands of little brand new heavy prog nuggets popping up all over the place with new recording software capabilities (GPro, mac). PS coheed&ca is prog. ie http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gcik1ZMTDv8 - 21:13
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Posted By: Hawkwise
Date Posted: June 22 2010 at 16:25
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THANK YOU FOR A VERY INTERESTING READ .... oops caps lock . Haven t read through all the threads yet , but has any one mentioned Leaf Hound Yet ? only made one album but is a real corker . just saying is all ------------- 
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Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: June 22 2010 at 17:16
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almost forgot about this great blog of Mike's, here's some noteworthy additions over the past year or so- - ExCubus Quebecois heavy organ rock, killer stuff Nevärlläjf Outstanding Swedish heavy proggers Headspace Good UK band Valhalla Rare and very decent early U.S. heavyprog Walrus Fun heavy blues/jazz from Britain circa 1970 Sky Architect Quality young heavy symph group from the Netherlands |
Posted By: Conor Fynes
Date Posted: June 22 2010 at 17:22
| No matter what, I still can't consider Porcupine Tree a fully 'heavy prog' band... |
Posted By: Queen By-Tor
Date Posted: June 22 2010 at 20:10
I fully disagree with King Crimson being "heavy prog" - if you actually read through my blog you would have seen my definition of heavy prog as "a mix of contemporary rock music and traditional prog" which King Crimson never was. They have always been exactly as they're categorized on the website - "Eclectic". For them to be "heavy" in the period you describe then In The Wake of Poseidon would have had to fall closer to Cream than anything else. Which it does not. As for the '00 comment... are any of those bands actually worth my time to listen to? |
Posted By: DisgruntledPorcupine
Date Posted: June 22 2010 at 22:36
Am I the only one who thinks Coheed and Cambria isn't even prog-related? 
Anyways, very nice. An interesting read. |
Posted By: Queen By-Tor
Date Posted: June 23 2010 at 02:13
Do you even listen to them? Explain thee-self |
Posted By: DisgruntledPorcupine
Date Posted: June 24 2010 at 22:49
| Somewhat. I've gone through a bit and the proggiest song I've heard is "Welcome Home." |
Posted By: Queen By-Tor
Date Posted: June 25 2010 at 13:45
| how much is somewhat? Are we talking one album or the whole discography? |
Posted By: DisgruntledPorcupine
Date Posted: June 25 2010 at 21:05
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I've heard at least 3 songs from every album. |
Posted By: Queen By-Tor
Date Posted: June 26 2010 at 06:24
| since when has a prog band been about single songs? It's about the album mang. Besides, it's like I said - they're a good combination of modern rock and classic prog which doesn't mean that I'm right or that you have to agree with me, simply my own opinion - even though I think your argument is invalid because you have not heard enough of the band's music. |
Posted By: caretaker
Date Posted: June 26 2010 at 06:58
| Great job. I have wondered what happened to Captain Beyond. At one time I had what I think was their second album. I saw them here in Baton Rouge when I was in high school in 71 or 72. Nice trip down memory lane. |
Posted By: AtomicCrimsonRush
Date Posted: June 26 2010 at 09:43
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Great blog - needs a part 2....i would like to see Masters Apprentices on the blog too - great heavy prog band from Australia!
Also some of the pix have disappeared and could be updated. I know how hard that is with my own blogs but worth updating. -------------
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Posted By: cannon
Date Posted: July 06 2010 at 21:06
 T2 - It'll All Work Out in Boomland(1970)
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Posted By: Catcher10
Date Posted: September 17 2010 at 23:30
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Heavy Prog lover here!!!!!!!! I just think this genre encompasses everything about prog music, it has it all. There are so many bands here that need more attention.......I will certainly check some I have not heard before.
Great stuff King By-Tor.....
Many for you!!-------------   
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