The "problem" with prog metal

I've tried and spent many hundreds of dollars trying prog metal ( I have all or most releases from DT, Fate's Warning, Evergrey, Symphony X, POS, etc., etc.) but I can't manage to find much I really can say I like. Pretty much all 2 or 3 star stuff. It is interesting to a point, but I'm not sure I've ever actually gotten all the way through any of thse CD's without needing a break.

For me, I have to second the "noisy, soulless and overproduced" sentiments and have given up trying.

Edited by Trademark - March 25 2007 at 19:37

sircosick wrote: The "problem with prog metal" is simple: it sounds noisy, soulless and overproduced, almost as industrial music. It's the worst mix that I've known (between prog rock and metal).

Ugh, I'm tired of hearing how prog metal is "soulless".  You can't possibly convince me that bands like Riverside, Anathema, and Tool are soulless.  Stop making these petty generalizations. 


Edited by darkmatter - March 25 2007 at 20:59

The fact that some progressive metal is 'cold' or 'over-produced' doesn't mean there aren't some great artists, like LTE or the F-ing Champs. Also, if a music genre is heavy on technique and light on soul, I don't really care as long as it makes me go "Wow.."









Edited by Atavachron - March 25 2007 at 21:46

Anyway, the title of this thread is a non-starter:
Prog metal does not have a "problem," because it has a large, appreciative audience.

So we don't all like it. Wow. As with ANY genre of music (hip hop, country, reggae, disco, classical, jazz,  etc), because it is specialized ( focussed in one overall "direction"), it will not appeal to everyone.

In order for me to like it (as with other stuff  -- & not just music -- I don't like), it would have to be very different than it is.

That is, it would have to stop being metal.



I'd probably like Nirvana if they didn't sound like Nirvana, and Axel Rose's vocals if he sounded like someone else, singing in a different style....


Edited by Peter Rideout - March 25 2007 at 23:47

MikeEnRegalia wrote: Floydian42 wrote: I can't understand why people would scream into a microphone. Back in the 50s/60s people didn't understand either why guitarists would overdrive their amps, creating a distorted sound.

Hardly a worthy comparsion

I think some of the "problem" of prog metal comes from the legions of fans of a prog metal band or two who tend to enter and vote up the least prog acts of the least progressive bands. I find it both amusing and horrifying that Therion's best-reviewed work is Sirius B. Not that the album is bad by any stretch of the mind. It's just their least progressive album. It's a far cry from Vovin. But it is their most accessible work to date (easier than their latest work, Gothic Kabbalah, I'd say). Things like this tend to keep good prog metal hidden and pop-prog stuff where the old-school hardcore proggers can safely launch attacks on it.

MikeEnRegalia wrote: Vovin ... well, I'll keep my comments to myself this time.

Haha, take your pick of the litter. As long as you don't dig past Lepaca Kliffoth, you pretty much can't lose.

I really like straight metal bands like Black Sabbath, Megadeth, the Melvins, etc. But I have never liked Prog Metal. It just feels so... soulless.

Why does the word "soulless" keep getting thrown around?  I'm starting to get really tired of it, especially since it's being aimed at the whole prog metal genre.

are the hammers of misfortune considered prog now? I made my way to their music independently and I didn't want to see them get co-opted ;P

Edited by laplace - March 26 2007 at 12:14