Top Ten most important MODERN prog bands

Of all new(ish) bands, I only find the following four important:

1. Kenso
2. Echolyn
3. The Tangent
4. Discus

Especially Kenso, the most imaginative prog band to emerge since 1980!

The Flower Kings, Anekdoten, Mostly Autumn and Porcupine Tree often sound pleasant, but are they IMPORTANT? Not really.

Promising bands that still need to fulfill their potential:

1. Wobbler
2. Deluge Grander
3. Shinsekai

P.S. Metal? Nein danke.

Edited by fuxi - August 18 2007 at 09:43

Good to see the attention for Argentine progrock revalation William Gray here in this thread  but how could I forget Riverside  ..!

BaldJean wrote: well, if  "modern" means "anything since 1980" then for me the Ozric Tentacles come first. I would also name Inner City Unit, a band that is not in the archives and perhaps never will be; by my standard they are fully prog though and founders of the "prog punk" genre. check out their homepage here: http://www.doremi.co.uk/icu/

Dream Theater - for making prog a bit more popular
Porcupine Tree - arguably the most important (and best) band in the last 10 years
The Mars Volta - original, boundaries pushing and white quite the appeal in the mainstream
Tool - fathers of a new kind of hard music that is not metal nor alternative, and ever so intelligent
Opeth - for melting two genres that had nothing to do with each other so perfectly, and having some of the best compositions in metal ever
Pain of Salvation - for not being afraid of anything and being extremly good while doing it
The Flower Kings - for keeping the symphonic fan base happy with great melodys and more material than can be heard jejejeje
Transatlantic - the super group of this decade and for being better than the bands each member caomes from (with the exception of Dream Theater)
Radiohead - although not entirely prog they changed the music scene and influenced thousands, many of them prog
Sleepytime Gorilla Museum - new, fresh and the best in the genre since Zappa... but this might be ´cause of my fanboynism

Devin Townsend (and its now dissolved band) - Synchestra is to me one of the most innovative modern albums in progressive, for its synths and particular use of guitar.

plus a bunch of other artists already mentioned in previous posts.


Edited by mad_griffith - August 18 2007 at 14:53

Measured by their importance for modern prog:

- Dream Theater
- Tool
- Spock's Beard
- Flower Kings
- Echolyn
- Anekdoten
- The Mars Volta
- Cynic
- Mr. Bungle
- Sleepytime Gorilla Museum

and many more which I can't think of right now.


Edited by MikeEnRegalia - August 18 2007 at 15:21

Ah, forgot Muse. That is, if they're prog enough. 

^ he may very well be the guitarist with the fastest alternate picking ... the thing is that he's not only very fast, but also manages to make it seem effortless and natural.

No particular order:

1. Dream Theater- didn't invent prog metal, but they're sure responsible for it's explosion
2. Tool- the modern Crimson, inventive iconoclasts who despite their best efforts enjoy massive commercial success
3. Sleepytime Gorilla Musem- the best avant band since Mr Bungle, and they might even be better than Patton's group
4. Opeth- death metal combined with the kind of atmosphere goth rockers only dream of, with incredible compositions and hands down the best vocals in death metal
5. Porcupine Tree- moving beyond their early Floyd-worshiping days, PT have released gem after gem (from Stupid Dream to their latest and best Fear of a Blank Planet)
6. Devin Townsend- filling every inch of sonic space with ambiance, this extreme metal maestro has perfectly harnessed the emotion of rage and funneled it into music. He's also one of the heirs to Zappa's kooky humor.
7. Mars Volta- who would have thought emo/hardcore punk could have been fused with Latin and progressive? The vocals may be cringe-worthy, but the music is some of the best of the new millennium.
8. Pain of Salvation- conceptual masters, with Daniel Gildenlow fusing the technique and emotion of Geoff Tate with the versatility of Mike Patton
9. Marillion- The Fish-era officially revived prog rock, with the Hogarth era has turned the band from Genesis clone territory into original proggies.
10. Riverside- The most atmospheric metal band since Devin Townsend and Opeth, Riverside has already put out two classics, and their third releases promises to be a hit with the prog rock community.

Cynic and Anglagard get honorable mentions, but both have too small a discography (Riverside's is as small as Anglagard's but it'll soon be bigger and the band doesn't show signs of throwing in the towel).

Opeth - for showing that death metal can have a jazzy side, especially on Ghost   Rev.