Listening to dark prog ?
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Topic: Listening to dark prog ?
Posted By: Yorkie X
Subject: Listening to dark prog ?
Date Posted: August 26 2007 at 23:21
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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. |
Replies:
Posted By: The Miracle
Date Posted: August 26 2007 at 23:28
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Well, I'm a very dark and depressing person myself and the darker the music, the better for me, it's not something that changes my mood but something that compliments it. I like plenty of "happy" music too(I like almost everything...), but it never really affects my mood. PoS are kinda dark indeed but I never saw SX as very dark, they've always looked pretty cheery to me, but then I'm not a fan of them. For really really dark stuff look into drone doom and some post rock/metal.
------------- http://www.last.fm/user/ocellatedgod" rel="nofollow - last.fm |
Posted By: Prog-jester
Date Posted: August 27 2007 at 02:18
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 
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Posted By: angelmk
Date Posted: August 27 2007 at 16:01
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darkest prog i have listened is devil dol, scary vocals, creepy atmosphere ,..
------------- www.last.fm/user/angelmk 
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Posted By: laplace
Date Posted: August 27 2007 at 16:05
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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 ------------- FREEDOM OF SPEECH GO TO HELL |
Posted By: ian picken
Date Posted: August 27 2007 at 16:08
Dark prog...Tool...Riverside...Porcupine Tree...Oceansize...Fates Warning and a non PROG suggestion 2 of the darkest albums ever The Cure "Disintergration" and "Pornoography" really really dark and very depressing.. 
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Posted By: infandous
Date Posted: August 27 2007 at 16:25
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. |
Posted By: sircosick
Date Posted: August 27 2007 at 17:26
I agree absolutely. One of the reasons could be the fact that hapiness is an utopia. In the other hand, everyone has been depressing for once in the life. So, depression and darkness are certainly easier ways of expression, because we live in a depressing world most of the time. But is much more difficult to represent hapiness in art..... Art is what you feel. When you write about anything that comes up to your mind, the result is almost always a lot of negative things. Why??? IMO the human is negative and pesimistic in his nature..... By the way, I love darkness in music. I love darkness in general. ------------- The best you can is good enough... |
infandous wrote:Posted By: NotSoKoolAid
Date Posted: August 27 2007 at 17:28
| 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. |
Posted By: theBox
Date Posted: August 27 2007 at 17:35
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For some REALLY dark and depressing prog/neofolk check out TENHI's "maaaet" . Pure darkness.
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Posted By: Fritha
Date Posted: August 27 2007 at 17:58
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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. ------------- I was made to love magic |
Posted By: sircosick
Date Posted: August 27 2007 at 18:03
I checked them out a few time ago and I have to agree with you. That album 'darks' ------------- The best you can is good enough... |
Posted By: coleio
Date Posted: August 27 2007 at 19:32
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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. ------------- Eat heartily at breakfast, for tonight, we dine in Hell!! |
Posted By: chamberry
Date Posted: August 27 2007 at 20:53
Agreed. I don't know about them being super duper dark, but they are dark and very depressing. Check out my review if interested. ------------- 
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Posted By: DarioIndjic
Date Posted: August 27 2007 at 22:48
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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... ------------- Ars longa , vita brevis |
Posted By: sircosick
Date Posted: August 27 2007 at 23:11
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^ And what's wrong with that? It's right; I'm also a guy without depressive tendences and I love bands like Radiohead. It's not that logic, but certainly dark music & depressive feelings aren't entirely related.
------------- The best you can is good enough... |
Posted By: JvK_Nightmare
Date Posted: August 28 2007 at 04:00
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"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 ... " I guess that really depends on the way your mind "interacts" with the music! For example, when I listen to Pain of Salvation's "Rope Ends", and the line "but life holds her hand, refusing to let go" sounds I feel quite "optimistic", so to speak, rather than the contrary. The song in my perspective is more "realistic" than just plainly depressed, and there is a certain hope in reality rather then everything being fatalistically bad. If, however, you feel slightly fatalistic and pessimistic at the same time - that would likely be depression.
As for hen-egg thing, it certainly can be both ways in music, and occasinally it is both at the same time. It's only up to one's introspection to figure it out, I guess.
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Posted By: Hercules
Date Posted: August 28 2007 at 07:57
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Sorry, I'm quite a cheerful, optimistic person and dark prog does very little for me. I like bands with a humourous, quirky and optimistic outlook. VDGG and King Crimson do very little for me; Camel, Caravan, Focus, Floyd, GG and Genesis do (though Trespass is a bit dark in places, I love it). I'm going to start an appreciation thread for bright prog! ------------- A TVR is not a car. It's a way of life. |
Posted By: Zargus
Date Posted: August 28 2007 at 10:32
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"In Camera" by PH is pretty dark i like lisen to it when i feel depresed or angry it makes me feel beter. ------------- 
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Posted By: cursestar
Date Posted: August 28 2007 at 13:25
Wait, the lyrics to CTTE are comprehencible? What are they about? |
Posted By: infandous
Date Posted: August 29 2007 at 11:17
Well, I didn't say they were comprehensible  I read they were about the effects of the constant touring and recording schedule the band had in those days, and how it made them feel sometimes (I think...............Roundabout was also supposed to be about touring). Beyond that, I really can't tell you how any of the actual lyrics relate to that concept (other than "I get up, I get down" and the actual title). But I always felt that song had some of Yes' darker music in it (along with Gates, which is about the book, War and Peace). |
Posted By: Floydian42
Date Posted: August 29 2007 at 12:21
| I think it simply comes down to happy music often comes off as cheesy to me. Not always, but enough to make me prefer the darker end of things. Not too mention, few happy songs have heavy distortion in them to make them fun! I don't have to be depressed to listen to some things. Isn't it just so fulfilling to be listening to a huge explosion in songs like "The Creator has a Mastertape" ? It's the aggressive feel. Although, if ones listening to very atmospheric dark music, it's likely that one would be depressed. But by the bands you listed, doesn't seem to be that way. |
Posted By: asimplemistake
Date Posted: August 31 2007 at 01:36
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I'm a very happy person most of the time, but I find that dark music normally soothes me, depending on what it is. For example, I can just be driving or doing homework and I'll put on Damnation by Opeth and it won't make me happier really, but I enjoy listening to it and it doesn't make me angry or sad or anything. Also though, I find that happy music can really change my mood, if the music sounds good to me. For example, I can listen to Explosions in the Sky and feel much better, even if I wasn't feeling bad. I like to listen to EITS now in car rides because it does make it more enjoyable. So I guess I'm saying that dark music doesn't affect my mood much, but I enjoy it, and uplifting/happy music that I like can make me feel better. |
Posted By: JayDee
Date Posted: August 31 2007 at 03:51
I'm also a big big fan of dark and depressing music, prog or otherwise. I remember when I used to have the "Happilly Depressed" text as my forum signature, that was probably my peak when it comes to listening to depressing music. Bands and artists like Anathema, My Dying Bride, Virgin Black, The Gatheing, Porcupine Tree, Blackfield, Opeth, Into Eternity ( specially the album Scattering of Ashes, check the track titles ), and non metal bands such as King Crimson and Gnidrolog are sure to satisfy my urge to listen to such dark music. I find beauty in such things, I'm not quite sure how or why, coz really I'm the kind of person with a happy, friendly disposition, well, most of the time. So, there, hoorah for dark and depressing music. ------------- 
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Posted By: Prog-jester
Date Posted: August 31 2007 at 03:58
| Listening to dark Prog? Right now -A-Vasarat's "Maahan"!!! |
Posted By: meinmatrix
Date Posted: August 31 2007 at 04:30
When i put Opeth in my record player i know that i will experience many things in many different levels, for example: Feeling of strenght Hope and joy Pure beauty of strong harmonies and melody lines It doesn't matter what mood i am in when i start listening. I always come out new and fresh, if i had any ounce of anxiety in the beginning, it's gone when i finish record. So my answer to you would be that it is okay to listen dark music if it helps you to feel more alive and being true to yourself. But if it gets depressing then you could play some classic Yes or Jethro Tull. ------------- 
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Posted By: Anaon
Date Posted: September 01 2007 at 05:42
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Some of my favourite dark prog albums: - A Passion Play by Jethro Tull - Over by Peter Hammill - Still Life by Peter Hammill - The Sham Mirrors by Arcturus - Light of Day, day of Darkness by Green Carnation - Brave by Marillion - Blackwater Park by Opeth - Red by King Crimson - Animals by Pink Floyd And much more ;) ------------- My music: http://spleenarcana.bandcamp.com/" rel="nofollow - http://spleenarcana.bandcamp.com/ My blog: http://groovesandmemories.com/" rel="nofollow - http://groovesandmemories.com/ |
Posted By: Komodo dragon
Date Posted: September 01 2007 at 18:52
 Dark prog?!!? ........=emo progjust joking try ARS NOVA its super crazy dark ------------- 
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Posted By: Asyte2c00
Date Posted: September 02 2007 at 16:20
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UZ
Magma
VDGG
Comus (debut)
King Crimson
Ruins
Ghost
Boris
Envy
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Posted By: Tristan Mulders
Date Posted: September 02 2007 at 17:35
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I love dark, brooding, atmospheric, despressing music.. I mean.. my favourite artists are Marillion, Porcupine Tree and Anathema, not the most happy bunch of musicians out there musically seen ------------- Interested in my reviews? You can find them http://www.progarchives.com/Collaborators.asp?id=784 - HERE "...He will search until He's found a Way to take the Days..." |