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steffeeH · Post by **steffeeH** » Mon Mar 30, 2015 10:09 pm

I'm fairly new to prog metal, and to be honest I've mostly encountered artists that weren't that interesting to me personally.

To make it all easier, I'll point out what I don't like:
- Songs that are pretty much epic musicals (too much for me - I like more of the garage feeling)
- Bands that pretty much sounds like some kind of metalcore boyband
- Singers that sounds wayyy highpitched and that have no dynamics in their singing techniques
- Singers that pretty much scream all the time (I only like to hear a scream every now and then to spice things up)
- Bands that you could consider more of a Power Metal band than a Prog Metal band

Things I do like:
- Long tracks
- Restless drummers (not equal to fast drummers, but more that they give everything and have constant drum fills and so on)
- I LOVE dark chorus guitars and bass guitars, as well as gothic touches on tracks
- 90's grungy sound
- Lots of dynamics in the tracks, different sections that shifts between a calm and smooth sound to full steam ahead.

Kinda prog metal bands I like (not exactly prog all of them but I get that impression):
- Tool (one of my favourite bands)
- Tacoma Narrows Bridge Disaster
- Soen (OK but kinda sissy sometimes)
- Porcupine Tree (but it's more of Prog Rock than metal)

I've tried listening to Opeth but all the tracks I've heard they were screaming all the time, though a friend of mine said there are records where they don't - which records?

So what are your suggestions?

I've already heard and didn't like (not always prog I guess):
- Karnivool
- Neurosis
- The Mars Volta
- Chevelle
- Mastodon
Just to state a few.

No hating intended towards the different mentioned bands and so on, they just didn't fit my taste.
I know there are lots of prog bands out there that I'd probably love, I've just discovered bands that didn't fall into my taste so far, except a few...

firepile · Post by **firepile** » Tue Mar 31, 2015 1:45 pm

steffeeH wrote: I've tried listening to Opeth but all the tracks I've heard they were screaming all the time, though a friend of mine said there are records where they don't - which records?

Ghost Reveries and Watershed.

And Damnation, Heritage, Pale Communion. But those aren't exactly metal.

So what are your suggestions?

Riverside
Isis
Russian Circles
Anathema
Crippled Black Phoenix
Pelican
Red Sparrowes

beltrom · Post by **beltrom** » Tue Mar 31, 2015 1:57 pm

I'm more into the prog rock side of things, but metallish that I like is...

Dream theater (of course)

Mind's eye
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9SjPpIWqWo

Big elf (well, they're all over the place)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fxos8Pl4By4

chokehold · Post by **chokehold** » Tue Mar 31, 2015 2:37 pm

Don't know if any of this is exactly what you're looking for, but to me they're prog-ish and I love 'em anyway.

The modern classic proggers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVSQnsuTs-g

The (for me) more mainstream-ish proggers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pskj9sbffg

The more playful proggers, my current favourites:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZXlwsp_s5Y

The dark and aggressive sort, often with electronic elements:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYFY6vOiWe4

Deep Purple · Post by **Deep Purple** » Tue Mar 31, 2015 2:50 pm

What kind of guitar (or guitars) do you play? That might be a good place to start.

GeckoYamori · Post by **GeckoYamori** » Tue Mar 31, 2015 5:34 pm

Tesseract?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmR0gkojHDs

steffeeH · Post by **steffeeH** » Tue Mar 31, 2015 6:32 pm

Riverside and Tesseract sounded a little interesting, I'll check them out more in depth a little later on. I also found the band Amplifier on my own, sounds interesting as well.

As for the guitar thing, I've just started playing the guitar again after a pretty long hold, but I love the sound of heavy guitars, and chorus guitars, sleaze-style guitars etc, and dark gothic guitars.
Some examples to clarify what I mean with the guitars (not only prog examples):
- Tool - Forty Six & Two (the bass guitar in the intro, love the chorus effect)
- Isis - In Fiction (at 6:19, again - love the chorus pedal)
- Tool - Rosetta Stoned (the guitars sounds so filthy and awesome)
- Tool - Vicarious (at around 6:45)
- Tool - Triad
- A Perfect Circle - Magdalena (love the gothic guitars)
- Alice In Chains - Dam That River (main riff)
- Alice In Chains - A Looking In View (main riff)
- Metallica - Welcome Home (Sanitarium) (the melody in the verses and like halfway through the intro)
- Tacoma Narrows Bridge Disaster - Valis (at 2:37)
Woops, quite a few examples, sorry got a little too inspired

no links or the post would get several kilometers long with all the youtube inserts haha.

Deep Purple · Post by **Deep Purple** » Tue Mar 31, 2015 7:12 pm

I meant # of strings, type of pickup, type of distortion, amps, etc.

metalifuxx · Post by **metalifuxx** » Tue Mar 31, 2015 8:19 pm

yeah have exactly my tastes when I am looking for new metal and prog metal. You already listed the top bands I would have recommended

There is one band that I have turned all my metal/prog head friends onto, that you would normally not find in the metal section, but in the hippie/jam band category and that is:

Umphrey's McGee - you could call them Improg, because live they do a lot of jam improvisation, and they have a harder edge metal sound most of the time, but they are very eclectic and span all genres. Studio songs stick to a concise composed structure. You wont find them nestled into the metal scene though, they are in with the jam bands, but often a lot of hippies find them too heavy, extreme, and metal for thier tastes. Progressive in the definition of the word would be the only way to describe them, not necessarily the Prog metal genre, but they can sound like Porcupine Tree and Tool one moment and then go into funk jazz or blues or dance electro metal then back to full on shred prog metal. They are very diverse and extremely talented music geeks. They blend many genres together in the same section and song. Very hard to classify them and pigeon hole them into any one genre, except that they usually keep a hard prog metal edge to their sound. The guitarists and keyboardist can shred and the rhythm section is poly rhythmic very solid technical and always interesting. No screaming or operatic vocals, just full ahead rock. Check out their Mantis album, Death By Stereo, and Anchor Drops.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uKcJL4rjM8

They even do a spot on "46 & 2" cover
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DuCvZeNxyA

- O.S.I. : without a doubt, you'll like these guys, definitely check out the Free album (Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater on drums), Blood album (with Gavin Harrison of Porcupine Tree on drums)

-Katatonia: doomy melodic prog metal, specifically the Viva Emptiness album, but also check out Great Cold Distance and Last Fair Deal Gone Down. Clean vocals on these newer albums. They can be more chill and ambient like Tool gets, but they bring in heavy melodic riffs in the right sections.

-Amorphis: Am Universum album, and the next couple albums after that.

-Sentenced: if Metallica stayed epicly melodic like with Master of Puppets/Ride The Lightning you'd get these guys.

If you are into instrumental only stuff
-Liquid Tension Experiment (Dream Theater side project), the song Paradigm Shift

-TAUK : prog metal funk jazz fusion, Collisions album

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yb-8gAQ269o

-Particle : space porn funk prog metal, album Launchpad

-Snarky Puppy: prog funk jazz fusion. Think A Perfect Circle meets a more melodic funky jazz orchestra with no distorted guitars.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kk0WRHV_vt8

Don't dismiss early YES (Relayer album) or some of the non-radio hit Black Sabbath.

From my years of just listening to metal and prog metal, with prog giving me a more open mind about music I soon got into bands like Phish, moe., The Grateful Dead, and numerous others in the diverse jam band music scene. Keep an open mind about music and you will become a better musician yourself. You musician idols will most often listen to bands and older music that are on the other end of the spectrum compared to the genre they play in.

metalifuxx · Post by **metalifuxx** » Tue Mar 31, 2015 8:34 pm

Ghost Reveries was the Opeth album that really made them a top favorite metal band of mine. It's got a good balance of screamy growls and clean vocals in the right sections, with some great composed epic melodic prog metal instrumental sections. I liked their previous albums and Black Water Park a fair deal, but this album solidified it.

For you, they do an Alice In Chains "Would?" cover, with clean vocals

from the same era of when Ghost Reveries was recorded.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TefH4QuCVqA

spaceman · Post by **spaceman** » Tue Mar 31, 2015 10:09 pm

Old but brilliant (if you don't mind the higher pitched voice)..

Watchtower - "Control and Resistance"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4h5L2Ooy5w

spaceman · Post by **spaceman** » Tue Mar 31, 2015 10:41 pm

Completely bonkers in the best possible way..
Some of their tracks are out of this world.

Between The Burried And Me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxGC5WpUbHQ

Shangsean · Post by **Shangsean** » Tue Mar 31, 2015 11:10 pm

The one that came to mind based on your description was Threshold. The second on is from the latest album. The first is from about 3 albums ago.

Hope this works.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0NOA8dMlww

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmzMWFyA5A0

Morgaxx · Post by **Morgaxx** » Tue Mar 31, 2015 11:12 pm

A little known, older Canadian band, Grim Skunk. Weed flavoured organ metal with a decent drummer.

Secret Chiefs 3 do all kinds of things from Arabic folk metal to 70's flavoured death metal horror synthy soundtrack tripyness. Great revolving line up of players led by the guitarist from Mr Bungle/Faith More.

metalifuxx · Post by **metalifuxx** » Wed Apr 01, 2015 4:17 am

-Corelia : This bands debut album grew on me the more I listened. Very melodic guitar lines that harmonize with the vocals nicely. Nice balance of scream/growl vocals and clean not too over the top vocals, although he is more a soprano and does the falsetto thing but its very tasteful, and yes, I am very picky when it comes to this blend of heavy prog metal growls/clean vocals. Never really got into Animals As Leaders/Between The Buried And Me/Periphery. Meshuggah and Tesseract would be described as "Math Metal", not my thing either.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILuiIfHoezo

Prog Metal tips? (I'm pretty nitpicky)