Prog Rock Guides / What is Progressive Rock ?

• Canterbury Scene
• Crossover Prog
• Eclectic Prog
• Experimental/Post Metal
• Heavy Prog
• Indo-Prog/Raga Rock
• Jazz Rock/Fusion
• Krautrock
• Neo-Prog
• Post Rock/Math rock
• Prog Folk
• Prog Related
• Progressive Electronic
• Progressive Metal
• Proto-Prog
• Psychedelic/Space Rock
• RIO/Avant-Prog
• Rock Progressivo Italiano
• Symphonic Prog
• Tech/Extreme Prog Metal
• Various Genres
• Zeuhl

Canterbury Scene

With many other types of English progressive music developing mostly in London, it may at first seem strange that the old pilgrimage centre and relatively quiet cathedral city of Canterbury, became the centre of this very English form of progressive music and jazz fusion. Originally the Wilde Flowers, a teenage band of members living in and around Canterbury, playing a mix of pop, R'n'B and band members with a developing love of jazz, was formed in the 60's and became the seedling from which the Canterbury Scene grew. Australian beatnik Daevid Allen during a long stop-over at Robert Wyatt's parent's home, a refuge for many left field artists, was to catalyse the evolution of the Wilde Flowers into the fledging Soft Machine and the development of some avant music during the English psychedelic and underground period. From 1963 to 1969, the Wilde Flowers included most of the figures who later formed Canterbury's two best known bands, (The) Soft Machine (Robert Wyatt, Kevin Ayers, Hugh Hopper) and Caravan (Pye Hastings, David Sinclair, Richard Sinclair, Richard Coughlan).

Canterbury was then to be the cradle for several of the more freewheeling British bands of the post-psychedelic era. While fans would suggest this is the home of an English musical quirkiness tempered with quite a bit of whimsy, within the Canterbury Scene's musical spectrum any similarities between Canterbury's major bands, (e.g. Soft Machine, Caravan, Gong, Robert Wyatt, Kevin Ayers, Hatfield & the North, Egg, National Health), are not immediately obvious*. Most bands will be found employing a clever fusion of rock rhythms and jazz improvisation with intellectual song-writing and varying strengths of psychedelia - some would too include folk elements (e.g. Spirogyra), others blues (e.g. Carol Grimes and Delivery). In addition, a number of bands employed various elements from classical music, for instance those bands with Dave Stewart playing keyboards. Whilst there have been a handful of excellent and distinctly different guitarists to play with Canterbury bands (e.g. Andy Summers, Allan Holdsworth, John Etheridge, Steve Hillage, Phil Miller), the lead instrument of choice has been keyboards. One English peculiarity of Canterbury is what the late John Peel called the 'School of Anti-song' because of particular Wyatt, Ayers and Richard Sinclair's approaches to vocals and perhaps the whimsy - more recently Richard Sinclair's vocal style has perhaps accurately been labelled as 'English jazz singing' by Jazzwise (i.e. singing jazz with an English rather than the usual American accent).

(*However, once you've heard some Canterbury bands the commonality becomes more obvious - chord sequencing e.g. Caveman Hughscore's electric piano opening on the tune 'More Than Nothing', the vocals, the lyrics etc.)

Both the Soft Machine and Caravan were popular in England's psychedelic/ underground scene before releasing their first albums in 1968, with Machine completing on level footing with Pink Floyd. However, by the early 70's a series of fragmenting changes of bands' line-ups, (Soft Machine went through about 30) and the subsequent formation of new bands, rapidly broadened Canterbury's range, with many newer musicians with only loose and in fact, no previous Canterbury connections. Early Soft Machine member Daevid Allen formed Gong in Paris. Both Kevin Ayers and Robert Wyatt left the Softs because of musical developments they did not like, to begin their own solo careers. By the mid-70's, most the old and new Canterbury bands had progressed away from psychedelia, developing their distinct forms of progressive rock some embracing jazz fusion, many playing extended jams with now limited lyrical input (e.g. Hatfield and The Norths, National Health, Gilgamesh). Caravan became more folky. However, as the 70's progressed several Canterbury bands would lose most of the rock element from their music. Gong retained their psychedelic side longest, but with the departure of Daevid Allen and Steve Hillage in the mid 70's, the band evolved into the percussion-oriented, jazz rock group Gong, which eventually became the modern day Gongzilla. Daevid Allen regained Gong's name in the 90's and through his solo work and with his University of Errors, is still evidently producing psychedelia. Steve Hillage's form of psychedelia evolved into the glissando rock of his own band and then into electronica, by the end of the 70's. In particular, Hillage through his work as a successful record producer of new bands from the 80's, develop his form of electronica through other bands. This music lost much of its complexity e.g. few riffs played over and over, rather than dozens per tune that previously had often typified prog, into a very popular form that is the antithesis of prog, i.e. the various forms of house music, with associated remixing/turntablism. For instance, Gong's "You" got the remix treatment in the 90's - but then to reflect his range of activities, Hillage has also produced and played guitar for Algerian Rai singer, Rachid Taha for over 20 years.

Many of Britain's better known avant-garde and fusion musicians of the 70's and 80's - including Fred Frith (Henry Cow), Allan Holdsworth (Gong, Soft Machine, UK, Bruford) and Peter Blegvad - were involved during their early careers playing in Canterbury bands. And still new musicians join the Canterbury Scene's ranks, Theo Travis being perhaps the most notable recently (Gong, The Soft Machine Legacy). The Canterbury scene was to have a major influence on musicians in Europe, especially France (e.g. Gong, Moving Gelatine Plates), the Netherlands (Super Sister)and Italy (Daedalus), and more belatedly in the USA (Hughscore). Caravan reformed in the mid 90's, while ex-members of Soft Machine could be found in various avant jazz and straight jazz fusion groups, e.g. Just Us, Soft Heap, Soft Works and most recently The Soft Machine Legacy. From the Canterbury Scene, RIO it its various forms has developed.

FOOTNOTE: As indicated above, many Canterbury Scene bands are acknowledged as having played/are playing jazz rock fusion. However, because of their strong Canterbury affliations are listed under "Canterbury Scene" in Prog Archives.

Dick Heath
Based loosely in part on the source: http://www.allmusic.com

All Canterbury Scene artists list

Crossover Prog

Crossover Prog contains progressive rock music that, though 100% progressive, may have a musical connection to popular music-- whether it be the lack of emphasis on extended compositions, or an influence from mainstream music in addition to classical, jazz and folk. Compositions, however, still exhibit a high degree of sophistication, sometimes outright complexity, and the musicianship and virtuosity is often on a par with established Prog acts. Much like their kin in the established prog sub-genres, these groups will incorporate many major parts of what defines prog rock: the fusing of rock with the structures and discipline of more traditional musics, the use of syntheisizers and new technologies, intelligent thematics, and the expansion of the form.

The defining characteristics of Crossover Prog are a pop music influence that is largely vacant in typical prog rock. Songs tend toward shorter, more concise presentations though still reach beyond the typical verse, bridge, chorus pattern. The harmonic, melodic, and rhythmic structures may be more easily digested in Crossover while not losing the musical integrity that a prog listener expects. Whereas Prog Related bands are generally commercial groups with certain prog elements or players that were involved in prog acts, Crossover Prog artists are predominantly progressive with elements of popular music.

The most representative examples for this genre include The MOODY BLUES, SUPERTRAMP, DREDG, CINEMA SHOW, RADIOHEAD.

- written by micky (Michael) and Chus (Jesus)

All Crossover Prog artists list

Eclectic Prog

The term 'eclectic' in the context of progressive rock describes a summation of elements from various musical sources, and the influences and career paths of bands that take from a wide range of genres or styles. While progressive music can be, in a larger sense, eclectic, the 'Eclectic Prog' term is specially meant to reference bands that trespass the boundaries of established Progressive Rock genres or that blend many influences.

Eclectic Prog combines hybrids of style and diversity of theme, promoting many elements from different sources. The Eclectic category recognizes bands that evolved markedly over their career (in a progressive, evolutionary way), or have a plural style without a clear referential core.

The basic features lie within the music's variety, rich influences, art tendencies and classic prog rock elements. Among the representative bands are KING CRIMSON, VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR, and GENTLE GIANT.

- written by Ricochet (Victor)

All Eclectic Prog artists list

Experimental/Post Metal

This group represents bands which belong to neither of the first two groups and achieve their progressiveness by being substantially more experimental and/or artistic than their peer ... including the whole movement of Post Metal.

Experimental Progressive Metal
Obviously this style is related to the style "Avant-Garde Progressive Metal" defined in the second group (Extreme/Tech Progressive Metal). The main difference is that the bands listed here are less technical/quirky and generally more calm/mellow than the Avant-Garde bands. Some are very close to Post Metal - an obvious example is MAUDLIN OF THE WELL who later turned into KAYO DOT who can be described as the Post Metal counterpart of SIGUR RÓS (Post Rock).

Art Metal
These bands all are more artistic than their peer. They're all experimental to a certain extent, but not as openly as the bands of the previous style. Some, but by no means all of them are sticking closer to traditional, non-prog forms of metal, but the level of sophistication in their music is much higher than that of their non-prog peer.

Post Metal
This style is the metal counterpart to the style of "Post Rock". One common definition of Post Rock is "Music which uses Rock instrumentation for Non-Rock purposes". This also applies to Post Metal: The heavily distorted guitars - which are a trademark of Metal - are often use for texturing/layering rather than riffing, creating calm and mellow music. This doesn't mean that there is no traditional riffing at all ... but even then it happens at a slow pace and is often interspersed with extended calm and mellow parts.

Post Sludge Metal
The first bands who successfully implemented the style originated in a genre called "Sludge Metal", which could also be called "Post Hardcore". Typically these bands feature extremely aggressive vocals (usually in the "growling" style) combined with extremely reduced and mellow music ... still the use of heavily distorted guitars and the slow and drawn out riffing known from "Stoner Metal" and/or "Drone Metal" make this a sub genre of Metal.

Eclectic Post Metal
Eventually other sub styles emerged ... some bands simply removed the vocals and thus the "Sludge" component (RED SPAROWES), others added Jazz elements (KAYO DOT, CALLISTO).

**Written by MikeEnRegalia**

All Experimental/Post Metal artists list

Heavy Prog

Heavy Prog defines progressive rock music that draws as much influence from hard rock as it does from classic progressive rock. In simple terms, it is a marriage of the guitar-based heavy blues of the late 1960s and 1970s - artists such as Cream, Led Zeppelin, and Black Sabbath - and the progressive/symphonic movement represented by King Crimson, Yes and Genesis.

The electric guitar, amplified to produce distortion (or 'overdrive') is a crucial element, providing the 'heavy' tone required for this aggressive style, and later for the British and North American heavy metal of the late 1970s and 80s. The primary rock format of drums, bass and guitar with keys and/or vocals on top is represented strongly in heavy prog. The presence of the Hammond organ with its deep, intense rumble was also common among harder progressive groups such as ATOMIC ROOSTER. Although certain other acts, such as King Crimson and Jethro Tull, utilize a heavy guitar, bass and keyboard sound, the bulk of their work over the years puts them in a different category.

Bands that represent Heavy Prog would include RUSH, PORCUPINE TREE, THE MARS VOLTA, URIAH HEEP, TEMPEST, BLACK WIDOW, DR. Z,ATOMIC ROOSTER, WARHORSE, BIRTH CONTROL, TILES.

- written bt Atavachron (David)

All Heavy Prog artists list

Indo-Prog/Raga Rock

The private, metaphysical relations to oneself, to the other, the symbolism of existence are connected, transfigured by the particular expression of raga, classical India music. The emotion provided by this music is not only "affective". It's a real message, an aesthetic of the nature, of the divine, a virtue able to guide the listener to a state of emotional trance. In the mid-60's with the launch of international success of raga masters as Ravi Shankar, Ali Akbar Khan.European and American artists will become more and more captivated by the dynamical relation between mystical emotion, spirituality and music. The emergence of Raga schools from everywhere (still perpetuating the ancestral musical traditions), the initiatic travels of Western minimalist-modern jazz composers (Terry Riley, Don Cherry...) to India will participate to a growing interest for this musical universe. The emphasis on repetitive circular rhythms, ornamentation (gamaka), the use of acoustic stringed patterns, the sense of beatific endurance and lenghty improvisation are the central characteristics of this music in term of practice and sound aesthetism. Emotionally, the function on the listener is hypnotic, voluntary trying to reach him into a higher state of consciousness, modulating his perception of time and space. The basic conception of "drone" (continuous sound form) will be taken back in popular music and turned into "kosmische" electronica (70's Berlin underground). After Seventh sons' first original but rather discreet effort simply called "raga" (1964) and Malachi's holy music (1966), famous bands as the Beatles in "Revolver" (1966) and Traffic in their album "Mr Fantasy" (1967) will be seduced by the sonorities of Indian raga music. They occasionally incorporate sitar elements to their music. Among the most notorious artists who participate to the original dialogue between proggy rock and Indian music we can notice many jazzy formed musicians influenced by "world" elements (the guitarists Volker Krieger, Steve Tibbetts, the clarinet player Tony Scott). They are often recognised to practice a fusion between jazz rock harmonies and raga's instrumentations (tabla, sitar.). Among them Collin Walcott and Alberto Marsicano were Ravi Shankar's pupils. The world of "raga" rock can also include psych folk / drone-y bands (Quintessance, Fit & Limo, Flute & Voice, GHQ, Pelt...) and which are largely impregnated by mysticism, sonic meditation and sitar.

Philippe Blache

All Indo-Prog/Raga Rock artists list

Jazz Rock/Fusion

1. The roots of jazz rock can be traced back to RnB influenced soul-jazz artists such as Les McCann, Grant Green and Jimmy Smith, and young British jazzers who were forced to use electronic instruments because the local club's acoustic instruments were reserved for the older established jazz musicians. Probably the first jazz artists that released recordings that mixed modern rock (circa 60s) with jazz were Larry Coryell, Jeremy Steig, Charles Lloyd and The Soft Machine, the (Jazz) Crusaders. Meanwhile rock artists such as Cream, Grateful Dead and The Jimi Hendrix Experience were getting a lot of publicity and fame with their lengthy improvisations based on blues rock and psychedelia. These rock artists had an impact on Miles Davis who then brought a lot of media attention to this new jazz rock genre with his Bitches Brew album. From there the genre grew and exploded into a million different directions. One of these directions was brass rock as exemplified by bands like Dreams, Chicago, BS&T and If. These bands combined elements of jazz, rock and classical music with arrangements for brass and woodwinds.


2. Jazz Fusion is jazz that is strongly influenced by other styles of music. Jazz fusion is an ambiguous term that provides the first level sub-set down from Jazz. Jazz rock is a sub-sub set from jazz via jazz fusion. The ambiguity comes from an American tendency through the 90's and until now, to freely interchange jazz rock and jazz fusion, when in fact the latter term covers most hybrids of jazz fused with other forms of music. The other styles of music that might be combined with jazz to create fusion might include traditional music from around the world, R'n'B, rock, electronic music and pop music and jazz from Africa, Latin America, India and other places. One of the earliest examples of the use of the term fusion comes from the Indo-jazz fusion of Joe Harriet and John Mayer. Some of the more popular early practitioners of fusion would include Weather Report and Herbie Hancock's Sextant. A few years later Shakti appears on the scene and expands the boundaries of fusion further, foreshadowing the World Fusion movement of the 90's.


3. In part Nu.jazz grew out of the British acid jazz scene of the late 80s and early 90s. As the genre began to develope it took on other influences such as world beat/jazz fusion, psychedelic trip-hop, post-rock and mixtures of ambience with modern jazz. Further the jazz with electronia experiments that Jon Hassell with conducting in the late 80's, with the likes of Eno, were to be a major influence especially on the dance side of nu.jazz, sometimes known as nu.fusion. Three main elements make nu.jazz different from traditional jazz fusion. First of all there is less of an emphasis on instrumental virtuosity in nu.jazz (especially nu.fusion), plus more use of electronics (especially skilled turntablism) and studio trickery that emphasizes sound textures. Finally, nu.jazz tends to use more modern rhythms such as drum'n'bass, hip-hop, post-rock, and various mixtures of world beat rhythms. Progressive nu.jazz artists such as Bugge Wesseltoft, Nils Petter Molvaer and the Esbjörn Svensson Trio (E.S.T.), combine complicated compositions with modern rhythms to create new unheard of soundscapes - while the former two are leaders of nu.fusion, and with more emphasis on jazz playing, EST are leaders in straight nu.jazz. Nu.jazz is strongly related to other genres, particularly the more progressive live jam bands such as Medeski Martin & Wood or Garaj Mahal. Sometimes it seems the only difference between the two genres is what country the artist is from or what scene they came up through.li>
   

All Jazz Rock/Fusion artists list

Krautrock

Krautrock (also called "Kosmische musik") is a German avant-garde / experimental rock movement that emerged at the end of the 1960's. It was intended to go beyond the eccentricities developed by the wild psychedelic rock universe of the US, by giving a special emphasis to electronic treatments, sound manipulation and minimal hypnotic motifs (continuing the style of "musique concrete" and minimalist repetitive music but within a more accessible environment).

Krautrock put the emphasis on extended and ecstatic instrumental epics, neglecting the format of conventional psych-pop songs. The term Krautrock was first used by the British music press in a very derogatory way. The term rapidly found a better reputation in underground music circles and finally gained a certain popularity (thanks to the Brain-Festival Essen...)

The Krautrock movement is widely associated with notorious bands such as Popol Vuh, Amon Duul, Faust, Neu!, Ash Ra Tempel, Agitation Free, Guru Guru, etc. With their own particular artistic expression, these musical collectives provided rocking psychedelic incantations, mantra like drones, melancholic lugubrious atmospheres, long and convoluted collective improvisations, binary repetitive drum pulses, fuzz guitars, feedback, primitive electronic noises, hallucinatory ballads, and garage blues rock trips. Krautrock can be described as an anarchic, intense, acid, tellurian, nocturnal, spacey, dark and oniric "adventure" through rock music.

The most consistent years of the Krautrock scene cover a relatively short period from 1970 to 1975. After their first spontaneous, hyperactive and psychedelic efforts, the bands generally split up or declined into other musical sensibilities, more in line with mainstream rock or with ambient soundscapes.

Each region develops its particular musical scene, interpreting differently the Krautrock musical structure. For instance the Berlin school focused on "astral" synthscapes, weird electronic experimentation and acid jams (Ash Ra Tempel, Agitation Free, Mythos, The Cosmic Jokers, Kluster...), The Munich scene offered fuzzed out (Eastern) psych rock mantras with some folk accents (Popol Vuh, Amon Duul, Gila, Guru Guru, Witthuser & Westrupp...). Cologne and Dusseldorf underground scenes focused on happenings, political rock, electronics, pulsating rhythms and clean sounding Krautrock (Floh de Cologne, La Dusseldorf, Neu! Can...).

This musical cartography is correct in the absolute but naturally reveals some variations and exceptions. This intriguing and freak 'n' roll 1970's German scene enjoyed a rebirth in recent years thanks to a large number of reissues (of long lost classics) published by several independent labels (Spalax, Garden of Delights, Long Hair Music...) as a direct result of Krautrock's musical inspiration of modern post rock bands. There are actually some neo psychedelic rock bands who try to hold up Krautrock, and who notably find a major place to express themselves during the historical Burg Herzberg Festival in Germany.

Philippe Blache
December 2007

All Krautrock artists list

Neo-Prog

Neo-Progressive rock (more commonly "Neo-Prog") is a subgenre of Progressive Rock that originally was used to describe artists strongly influenced by the classic symphonic prog bands that flourished during the 1970s. At the beginning of the neo-prog movement, the primary influence was early to mid-70's Genesis. Debate over when Neo-Prog actually came into being often takes place, with some asserting it began with Marillion's Script for a Jester's Tear in 1983. Others contend it began with Twelfth Night at the dawn of the 80s, while some even suggest the popular symphonic prog band Genesis gave rise to Neo-Prog with their 1976 album, A Trick of the Tail.

If one analyses the progressive movement just before 1980, then some albums which heavily influenced the Neo-Prog movement easily come to mind: Steve Hackett - Spectral Mornings, Genesis - Wind & Wuthering, Genesis - And Then There Were Three, Genesis - Seconds Out, Saga - Saga, all the Camel albums between Breathless and The Single Factor included, and some Eloy's albums, especially Silent Cries And Mighty Echoes.

This new form of progressive rock originated in the UK, and is most strongly associated with bands such as Marillion, Pendragon and IQ; and while theatrical stage antics were a part of the live performances of many artists exploring this subset of the progressive rock genre it's the musical elements that are key to the genre; typified by the use of atmospheric guitar and synth soloing with symphonic leanings, with a tendency towards floating synth layers and dreamy soloing. An additional trait is the use of modern synths rather than vintage analogue synths and keyboards. The main reasons for Neo-Progressive artists to be separated from the ones exploring Symphonic Prog in the first place are the above, as well as a heavier emphasis on song-form and melody than some of their earlier symphonic counterparts.

As time went by other artists appeared that also deviated from the norms created by the classic wave of progressive rock artists in the 70's. The late 70's had given the world punk music; the 80's gave the world new wave; and the 90's grunge. These, as well as other forms, had a tremendous amount of influence outside of the progressive rock realm. The advent of the modern synth also inspired artists like Tomita, Vangelis and Kitaro to explore dreamier musical works.

These and other forms of more or less newly made musical genres influenced artists exploring progressive rock as well. Although many artists did so within the framework of 70's progressive rock, more and more artists developed a sound and style so heavily influenced by these more recent musical developments that categorizing them within the existing subgenres of progressive rock became increasingly difficult.

While the Neo-Progressive genre initially consisted of artists exploring a modernized version of Symphonic Prog, these days artists coined as Neo-Progressive cover a multitude of musical expressions, where the common denominator is the inclusion - within a progressive rock framework - of musical elements developed just prior to and after 1980. The Neo-Progressive genre in it's refined form thus covers a vast musical territory, to some extent covering all existing subsets of progressive rock and also searching out towards genres as different as new age on one side and punk and metal on the other.

Opening paragraphs written by Stonebeard, Cygnus X-2, Greenback

Revised, edited and refined April 2009 by windhawk, The Doctor and E-Dub

All Neo-Prog artists list

Post Rock/Math rock

POST-ROCK:

The term post-rock was coined by Simon Reynolds in issue 123 of The Wire (May 1994) to describe a sort of music "using rock instrumentation for non-rock purposes, using guitars as facilitators of timbres and textures rather than riffs and powerchords."

Originally used to describe the music of such bands as Stereolab, Disco Inferno, Seefeel, Bark Psychosis and Pram, it spread out to be frequently used for all sorts of jazz- and Krautrock-influenced, instrumental, electronica-added music made after 1994. Bands from the early 1990s such as Slint, or earlier, such as Talk Talk were influential on this genre. As with many musical genres, the term is arguably inadequate: it is used for the music of Tortoise as well as that of Mogwai, two bands who have very little in common besides the fact that their music is largely instrumental.

The aforementioned Tortoise was among the founders of the movement. After the second Tortoise LP Millions Now Living Will Never Die, the band became a post-rock icon. After Millions... many bands (e.g., Do Make Say Think) began to record, inspired by the "Tortoise-sound" and were often described as post-rock.

In the late nineties, Chicago, Illinois, became the home base of many different groups. John McEntire (of Tortoise) became an important producer for lots of them, as well as Jim O'Rourke (of Brice-Glace, Gastr del Sol and many more). Post-rock began to range from the slow, guitar-based ambience of Boxhead Ensemble to the up-tempo electronica of Stereolab.

Montreal, Quebec band Godspeed You Black Emperor! - later renamed 'Godspeed You! Black Emperor' - brought a political element with anti-globalization movement leanings.

By the early 2000s, the term had started to fall out of favor, while the major artists kept on making high quality recordings. The wide range of styles covered by the term had robbed it of its usefulness almost from the moment it was coined.

Closely related to post-rock is the genre known as Math rock, characterized by more percussive timbres, and more dissonant harmonic gestures.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Post-rock".

MATH ROCK:

Math Rock is a genre that emerged in the late 80's and that was influenced by both the intricacies of progressive and avant-garde rock - King Crimson, Frank Zappa, Henry Cow - and 20th century composers such as Steve Reich and John Cage. The music is characterized by complex structures, angular melodies and constant abrupt changes in tempo and time signature. The name Math Rock is a term that grew out of the Chicago scene and the artists working with engineer Steve Albini in an effort to describe the new style.

The basic building blocks of Math Rock can be traced back to the late 60's and 70's where Progressive Rock artists were making more elaborate compositions than the standard rock bands and were experimenting with song structures. Early Avant-garde groups like Massacre, and artists such as Captain Beefheart and John Zorn were highly influential to Math Rock bands and traces of their music can still be heard throughout the genre. Another big influence to the Math Rock approach was Slint with their album "Spiderland" which showcased many techniques that Math Rock bands will follow in the future. Punk also had significant impact on the sound of Math Rock bands. Other notable influences are: Post-Rock, Heavy Metal, and Jazz.

Although there are Math Rock bands in different countries around the world, most reside in the United States, the Midwest in particular, and tend to be divided by regions: Pittsburgh bands (Don Caballero, Six Horse) Chicago bands (Shellac, U.S. Maple), Ohio bands (Keelhaul, Craw) Louisville bands (June 44, Rodan, The For Carnation, Crain), and San Diego bands (Drive Like Jehu, Tristeza) among others on both coasts. Japan was also an important country in the Math Rock genre with bands like Ruins and Zeni Geva.

All Post Rock/Math rock artists list

Prog Folk

In the wake of the 60's, a Folk revival started on both sides of the Atlantic, and got quickly linked with a protest movement, not always, but often linked to more left-wing tendencies, which did not sit well with the authorities. BOB DYLAN, JOAN BAEZ, WOODY GUTHRIE, JOHN DENVER, BUFFY STE-MARIE, but also the FARINA couple Richard and Mimi for the US and SHIRLEY COLLINS and EWAN McCOLL (mentor of BERT JANSCH, JOHN RENBOURN ) for the UK and HUGUES AUFRAY in France. In Quebec, there was the "Chansoniers" phenomenon among which CLAUDE LEVEILLE and FELIX LECLERC were the most popular, waking up the sleepy "Belle Province" and stand up for itself from the English rule. The English part of Canada also brought up JONI MITCHELL, LEONARD COHEN (although he was from Montreal) and NEIL YOUNG.

As DYLAN turned electric with his Highway 61 Revisited album, much to the dislike of purists who yelled for treason, Folk Rock was born, opening the floodgates for younger artists to turn on the electricity. As DYLAN soon abandoned to style to create Country Rock with his next album, his British equivalent Scotsman DONOVAN stayed true to Folk Rock. In the US, THE BYRDS were the main promoters of the style by now, culminating with the superb "Eight Miles High" track with a lengthy (for the times) guitar solo of almost one minute. But countless other bands on the west coast, such as LOVE, JEFFERSON AIRPLANE (and later its spin-off HOT TUNA), GRATEFUL DEAD, QUICKSILVER MESSENGER SERVICE, PEARLS BEFORE SWINE, and TIM BUCKLEY all started in the folk rock realm. Even San Fran's SANTANA with its Latino traditional music and, on the east coast, NY's THE LOVING SPOONFUL had folk roots. Notwithstanding the immense popularity of SIMON & GARFUNKEL and their delicious harmonies, Folk Rock was appealing only to the rock public as the older generations turned their backs in folkies.

In the UK, following on their countrymen DONOVAN, many Scotsmen were very influent in exploring new grounds for folk rock: INCREDIBLE STRING BAND (led by Scots Palmer and Williamson) with their two highly influential albums "5000 Layers Or The Spirit Of The Onion" & "The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter" and THE PENTANGLE (led by other Scots Renbourn, Jansch and McShee and their superb bassist Danny Thompson) and its incredible fusion of folk, blues and jazz style were very instrumental in developing the style to the same extent as FAIRPORT CONVENTION and THE STRAWBS who by that time were still more conventional US "west-coast folk rock". The single artistes in folk rock became known as Folk Troubadours were also numerous and often presented a more progressive side of folk: AL STEWART, NICK DRAKE, ROY HARPER, TYRANOSAURUS REX (actually a duo of Steven Took and Marc Bolan) , JOHN MARTYN etc.

However, the real angular album that will lead to further change of Folk Rock is FAIRPORT CONVENTION's "Liege & Lief" album, that proved to be highly influential for another generation of groups: this album concentrated into electrifying seminal English traditional folk and retained that quaint Englishness taste. It is interesting to see that both leaders of FAIRPORT quit the band after this success to go their respective way: Sandy Denny to a solo folk songwriting career and Ashley Hutchings to a very traditional folk rock. By this time, most connoisseur were talking of Acid Folk, Psych Folk, and Progressive Folk, all having limited differences and no particularly drawn-out limits or boundaries, but all relying on experimental or groundbreaking adventures and good musicianship but not necessarily of an acoustic nature.

Groups like THE THIRD EAR BAND and QUINTESSENCE relied on eastern Indian music influences and, sometimes, medieval tones. Other groups like the weird COMUS, THE TREES, SPIROGYRA, FOREST, the superb JAN DUKES DE GREY (all listed in the ProgArchives) but also TRADER HORNE, TUDOR LODGE, FOTHERINGAY, MAGNA CARTA, TIR NA NOG (all of whom could also be in the ProgArchives) were out to break new ground but with less commercial success as their predecessor. By 1972, all of the glorious precursors bands were selling fewer records and had problems renewing themselves and a newer generation of groups was relying in a more Celtic jigs or really traditional sounds. Such as HORSLIPS, DANDO SHAFT, STEELEYE SPAN, AMAZING BLONDEL, ALBION DANCE BAND and SPRIGUNS OF TOLGUS. Although JETHRO TULL had some definitive folk roots right from the start, their only albums that can be regarded as Prog Folk are 77's Songs From The Woods and 78's Heavy Horses. Ian Anderson (another Scots) was very keen in acoustical traditional songs. Some Folk Troubadours such as TIM BUCKLEY and JOHN MARTYN started turning records more and more axed towards fusing jazz and folk (a bit in what THE PENTANGLE were doing) , others became more and more electric and they started to be referred to as Singer Songwriters especially those with country rock influences.

In Germany, HOELDERLIN (and their fantastic debut album), EMTIDI, OUGENWEIDE, CAROL OF HARVEST, WITTHEUSER & WESTRUPP were exploring German folk while KALACAKRA , SILOAH and EMBRYO were indulging with Indian music. In South America, most notably in Chile, LOS JAIVAS (very bent upon Andean Indian music) and EL CONGRESSO (more Spanish-Latino folklore) were using folk in their rock, so much that some press talked about them referring it with the hateful term Inca Rock. In Quebec, the progressive movement exploded with the cultural identity and the Chansoniers tradition and this was carried out with LES SEGUIN and HARMONIUM and so many more. In France, many groups were out for folk rock such as RIBEIRO ALPS, TANGERINE, and ASGARD. In Spain, Flamenco playing a dominant role as well as Basque folk, TRIANA, ITOIZ and HAIZEA were the head of the movement once the Franco regime fell apart after his death.


There is also a very important medieval music influences dimension in some groups as the term Medieval Folk was also mentioned for a while but apparently dropped by musicologists. Among the UK groups are obviously GRYPHON, GENTLE GIANT and THIRD EAR BAND, in France: MALICORNE and RIPAILLE and in Scandinavia: ALGARNAS TRADGARD and FOLQUE.


Hugues Chantraine

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Prog Related

Progressive rock is not a separate universe in music, it's a genre among many others, a voice in the chorus and as part of a biggest scenario has points of contact with other musical genres.

Prog Related is the category that groups bands and artists that:

- Without being 100% Prog, received clear MUSICAL influence of this genre, AND

- Are widely accepted as MUSICALLY influential to the development of Progressive Rock by the community, AND

- Blend characteristics of Progressive Rock with mainstream elements creating a final product that despite not being part of the genre is evident that are close to Prog.

We specify the word MUSICAL because simple performance of a determined instrument in a Prog or mainstream band is not justification enough to include an artist, no matter how virtuoso he/she may be, Prog Archives has to evaluate their compositional work because the music is what determines the characteristics of a band or an artist.

Prog Related bands are not considered part of the genre but they have contributed in some form in the development of Progressive Rock, the inclusion of a band is exceptional and only after verifying that it's a contribution for the better understanding of Prog among the members and visitors instead of a source of confusion for the community.


Iván Melgar Morey

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Progressive Electronic

Born in the late 60's after the expansion of avant-gardist, modern, post-modern and minimalist experimentation, the progressive electronic movement immediately guides us into a musical adventure around technologies and new possibilities for composition. As an author or a searcher, the musician often creates his own modules and electronic combinations, deciding his own artistic and musical action. The visionary works of Stockhausen, Subotnick, John Cage ("concrete" music, electro-acoustic experimentation), La Monte Young, Steve Reich, Terry Riley (minimal, micro-tonal music) express a vision of total reconstruction in the current musical world. Luminous works such as "A Rainbow in Curved Air" (1967) and "Silver Apples of the Moon" (1967) bring an inflexion on opened forms and new ways to explore the essence and the physical aspects of sounds (through time and space). "Static" textures, collages & long running sounds, the power of technology previously exposed in ambitious classical works will have a major impact in "popular" electronic music.

After the artisan & innovative uses of magnetic tapes, feedback, microphones, etc., the instrumental synthesis, the elaboration of global sound forms and the psycho-acoustic interactions will be sublimated thanks to the launch of the analog synth. A great improvement happened in 1964 with the appearance of the first modular synthesiser (Moog). This material (or "invention") brings the answer to the technological aspirations of many musicians, mainly after the release of the popular "Switched on Bach" (Walter Carlos) and Mother Mallard's portable masterpiece (pieces composed between 1970-73).

At the beginning of popular essays in electronica, the pioneering technologies (in term of recording and sound transmission) will not be abandoned. For instance, "Tone Float" (1969) by Organisation (pre-Kraftwerk), "Zwei Osterei" & "Klopzeichen" (1969-70) by Kluster and "Irrlicht" (1972) by Klaus Schulze will carry on the domestication of the electric energy and the use of refined harmoniums, organs and echo machines. During the 70's decade, European groups & musicians such as Eno, Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream will make their name in the music industry thanks to an abundant use of analog synthesisers and original electronic combinations. After weird, mysterious experimentation on conventional acoustic & electric instruments, Kraftwerk enjoyed huge success in popular music thanks to "mechanical electronic pop music". "Trans Europe Express" (1977) and "The Man Machine" (1978) figure as two commercial classics. The German spacey electronic scene launched by Tangerine Dream with their outstanding "Alpha Centauri" (1971) and Cluster "I" & "II" (1971-72) will have echoes everywhere, starting from the Berlin underground electronic scene (the Berlin School) with Klaus Schulze ("Timewind" 1974), Michael Hoenig ("Departure from the Northern Wasteland" 1978), Ashra ("New Age of Earth" 1976), Conrad Schnitzler's buzz-drones and repetitive electronics ("Zug", "Blau", Gold" 1972-74) . After several innovations always from Germany we notice the dark, doomy atmospheric manifests of Nekropolis (Peter Frohmader) in "Le culte des Goules" (1981), Asmus Tietchens in his colourful and engaged "Biotop" (1981) and the semi-ambient "Hermeneutic Music" (1988) by Lars Troschen (sound sculptor and synthesist).

In France, the "hypnotic" and "propulsive" electronic essays of Heldon ("Electronic Guerrilla" 1974) and Lard Free ("Spiral Malax"1977) introduce an inclination for industrial, urban and post-modern sound projections. The French "avant gardist" Philippe Besombes takes back the inspiration of " concrete music" (Pierre Henry.) and mixes it to a hybrid rocking universe (published in 1973, "Libra" figures as a true classic). Bernard Xolotl in "Prophecy" (1981), "Procession" / "Last Wave" (1983), Zanov and Didier Bocquer will follow the musical path anticipated by Klaus Schulze in his kosmische electronic symphonies.

At the end of the 70's until the debut of the 80's Albums as "ambient 1: Music for Airports" (Brian Eno), "Cluster & Eno", "Deluxe" (Hans Joachim Roedelius side project called Harmonia) will announce the emergence of the famous ambient movement, musically characterised by gorgeous shimmering atmospheric textures.

During the 80's, Maurizio Bianchi will be searching for absolute "haunted" soundscapes, partly satisfied thanks to sound collages, manipulated tapes and sonic synth attacks ("Symphony for a Genocide" 1981 and recently the mesmerising "A.M.B Iehn Tale" 2005). Before him, the 70's Italian specialists had been (among others) Francesco Cabiati, Francesco Bucherri, and Francesco Messina for representative, modern and spacey orchestrations. Albums such as "Mirage" (1979), "Journey" (1979) and "Prati Bagnati del Monte Analogo" (1979) gain the attention of the public through their floating, large electronic suites.

All Progressive Electronic artists list

Progressive Metal

This category represents the core movement of what is called "Progressive Metal" in the literal sense. Throughout the years many new styles of progressive metal emerged more or less independently of the original Progressive Metal bands. Separating these styles from the core movement helps to prevent the definition of Prog Metal from "watering down".

Progressive Metal: The Early Years
Progressive Metal emerged in the second half of the 1980s. The first bands were essentially attempting to combine influences from classic prog rock of the 1970s (bands include YES, GENESIS, KING CRIMSON) and the NWOBHM (New Wave of British Heavy Metal - bands include DIAMOND HEAD, IRON MAIDEN, JUDAS PRIEST).

Classic Progressive (Proto-)Power Metal
These bands were staying close to a style which would eventually be evolve into "American Power Metal". This type of Power Metal is not to be confused with the European style which emerged with bands like HELLOWEEN a few years later and would lead to a second wave of Progressive (European) Power Metal bands in the late 1990s.

Classic (Eclectic) Progressive Metal
This style came to full bloom in the 1990s. The NWOBHM influence is still present in the music, but it's not the main ingredient anymore - in fact one of the trademarks of this style is that it draws from a broad range of influences which all seem equal in proportion. The resulting music is very diverse, making it difficult to describe or pin-point. But it's always melodic and often symphonic, and generally not too explicitly technical - although bands like DREAM THEATER are often accused of being too technical and virtuous there are many bands which take technicality to yet another level.

Progressive Metal: The 1990s
In the 1990s American Power Metal continually lost its dominance over the core movement of Progressive Metal. Instead eclecticism and melodic/symphonic elements became the dominant attributes. DREAM THEATER quickly established themselves as the most popular band of the genre, which also led to them becoming a reference in terms of style. Every new Progressive Metal band was compared to them, similarly to neo prog bands being compared to MARILLION, or new Prog Rock bands of the 1990s being compared to SPOCK'S BEARD.

Modern (Eclectic) Progressive Metal
These bands and albums represent the "heart" of Progressive Metal. They managed to refine their music compared to the beginnings in the 1980s, yet they managed to stay true to the style they had defined with their early albums - at least at the beginning of the 1990s. Of course there were fluctuations - some bands are more technical, some are more symphonic, some albums are more experimental, some are spacey ... but they all maintain a balance between the influences, and that's why they're listed here.

Modern Progressive Power Metal (American Style)
In a way these bands revived the music which had sparked the Progressive Metal movement in the 1980s. In the meantime the musical environment had changed a lot, for example neo-classical elements had been made popular by one Yngwie J. Malmsteen. This was influential for most Progressive Metal bands which were rooted in Power Metal.

The following bands can largely be attributed to American Power Metal, although some are borderline to the Eclectic/Mainstream Progressive Metal bands.

Modern Progressive Power Metal (European Style)
These bands have even more neoclassical elements, the most extreme example being RHAPSODY who can be called "Classical Metal", which doesn't qualify as being prog for many people. Nevertheless their music is quite demanding to play and contains many elements of serious classical composition and form, which is a strong indication of progressiveness. The following list of bands is quite diverse ... despite of them all being related to European Power Metal they really sound very, very different.

**Written by MikeEnRegalia**

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Proto-Prog

The denomination Proto Prog comes from the combination of two words, Proto from the Greek The earliest,. and Prog which as we know is a short term for Progressive Rock, so as it's name clearly indicates, refers to the earliest form of Progressive Rock or Progressive Rock in embryonary state.

These bands normally were formed and released albums before Progressive Rock had completely developed (there are some rare Proto Prog bands from the early 70's, because the genre didn't expanded to all the Continents simultaneously

The common elements in all these bands is that they developed one or more elements of Prog, and even when not completely defined as part of the genre, they are without any doubt, an important stage in the evolution of Progressive Rock.

Generally, Proto Prog bands are the direct link between Psyche and Prog and for that reason the Psychedelic components are present in the vast majority of them, but being that Progressive Rock was born from the blending of different genres, we have broadened the definition to cover any band that combined some elements of Progressive Rock with other genres prior to 1970.

Some of these bands evolved and turned into 100% Prog, while others simply choose another path, but their importance and contribution in the formative period of Prog can't be denied, for that reason no Prog site can ignore them.

Iván Melgar - Morey

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Psychedelic/Space Rock

Psychedelic Progressive Rock

Progressive rock music has its roots in the mid 1960's psychedelic cultural phenomena. During that time British Invasion and folk-rock bands began to expand the sonic possibilities of their music. These groups started slowly to abandon the brief, concise verse-chorus-verse patterns of rock & roll, and moved towards more free-form, fluid song structures. Just as important, the groups began incorporating elements of Indian and Eastern music, and along them the free-from principles of free jazz were included to the psychedelic sound, emphasising spontaneous emotions over calculated and estimated construction of music. Also experimenting with electronically altering instruments and voices within the studio using new technology was part of the style. Acid rock groups like THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE and CREAM stand as descriptive and also popular examples of the path from psychedelic sunshine pop towards more aggressive and strong rock expression, culminated especially their improvised live performances.

The boundary of classifying where the amount of experimentalism and artistic content of their music justifies term 'progressive' is probably a thin red line. The early 1960's psychedelic prog pioneers listed to the Prog Archives are mostly found from the Proto-Prog section, (unless the band had a longer career like PINK FLOYD), and among these early psych related are bands like THE BEATLES, THE DOORS, JEFFERSON AIRPLANE and VANILLA FUDGE for example.

A music being classified as psychedelic progressive rock may contain the elements described before with varying combinations, but also the artistic perspective of progressive rock. The evolvement of the psychedelic depth within progressive context could be seen for example in the 1960's recordings of ARCADIUM and BABY GRANDMOTHERS. A good example of the Continental European early 1970's progressive psych rock could be the album by group AHORA MAZDA, and from Britain JADE WARRIOR's early records fusion both psychedelic rock and ethnic music. Two groups producing vintage music today in the tradition of 60's/70's style and sound could be THE SPACIOUS MINDS and ACID MOTHER'S TEMPLE. As the psychedelic movement was a large cultural phenomenon, it is difficult to fence psychedelic progressive rock into a one tight category. Psychedelic progressive rock has been developing to various different directions, which have been classified as their own genres and sub genres.


Progressive Space Rock

In the late 1960s space rock emerged from psychedelic rock with the result of quasi binovular twins. The bands began to assimilate krautrock elements like repetitive hypnotic beats and electronic/ambient soundscapes. The typical instrumentation includes the synthesizer which generally offers bubbling tones and spacey patterns provoking a gliding flow. Guitars are played with glissando technique and delay/echo effects in preference. Reggae/dub elements are to detect here and there. Space rock is often coupled with the use of drugs and a mind-expanding approach, similar to krautrock. Several bands combine their live performances with a trippy lightshow using random fractals. Albums are mostly provided with at least one long meandering jam based on a main theme, loops and slight variations respectively ups and downs in waves.

You will often take notice of stories, pictures and album/song titles referring to cosmic themes. HAWKWIND's live album 'Ritual' is said to be the ultimate space rock album because of the collaboration with sci-fi author Michael Moorcock. His lyrics are performed by a narrator and underlaid with synth elements. PINK FLOYD can be treated as pioneers of spacey music during the band's early phase, for example some songs of 'The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn' or the live recordings of 'Ummagumma' with the stirring 'Careful With That Axe Eugene'. GROBSCHNITT's epic 'Solar Music' is counted among the space rock classics too. UFO, which released the extraordinary album 'Flying - One Hour Space Rock' in 1971, stands for those rock bands which were influenced by this style at least for a while. Another often mentioned band is GONG which offered some groundbreaking genre albums in the early period.

A space rock community is existing in nearly every country more or less. Swedish bands are known for a brisk exchange of musicians among each other. The 'Strange Daze' festivals from 1997-2000 showcased the American space rock scene. Japan is an unexhaustible reservoir of psychedelic and space prog output. Some other representative bands of the style are ORESUND SPACE COLLECTIVE with the focus on long grooving improvisations, QUARKSPACE and OZRIC TENTACLES emphasizing more electronic elements or VESPERO and HIDRIA SPACEFOLK with a significant ethnic component. Other groups like ESCAPADE and THE LEGENDARY PINK DOTS are standing for an avantgarde style whereas the sound of SUBARACHNOID SPACE or KINSKI is provided with transitions to the post rock genre.


Interfaces with other prog genres

As psychedelic culture influenced largely the whole western pop culture scene, psychedelic elements can be found from the other prog genres too. Psychedelic Folk / Acid Folk is a large and delightful sub genre, and in Prog Archives these bands can be found from the PROG FOLK category, earliest of them being PROTO-PROG similar time. As an example group, FAIRPORT CONVENTION with SANDY DENNY released few albums, which combined traditional folk music with psychedelic elements, and their long song 'A Sailor's Life' with real interactive improvisational playing had a big influence on psychedelic folk groups like THE TREES. Some psychedelic oriented folk bands also played music outside from the Anglo-Saxon frame of reference, like Italian AKTUALA, blended Middle-Eastern folk music to their records, and British JADE WARRIOR was seeking influences form Japanese and African music. Groups like THE THIRD EAR BAND and QUINTESSENCE experimented with elements from eastern and Indian music, which kind of bands are found more from the genre INDO-PROG/RAGA ROCK. Instead of European roots these artists take their elements from raga, classical India music. During mid-60's RAVI SHANKAR brought raga to success in the Western Christian industrial countries, and it's qualities were adopted to psychedelic culture, as both raga and psychedelia focus on the state of emotional trance. Example record from this genre could be SEVENTH SONS album 'Raga' from year 1964.

In Germany the groups which were influenced by the British psychedelia, formed their own genre called KRAUTROCK. The early 1970's groups of this genre represent the progressive acid rock sound of Germany, experimenting long instrumental improvisations emphasizing use of psychedelic effects and weird electronic sounds. Examples of these groups could be AMON DÜÜL, ASH RA TEMPEL, CAN, GÄA, NECRONOMICON and YATHA SIDHRA. PROGRESSIVE ELECTRONIC style emerged from Krautrock, and some of their most influential artists like TANGERINE DREAM and KLAUS SCHULZE started with very psychedelic musical style, also being part in the evolvement of 'space rock' sound.

In addition of these genres and examples, psychedelic elements can be found from many other genres of progressive rock. The psychedelic cultural explosion had an immense influence to the western popular culture, and hints of it can still be heard also outside the field of progressive rock music scope, for example in the stoner rock music, or in the collective techno rave parties carrying the legacy of the audiovisual attack 1968 PINK FLOYD concerts.


Space rock definition by Rivertree, April 2009
Other text by Eetu Pellonpää October 2006/April 2009

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RIO/Avant-Prog

Rock in Opposition

What is Rock in Opposition?

Rock In Opposition - or RIO for short - is the name of a short lived movement that has gone on to define a genre of music, and which is now applied to musicians whose careers hadn't even started when the first RIO festival took place in London in 1978.

Festival

In the 1970s Henry Cow had, like other more left field bands, enjoyed greater popularity in mainland Europe than they did in the UK. They toured extensively and made contact with similarly inclined bands, most of whom were working independently and had no distribution or realistic opportunity of touring outside their native countries. The idea of Rock In Opposition was to create an independent network of like minded performers that would not be dependent on the largesse of major record companies for their survival.

===written by Chris Gleeson===

Four like-minded bands were invited to play at the Rock in Opposition festival, alongside Henry Cow, on 12th March 1978, at the New London Theatre, Drury Lane in London. The British Arts Council helped the funding of the festival with a £1000 grant.

The Rock in Opposition slogan "The music the record companies don't want you to hear" was altered very slightly for the flyer advertising the first Rock in Opposition concert.

The five initial Rock in Opposition bands:

Henry Cow (England)
Univers Zero (Belgium)
Etron Fou Leloublan (France)
Samla Mammas Manna (Sweden) - at the time they recorded as Zamla Mammaz Manna
Stormy Six (Italy)

This festival generated a lot of interest around the world at the time within the media, as nothing like this had been done before. This somewhat surprised the members of the bands involved and so it was decided to reconvene at Sunrise Studios in Kirchberg, Switzerland in December 1978, to decide on the future of the movement. Henry Cow as a band, had disbanded by this time (some of the members went on to form Art Bears), but two of the former members of Henry Cow, Chris Cutler and Fred Frith (and likely others) still participated in the discussions in Kirchberg.

The decision was to continue with the movement, but it was decided to keep membership of new bands to a minimum and to also make sure they adhered to some key elements:

A) That of musical excellence. This depending on our collective evaluation of same - a source of much fruitful discussion.
B) That of working actively outside the music business.
C) That of having 'a social commitment to Rock'
Groups who only record or only perform could qualify but they should have a permanent continuity of existence. The total number of members should remain small.

Note: the above list is written by Chris Cutler himself.

Three new bands were elected:

Art Zoyd (France) - who had previously toured with Univers Zero and had members of Univers Zero perform on their albums
Art Bears (England) - who consisted of former members of Henry Cow: Chris Cutler, Fred Frith and Dagmar Krause
Aksak Maboul (Belgium) - who had former members of Univers Zero as well as Chris Cutler and Fred Frith amongst them

===written by James R. Yeowell===

They had many disagreements in that meeting about the purpose of the group, and its meaning. They eventually came up with a plan to continue their joined concerts. They organized three more festivals and cooperative record distributions but eventually the RIO group dissolved, leaving behind a legacy that would be picked up by newer bands and the RIO member bands.

RIO therefore, is not a particular sound, but rather an attitude towards creating music. The original bands did not have much in common in terms of sound. Today however one can define a band as RIO if it follows a certain musical path, similar to that of one of the founders. This way, bands like Miriodor or Ensemble Nimbus can be said to have been influenced by Samla Mammas Manna; a band like Sotos or Zaar can be compared to Present, or Univers Zero.

====written by Assaf Vestin===

Date of RIO festivals:

12 March 1978 at New London Theatre, Drury Lane, London, England (set up by Henry Cow)
26 April 1979 to 1 May 1979 at Teatro dell'Elfo, Milano, Italia (set up by Stormy Six)
28/29 September 1979 in Uppsala, Sweden (set up by Samla Mammas Manna)
Bruxelles, Belgium (set up by Univers Zero)

So what do these bands sound like?

As already stated, all of the bands involved within the Rock in Opposition movement had an avant-garde side to them, some more so than others.

Henry Cow took influences from contemporary classical and chamber music, as well as jazz fusion (such as Miles Davis) and when Dagmar Krause (a German by birth) joined, many of their vocals sounded like the Lieder music of Franz Schubert and also had a Bertold Brecht style to them. All of their music was scored, yet used complex time signatures, free improvisation and often used experimental tape manipulations.

Univers Zero took influences from contemporary classical and chamber music, such as Igor Stravinsky, Anton Webern, Albert Huybrechts and Béla Bartók, but generally were darker than Henry Cow in sound and had much less of a jazz influence.

Etron Fou Leloublan took influences from French music hall, jazz and the burgeoning punk scene. Their music was generally comedic in nature and very difficult to listen to, especially on their debut album.

Samla Mannas Manna/Zamla Mammaz Manna took their influences from Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart and also had circus music influences. Again, their music is humorous and wacky in nature.

Stormy Six took their influences from folk music (their debut album was released in 1969, years before the RIO scene was thought of) and their lyrics were generally political and sang in Italian. They were perhaps the least avant-garde of the bands involved in the movement, but they were one of the most vocal, arranging their own RIO festival.

Legacy

Firstly, to quote Chris Cutler:

"In its ten minutes of fame, RIO verified something, it set a ball rolling, it made things happen that made other things happen. In that sense, it was a success. Without it, someone else would have had to have invented it. Of course, the more complex issues were abandoned. Perhaps they could not really have been faced. We raised them though; they are still in the file labelled: Unfinished Business."

The Rock in Opposition movement ended in 1979 with a fizzle, but its legacy is very strong. So much so, that a Rock in Opposition festival took place in Carmaux in France in April 2007. None of the original bands performed, but many associated bands and musicians did, including Chris Cutler who performed with former Slapp Happy and Henry Cow member Peter Blegvad.

The bands and musicians present at the RIO festival in April 2007 were:

Magma (actually a longtime associated band that played alongside Univers Zero in the 1970s)
Faust (who toured with Henry Cow in their earlier pre-RIO days)
Peter Blegvad (with Chris Cutler)
Present (an offshoot band of Univers Zero, set-up by former Univers Zero drummer Daniel Denis)
Zao
Mats/Morgan Band
Guapo
NeBeLNeST (a French chamber rock band)
Salle Gaveau (a Japanese chamber rock band)
GMEA

As well as the above festival, many bands influenced by the original Rock in Opposition bands continued to be formed in the 1980s to the present and the scene is perhaps more popular now than it ever has been.

Many independent record labels have also been formed because of the Rock in Opposition movement, including Recommended Records/ReR Megacorps, RecRec (an offshoot of ReR in Switzerland), ReR USA (the US branch of ReR), ZNR Records, AYAA (a French off-shoot of ReR), Cuneiform Records and Crammed Discs (set-up by Marc Hollander of Aksak Maboul).

===written by James R. Yeowell===

Noise/Brutal Prog

In the last 20 years Japan has boasted one of the most exciting and innovative Avant-prog scenes in the world. Widely, the scene finds its characteristics defined by harsh unrelenting compositions factoring exceptional displays of musicianship. While influences have been amassed from far and wide - with the likes of Captain Beefheart and John Zorn - the most direct influence can be linked to Keiji Haino (guitar, vocal, percussion [on occasions]). His works range an embodiment of rock, free improvisation, noise, psychedelic, minimalism etc. The archetypal sound and structure [deconstruction maybe a better term] of the Japanese Underground scene was founded with Haino's improvisational rock group Lost Aaraaf (1970) - later continued with Fush*tsusha. To this day Haino's influence is still widely recognized throughout the scene, with his involvement with many of the leading musician from numerous bands: Ruins, Ground Zero, and Altered States. Evolving into the formation of Knead and Sanhedolin. Upon a thorough investigating of the scene, one finds deep interconnections between bands, lending to a communal type atmosphere [not too far from the Canterbury scene]. While generally closeted to the outside world, Japan's impact on the worldwide Avant-prog scene has been remarkable. John Zorn has played a crucial roll in the globalization and distributions of Japanese music with his personal label Tzadik, detailing the 'New Japan' movement.

The mid 80's saw the principles of Japanese Avant-prog firmly planned, with the formation of the power duo Ruins ('85). Lead by brainchild Tatsuya Yoshida (drums, vocal, keyboard, guitar), Ruins plays an intense fusion between punk and progressive rock. Yoshida's drumming was highly influenced by Christian Vander (Magma), honing in on the remarkable technical capabilities, while lacking some of the more emotional entities. Yoshida is infamous for his infinite collaborative work, some of his other bands/collaborations include: Akaten, Tairikuoto vs' Sanmyakuonns, Seikazoku, Musica Transonic, Sunkick, Koenji Hyakkei, Knead, Soft Mountain, Zubi Zuva, not to mention the numerous collaborations with John Zorn [the list goes on].

Round the same time ('86) as Ruins, world famous noise rockers 'Boredoms' escaped from the underground, fronted by the ever-charismatic Yamatsuka Eye [better known as simply eYe today]. From the word go 'Boredoms' crafted a raw, eccentric form of punk styled noise, fixating on the humorous side of life. Over the years 'Boredoms' sound evolved tremendously in to a mature mix between Avant-prog, psych, krautrock and noise. With a line-up of three percussionist, plus eYe, their sound revolves intensely on the rhythmic textures. Once again ties with John Zorn are present, entailing eYe's involvement with the Naked City projects. Yoshimi P-We (percussion, vocals, guitar) later went on to form the solely female band OOIOO, which can be paralleled as a subdued 'Boredoms' with subtle complexity.

Ground Zero [now defunct] formed under the guidance of turntablist/guitarist Otomo Yoshihide and stands as one of the most famous groups from the Japanese underground scene. Forming in 1990, Ground Zero's sound deviated from the classic Avant-prog scene. Their compositions were generally a profound mix of sampled/recorded sounds, noise and improvisation. Otomo Yoshihide is just as prolific a musician/composer as Yoshida, playing with a huge proportion of the underground scene and numerous American contemporaries. Both Nasuno Mitsuru (bass, vocals) and Yoshigaki Yasuhiro (drums) from Ground Zero went onto form Altered States - who were a cross between Art rock and Avant/free Jazz.

While large proportions of the scene are defined by harsh dissonance, there is also a more refined branch influenced by Jazz and RIO. Tipographica, were a great example of this, with their delicate blend of RIO and Canterbury, focusing on a fusion between improvisational jazz and contemporary classical. Their saxophonist Kikuchi Naruyoshi went on to form 'Date Course Pentagon Royal Garden' whose album is sometimes hailed as the Japanese 'Bitches Brew'. Alternatively 'After Dinner' portrays the softer, pop-orientated RIO, in vain of 'Art Bears'

Today the scene is still taking quantum leaps. While many of the original bands are still active, new generations are keeping speed with new innovative revelations. With the likes of OOIOO, Le Silo and Pochakaite Malko the scene is far from its creative ends.

===written by Adam Rutter===

Thanks to the RIO/Avant-prog team for their collaborations with this definition.

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Rock Progressivo Italiano

aka "RPI"


"So it's an established fact that in Italy during the period between 1971-1974, a music movement existed where bands would challenge each other to see who could be the most imaginative, who could create the album for the ages. They were all painters and sculptors just as in Renaissance Italy." -Tom Hayes/Gnosis


1. The background
As the 60s drew to an end, Italy experienced a wave of new ideas and ideals which coincided with the new musical era being born. It would not be exaggeration to state that the 70s were a watershed period in the history of the country. Even though the 60s are generally remembered as the years of the 'economic boom', it was only in the following decade that Italy made the long, difficult change from a relatively poor, traditional country into a fully developed Western society. A look at any timeline for 70s Italy will show an incredible concentration of events that changed the fabric of Italian society irrevocably: laws and acts were passed which affected worker's rights, family and divorce law, and women's rights and reproductive health. In a country where the physical presence of the Catholic Church has always been impossible to overlook, not least because of its open intervention in the country's political affairs, the introduction of such radical changes was no small feat.

Most of those changes were made possible by the presence of a strong left-wing component in Italian political life, even if regarded with extreme suspicion by both the Church and Italy's main ally, the United States. Though the existence of a party that openly called itself Communist was not exclusive to Italy, at the time the PCI (Partito Comunista Italiano) was considered more of a danger than, for instance, its French equivalent - mainly due to Italy's strategic position in the Mediterranean area, as well as the party's obvious connection with the Soviet Union. Such a peculiar, potentially explosive situation sadly became a breeding ground for a number of extremist groups, who were responsible for the season of violence and unrest commonly known as the 'Anni di piombo' ('years of lead'), which lasted well into the first half of the Eighties. The number of casualties due to terror acts and rioting was quite high, involving people from all walks of life. However, the defining episode of the decade was the kidnapping and subsequent murder of well-known politician Aldo Moro (a left-leaning Christian Democrat) by the notorious Brigate Rosse ('Red Brigades') in the spring of 1978.


2. The birth of a movement
The turbulent times affected countless musicians looking for something new-some way to parallel the political climate through artistic media. Ranging from highly educated conservatory students to local singer-songwriters, this spirit managed to captivate an entire country within a few short years. Young people were restless, bursting with a burning desire to change the staid, suffocating atmosphere of Italian society starting with one of its symbols, its venerable musical tradition. Most musicians had more or less strong left-wing leanings (the prime example being Area), while the few examples of openly right-wing bands never managed to break out of obscurity, or gain more than a strictly cult following.

Without a strong rock tradition in the 60s Italy had mainly produced beat bands of varying quality, as well as singers well-versed in the long-standing canzone tradition of the country. As the tidal wave of counter-culture swept in, it brought revolution not only in the form of progressive rock, but also differing forms of heavier, continental rock which was establishing itself around the same time. Psychedelic influences and the incorporation of classical music may have been the same stepping stones used by most other progressive scenes around the globe during the same period, but even at this embryonic stage there was a whiff of something else in the air. In the late 60s when the beat scene was already heading towards a decline, a number of bands formed, some of them releasing singles (or even albums) that bridged the gap between beat, conventional Italian easy listening music (musica leggera), and the new ideas coming from Great Britain - among them, New Trolls, Le Orme, Panna Fredda, I Quelli (later to become Premiata Forneria Marconi), Il Mucchio, and Fabio Celi e gli Infermieri.

"We wanted to put some improvisations between the singing parts and we had to make up our minds about the style to follow... After having been to the Isle of Wight festival, it was clear to all of us that we couldn't keep on playing the usual songs with verses and refrains." -Toni Pagliuca, Le Orme


3. The golden years
The beginning of the new decade saw the rise of a countless number of bands and artists, some of whom would go on to become successful acts. PFM, Banco del Mutuo Soccorso, Osanna, Il Balletto di Bronzo, Quella Vecchia Locanda belong to this group, with all but the latter being still active at the time of writing. Some others only managed to release one album (or even just a handful of singles) before they disbanded. The prog-rock bug became so widespread in Italy that some experts say every artist and band in Italy produced at least one progressive album during this time. A number of well-known mainstream artists started their career with a prog album, like singer-songwriters Riccardo Cocciante (with Mu) and Ivano Fossati (with the first Delirium album, Dolce acqua). Or, like Lucio Battisti or Fabrizio De André, they released strongly prog-influenced albums when the movement was at its height.

During the peak years of the RPI movement in the early 70s, countless bands showcased their talent in the many pop festivals organized throughout Italy. The festivals were often free of charge and boasted a level artistic freedom and competition seldom seen in popular music. Fans witnessed bands rise from obscurity to compete on the same stage as the heavy hitters. This musical competition created something of an upward spiral; everyone tried to outdo each other, producing unique sounds and incorporating disparate influences into their music. The variety of the music went through the roof, with every band sharing the same aspirations, though seldom the same sound. It must also be made clear that despite the beliefs of those who write off Italian prog as simply a British counterfeit, many of these bands were creating music that was phenomenally original, experimental, free-spirited, and creatively successful. While bands from abroad helped influence and inspire Italian bands, Italy's young bands quickly took the ball and ran with it. It is ludicrous to suggest the scene a mere imitation. The upward spiral also meant an over saturated market, in which many bands only managed to put out one or two releases with minimal budget and intense recording. Some of the best, most genuine and treasured albums of Rock Progressivo Italiano can be found in this group: Semiramis' "Dedicato a Frazz", Pholas Dactylus' "Concerto delle menti", Raccomandata Ricevuta di Ritorno's "Per un mondo di cristallo", Museo Rosenbach's "Zarathustra", and Balletto di Bronzo's "Ys" to name just a few.

"We had to tackle this tradition, we had to fight against the conventions and refuse to be integrated. The New Sounds hadn't arrived yet, there was no music for the young people, there was nothing, you had to invent and build up your space. Perhaps this was the mainspring that unchained such a creative strength." -Gianni Leone

With time some of the biggest bands achieved international success, with PFM as the best-known example. Lyricist Peter Sinfield, known from his work with giants like King Crimson and ELP, even wrote for the band, while Peter Hammill provided English lyrics for Le Orme's "Felona e Sorona". Ironically this success often meant a detour from the roots of the RPI sounds, making these albums more aligned to the British scene than the bulk of the artists and albums in the archives. Look beneath the surface in order to discover hidden (or not so hidden) gems. While the oft-mentioned big 3 of Italian prog (PFM, Banco, and Le Orme) are conveniently considered the peak by those casually mentioning this scene, RPI enthusiasts know the river runs so much deeper, and many of our personal favourites are found outside of these popular groups. Those who search beyond the surface will discover that the most daring and provocative works were often made by more obscure groups who released one fantastic album and then vanished into thin air. This common syndrome of Italian "one-shot" bands became the bane of many RPI fans.

Since so many different musicians experimented with the progressive format, you will also find a broad musical scope within RPI, something which has kept the subgenre fresh and vital over time. Examples include Franco Battiato (still a very successful artist in Italy), Picchio dal Pozzo, Opus Avantra, Stormy Six and Area, who each in their own individual way, show a more cosmopolitan flavour and range of influences than most other acts.

After its explosive development in the early 70s, the movement followed the same path as other progressive musical movements around the world as the 80s approached. Some influential artists continued to release new albums though never with the same success as in the halcyon days. Others changed with the times and became highly successful mainstream artists both in Italy and internationally. As elsewhere in the prog universe the quantity and quality of RPI began to dry up a bit in the late 70s and early 80s, although there were some quality releases from that period. These titles tended to be more melodic and less brashly avant-garde than the classic period but were respectable nonetheless. To name but a few there were Locanda Delle Fate, Stefano Testa, Pierpaolo Bibbo, and L'Estate de San Martino. Area, Stormy Six, and PFM had a good title or two left in them as well.


4. Musical features of RPI
Italian symphonic prog is notable for the prominence of classical influences, often providing the driving force behind the music. The new listener will discover that this particular branch of RPI feels more like classical music in a rock setting as opposed to occasional classical influences on top of the rock format. Furthermore, the rich, diverse musical traditions of Italy permeate the albums, creating a strong national and even regional character. The "textbook" RPI groups can usually be identified by a pervasive sense of romantic melancholy and earthy flair, sometimes enhanced by baroque elements, sometimes by more ethnic ones. Other distinctive features include overt opera and operetta influences, wild and uncontrolled storytelling, and as a general rule, bold and highly emotional vocals. There is extroverted, operatic gallantry and panache or mellow balladry; exciting use of all sorts of keyboards, with sounds heard nowhere else but in this particular scene; exotic instruments such as aggeggi, ottavino, mandoloncello, clavicembalo- names that tickle the imagination and leave their distinct mark on the music. There is a uniquely magical marriage of the traditional to the modern, of the warm to the wild. The combination of flute, piano and violin is often encountered, and the interplay between the first two instruments in particular supplies the subgenre with a fair share of its identity and flavour.

Though the symphonic element is indeed the most common in RPI, the genre would be better characterized as eclectic. Jazz-fusion, folk, hard rock riffing à la Jethro Tull, Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin, intense drama a la Van der Graaf Generator (whose albums were revered in Italy), singer-songwriter, proto-metal, blues, avant tendencies, pop, psych, dark/occult, electronic-the list goes on. Even more amazing, these differences in style can often be found to varying degrees on one album, and still feel natural in the distinct stylistic framework mentioned above.

No overview of RPI would be complete without mentioning the use of the Italian language, by many considered one of the most musical languages in the world. It could be safely stated that the use of Italian is inherent to the soul of RPI, a critical component to the full appreciation of the subgenre. In fact, even if some key RPI albums were translated into English in an attempt to gain international recognition, most of them fail to impress. They feel as if one of the basic ingredients of what makes RPI such a successful concoction is missing. While most serious RPI fans consider Italian vocals essential to their listening experience, it is fair to say that some believe English lyrics are not so detrimental-even if in most cases the odd phrasing, incorrect emphasis, and heavy Italian accent of the singers detract significantly from an authentic overall effect. While some prog fans can find the gregarious Italian vocal style challenging at first, newbies are encouraged to simply stick with it for a while. With only a modest effort any RPI newbie will soon find they cannot imagine this music without traditional Italian vocals-they truly are the icing on the cake.

One common misconception that must be addressed is the belief that any prog band from Italy is an RPI band. There are bands from Italy more appropriate for other genres. As an example, a pure and obvious post-rock band who just happen to be from Rome are going to be in the post-rock sub, not RPI. A pure jazz-fusion band with no RPI characteristics to their sound could be easily placed in the Jazz/Fusion subgenre. The RPI team will work hard to evaluate bands that fit the characteristics and the feel of the subgenre, and those whose primary sound is more suited for another sub are recommended to them.

"Progressive is basically a blending of three elements: the song, the improvisation inspired by jazz and the composition in classical style. This cocktail is interpreted in different ways in every country: in England, for instance, Celtic, rock and blues influences prevail. In Italy we have to cope with our classical tradition: the melodramma, Respighi, Puccini, Mascagni but also all the contemporary classical composers. It's in this legacy, in my opinion, that the specificity of the Italian Progressive Rock is concealed." -Franco Mussida, PFM


5. RPI in the new century
As recently as the 90s and early 2000s RPI again proved its longevity to the prog community. Scores of the classic albums were re-pressed in Japan, then specialized independent labels such as BTF, Mellow and Black Widow (the latter responsible for rescuing the likes of Jacula and Antonius Rex from oblivion) started to re-issue many of the classic albums. As a consequence RPI has not only reached a new generation of fans, but the increased interest and appreciation have led to new material being released. Artists whose recordings have never been in circulation, bands that are as new to our ears as they are to many of those who were there when it happened, now have a new-found audience creating an ironic worm-hole effect: brand new music straight from prog's golden years.

With the revival clearly under way the 90s produced some stellar Italian albums and the beginning of CD reissue fever. In the 2000s the trend has continued to a much more successful degree. RPI is back and fan interest has exploded for both the classic period and the new bands of today like Il Bacio Della Medusa, Pandora, Coral Caves, J'Accuse, Ubi Major, and the projects of Fabio Zuffanti to name just a few. Italian progressive rock today covers a wide range of styles and influences, but many of the bands ground a portion of their sound in the RPI tradition. Moreover, this first decade of the 21st century has seen a new round of publications (both in print and in electronic format) covering various aspects of Italian prog, as well as the creation of a number of excellent websites dedicated to the subgenre, which are extremely influential as regards the promotion of new bands and artists.

The commercial success of RPI has always been modest compared to the big bands from other countries. However, the quality of the music past and present, from its unique compositions to fiercely independent spirit, has earned the RPI subgenre some of prog's most loyal followers.

By:
Raffaella Berry
Michael Berry
Ryan Olsen
Jim Russell
Linus Wikström
Todd Dudley

For the Mick.
29 July 2009


Additional information:
Italian Prog - http://www.italianprog.com

Andrea Parentin's history of RPI (essential reading)
http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=33377&FID=58&PN=3

Andrea Parentin's contemporary Italian prog (newer bands)
http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=62150&FID=58

Arlequins - http://www.arlequins.com

Movimenti Prog - http://www.movimentiprog.net

Centro Studi per il Progressive Italiano - http://www.centrostudiprogitaliano.it

Jim's Italian Prog Space - http://www.myspace.com/italianprog

Mats Italian Prog Site - http://www.italianprogrock.com/index.php


Where to buy Italian prog
Syn-phonic - http://www.synphonic.8m.com/index.htm
Doug Larson - http://www.hicom.net/~dlarson/
Kinesis - http://www.kinesiscd.com/index.html
Wayside - http://www.waysidemusic.com/
Mellow Records - http://www.mellowrecords.com
BTF - http://www.btf.it
Black Widow Records - http://www.blackwidow.it

All Rock Progressivo Italiano artists list

Symphonic Prog

Symphonic is without doubt the sub-genre that includes the most bands in Progressive Rock because for many people it's almost synonymous classic Prog, something easy to understand being that most of the classic and/or  pioneer bands released music that could be included in this sub-genre, except JETHRO TULL and PINK FLOYD (who still blended some symphonic elements), even KING CRIMSON who very soon expanded their horizons to more experimental music, made their debut with a Symphonic album, "In the Court of the Crimson King" which is a cornerstone in the development of the genre.

The main characteristics of Symphonic are the ones that defined all Progressive Rock: (There's nothing 100% new under the sun) which among others are:

• Mixture of elements from different genres.
• Complex time signatures.
• Lush keyboards.
• Explorative and intelligent lyrics, in some cases close to fantasy literature, Sci Fi and even political issues.
• Non commercial approach
• Longer format of songs
  

All Symphonic Prog artists list

Tech/Extreme Prog Metal

This category contains a very broad range of bands. Most of them have one thing in common: technicality. Their music is very demanding to play and to listen to. The word "Extreme" has been added to the name of the category because most bands which are based in extreme metal genres (Thrash Metal, Death Metal, Black Metal) are also quite technical and/or achieve their progressiveness by making their music exceedingly complex.

The Early Years
There were few bands in the 1980s or early 1990s which can be attributed to this category. This is mostly due to the fact that the genres most of these bands are rooted in didn't exist yet. Even the bands listed as Avant - which aren't based on a fixed genre like Thrash or Death - needed these fixed genres as an influence. There are a few though - most notably WATCHTOWER and ATHEIST (Thrash), CYNIC (Jazz-Fusion/Thrash) and PESTILENCE (Black Metal).

The Modern Phase
This phase begins in the late 1990s. Thrash Metal and Death Metal had existed for about 10 years, Black Metal for about 5 years and bands were looking for new ways to express themselves. Similarly to the classic Progressive Metal bands of the 1980s they picked their favorite style of metal and added progressive elements - only this time it wasn't NWOBHM but a more extreme kind of metal instead.

It's slightly different for the Tech/Shred and Jazz-Fusion subcategories: Although the musicians of these bands often had a background in extreme metal they left the extreme elements behind and replaced them with other "things" ... often elements from Jazz-Fusion, but sometimes also from Classical music or classic Prog Rock / Prog-Fusion. A good example for such a transition is the late Chuck Schuldiner who not only turned his band (DEATH) from a standard Death Metal outfit into the first Progressive Death Metal band (as can be heard on "The Sound of Perseverance"), but also released a brilliant album under the band name CONTROL DENIED which wasn't Death Metal at all.

Avant-Garde Prog Metal
In a way this sub category can be seen as the counterpart to "RIO/Avant-Prog". All these bands are very experimental in an avant-garde fashion ... their music is difficult to "process" for people not used to this level of "quirkiness". Often weird and unusual instrumentation is used, or instruments used in unusual ways which defy the laws of tradition.

Progressive Thrash Metal
The name pretty much says it all. Technicality is an inherent property of Thrash Metal, so in order to achieve progressiveness the bands must add other elements to their music - usually experimentation, Jazz influences or a more epic and complex approach to songwriting.

Progressive Death Metal
This is not to be confused with "Technical Death Metal", a non-prog genre. Like explained in the previous category technicality alone is not enough to achieve progressiveness.

Progressive Black Metal
Black Metal is not a very technical genre - at least the original, "old-school" Black Metal is inherently non-technical and lo-fi. Typically the bands listed here are much more technical than the usual Black Metal outfit and/or add avant-garde elements to the music, or a more epic approach to songwriting.

Progressive Technical Metal
This category is quite similar to Progressive Metal Fusion - Jazz elements are frequently used, but not to the same extent. Usually this type of music is instrumental (exceptions confirm the rule), and it's a lot less weird than the Avant-Garde Progressive Metal bands. Often these bands try to make their composition as difficult to play as humanly possible (CANVAS SOLARIS said that in interviews).

Progressive Metal Fusion
These bands are applying Jazz-Fusion to Metal ... the results can turn out quite differently depending on which type of Jazz-Fusion is applied to which type of Metal.

**Written by MikeEnRegalia**

All Tech/Extreme Prog Metal artists list

Various Genres

Albums or CD's where more than one artist is featured either as a SAMPLER or a TRIBUTE to a particular band. Examples: - Peter and The Wolf - Prog Fairytale - 1975 / The Reading Room - 2000 / Leonardo - The Absolute Man - 2001 / Best Prog Rock Album in the World... Ever - 2003 / Un Voyage En Progressif Volume 1 to 8 / Kalevala - A Finnish Progressive Rock Epic.

All Various Genres artists list

Zeuhl

Zeuhl is an adjective in Kobaïan, the language written by Christian Vander, drummer and founder of the French band Magma.

Pronunciation: zEU(h)l, while the EU are like a French E with a slight U, and the (h) is a semi-silent letter which is an integrated part of the EU, totaling in a "syllable and a half".

The word means celestial, although many times it is misunderstood as meaning "celestial music", since the members of Magma describe the genre of their music as Zeuhl. Zeuhl Wortz, though, means Music of the universal might.


The genre is a mixture of musical genres like Neoclassicism, Romanticism, Modernism and Fusion. Common elements: oppressive or discipline-conveying feel, marching themes, throbbing bass, an ethereal piano or Rhodes piano, and brass instruments.

All Zeuhl artists list

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