Fanning the Flame

Great, I was just thinking of adding something constructive due to the "last flame" thread.

My picks are going to be overwhelmingly metallic, and for the sake of diversity I'm going to pick some less famous artists. Because of that factor, as well as the fact that I don't believe in recommending without description my list is far from finished right now. From the 2000s I like:

Aluk Todolo
Kosmische Musik meets Les Légions Noires, with bits and pieces of goth and post-punk sticking out on the intricate alien fortress of sound these Frankish madmen have conjured up. The kind of music where an entire album is meant to be listened to in one setting, as a journey into some sublimely hellish dimension.


Dark Buddha Rising
Yet another combination of the space-cadet cosmic trips of 1960s/1970s space-rock with the esoteric occultist evil of modern black metal, but this time it's a foundation of sludgy doom metal that's holding it all together. Their songwriting likewise shows a level of ambition that's exceptional for either parent genre.


Morbus Chron
Still being evaluated as they've gone from to a standard Swedish death metal group to applying Voivod and Virus' innovations in melodic phrasing and sonic texturing within that genre's paradigm. The result in something truly unique.


Russian Circles
1970s/1980s traditional heavy metal riffing adapted to soundscapey post-rock. It's one of those things that just shouldn't work, but somehow does and makes for a very unique listening experience. Bonus points for the vaguely "Soviet futuristic" half technological wasteland aeshetic.


From the 2010s:

Papir
Goofy band name, but some of the best modernized Kosmische Musik to come along in a while. Their loose expansive powerdriving space rock jams also manage to show enough technological precision to get this appealing futuristic appeal.

brainstormer wrote: No more painters like Chagall getting any attention by the mainstream art press.  The museum market is often like a big investment scam these days.  Pumping up the value of meaningless art so that too much virtue doesn't rock the boat.

Exactly. The mainstream in the galleries now is that conceptual art. Not my cup of tea.

I'll add to the list:

90:s
Änglagård
The Flower Kings
Opeth (their latest release, Pale Communion, is heavily influenced by 70s prog)
Dream Theater
Ayreon

00:s
Riverside
Phideaux
Transatlantic
RPWL
Karmakanic

10:s
Akribi
Nevärlläjf
Haken
Gandalf's Fist
...and maybe Infinite Light?

As for bands in the 2010's, I can easily find 5 that have produced masterpiece ( or near ) albums since 2010.

Edited by GlassHanded - November 16 2014 at 22:17

twosteves wrote: The big problem for me is early prog giants were real artists and had strong influences of great music that came before them---and created something new and unique from those influences-- which came from many different genres, jazz, classical, folk, theater, avant garde---later prog bands were mostly influenced by these bands and what they were doing, rather than by searching back into the great archives of music history---so the bands started to sound similar and far less creative.

90's

90's:
Motorpsycho
Devin Townsend
Parallel or 90 Degrees
Phish
Threshold

00's
The Mars Volta
Agalloch
A Silver mt. Zion
Pain of Salvation
maudlin of the Well
Kayo Dot

10's
Leprous
Haken
Karnivool
Fright Pig
Can't really choose a fifth artist yet, mainly due to me not knowing enough music.

I would add Cloudkicker and Animals As Leaders to the ´10 list, think they haven´t been mentioned yet.