Fastest prog band

I find it interesting that no-one ever asked that question. which band do you consider to be the fastest prog band?

perhaps I should define what I mean by that. I don't mean "playing generally fast", on the contrary. I mean "which band can reach the highest speed in a song"? it does not matter if other passages of the song are slow or if the band is usually not that fast and only has one song in which they extremely speed up.

I don't  mean studio, by the way (you can speed up things with a lot of tricks there), I mean live. please give examples, best from YouTube or the likes. I have my own opinion on the topic, by the way, which will be surprising to many, but I will give examples.

oh, and just to make it clear: I am by no means of the opinion "faster is better". there is no general merit in playing extremely fast. but sometimes it can have an amazing effect


Edited by BaldJean - July 12 2013 at 06:30

Vitalij Kuprij keyboard parts with Artension are usually fast.  This sample is not their best thing, anyway. 

after keyboard and bass, a bit of fast drums

"Less metal, more prog"
I'd like to see that on a t-shirt.
(...worn by me.)

stf wrote: "Less metal, more prog" I'd like to see that on a t-shirt. (...worn by me.)

Sorry, The thread title is so interesting that I haven't read your whole post. Ay least2 out of 3 were live...

Re groups live, the two I've seen (either live or on video) who seem to reach the highest speeds on occasion are Deus ex Machina and Dream Theater.  (Your Magma videos are great, though.)  There are some "thrash metal" bands who can attain speeds that are truly breath-taking (or absurd, depending on how you look at it...LOL).  I would say the fastest drummers (overall) I've heard (who are actually playing complicated parts, not just keeping a beat) are Claudio Trotta from Deus ex Machina, Mike Portnoy from Dream Theater, Carl Palmer, and the guy from Ruins.  Fastest guitarists would have to include McLaughlin, Holdsworth, Petrucci, and Fripp.

maani wrote:  Fastest guitarists would have to include McLaughlin, Holdsworth, Petrucci, and Fripp.

maani wrote: Re groups live, the two I've seen (either live or on video) who seem to reach the highest speeds on occasion are Deus ex Machina and Dream Theater.  (Your Magma videos are great, though.)  There are some "thrash metal" bands who can attain speeds that are truly breath-taking (or absurd, depending on how you look at it...LOL).  I would say the fastest drummers (overall) I've heard (who are actually playing complicated parts, not just keeping a beat) are Claudio Trotta from Deus ex Machina, Mike Portnoy from Dream Theater, Carl Palmer, and the guy from Ruins.  Fastest guitarists would have to include McLaughlin, Holdsworth, Petrucci, and Fripp.

well, the Magma stuff is definitely very complicated too. take for example the riff in the final section of "De Futura". it does sound easy, but it is very tricky

Triceratopsoil wrote: octopus-4 wrote: Sorry, The thread title is so interesting that I haven't read your whole post. Ay least2 out of 3 were live... I absolutely love Magma but I'm more in their studio things )a coincidence, not by choice) Magma's live work is absolutely unreal, even compared to their studio albums. I misread the title as "fattest" and had thoughts of Chris Squire

Chris Squire and Greg Lake should start a band named "Fat Bass"