Help me find some Prog Metal i'll actually enjoy
Printed From: Progarchives.com
Category: Progressive Music Lounges
Forum Name: Prog Recommendations/Featured albums
Forum Description: Make or seek recommendations and discuss specific prog albums
URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=53844
Printed Date: June 06 2025 at 00:00
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 11.01 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Help me find some Prog Metal i'll actually enjoy
Posted By: AdamHearst
Subject: Help me find some Prog Metal i'll actually enjoy
Date Posted: December 04 2008 at 16:09
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I am a long time fan of both Prog Rock and Metal (mostly the more extreme forms)... but, for some reason, when the two genres are fused together I just can't get into it. I despise Dream Theatre and bands with that kind of sound. I don't like Opeth except for their most NON-METAL album Damnation (which is excellent) and i enjoy their acoustic passages. I checked out Unexpect and found it almost unlistenable, heh... I am a big fan of "Brutal" and some "Technical" Death Metal (Nile, later Morbid Angel, Necrophagist, Immolation) and i don't know if any of it could be considered 'Prog', but a lot of it is very progressive in my view (more so than a lot of Prog Rock bands). The ONLY band i've found so far that is widely considered "Prog Metal" that i actually enjoy is Cynic... so, i'm looking for recommendations on other bands to check out. So far most bands haven't delivered what i'm looking for.  I am NOT a fan of "Power Metal" or most 80's-sounding Metal at all (which most prog-metal sounds like to me, heh)... i want to find the most brutal, deathly Prog in the universe.  .help?!  ------------- I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity... |
Replies:
Posted By: Plankowner
Date Posted: December 04 2008 at 23:19
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Persefone
Psycroptic
Ansur
Gojira
Baroness
Mastodon
Between the Buried and Me
Blotted Science
Canvas Solaris
Behold..The Arctopus
Intronaut
Cult of Luna
Mouth of the Architect
Devin Townsend
Pain of Salvation
Indukti
Riverside
Green Carnation
Isis
Neurosis
Pelican
..these are nowhere near power metal, enjoy
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Posted By: splyu
Date Posted: December 05 2008 at 00:45
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If you're familiar with Cynic, you probably know about their connections with Atheist and Death? Pestilence is another band that is said to have been in that vein, though I've never heard them. If you like black metal, there was a thread about http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=53789 - progressive black metal not long ago. |
Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: December 05 2008 at 01:50
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The list of bands Planky made should be sufficient to crush your face, which I'm certain is the effect you want. One thing to bear in mind, bands like Pelican, Isis, Neurosis, Cult Of Luna are more atmosphere focused and aren't about virtuosity and technical riffing at all. I would add Meshuggah to that list. Arguably still one of the most brutal and crushing bands ever. The absolute antithesis of overly melodic prog metal and power metal, that's for sure. Also, on Between the Buried and Me, their sound changed a lot from their debut album to how they sound now. Their debut was very much metalcore, with about one song that might be considered proggy, and then one their latest release, Colors, they lost the metalcore aspect almost entirely, with proper death growl. Pretty technical album too, lots of insane riffage and very impressive sweep picking chops from the lead guitarist. ------------- 
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Posted By: Abstrakt
Date Posted: December 05 2008 at 02:59
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Havn't been into prog metal for a long time, but still... Opeth - Orchid, Blackwater Park, Deliverance, Ghost Reveries Atheist - Piece of Time, Unquestionable Presence, Elements Death - Spiritual Healing, Human, Individual Thought patterns, Symbolic Judas Priest - Jugulator Dark Angel - Time does not Heal These are pretty heavy, dark & Brutal! There might be some melodic stuff here and there, though  |
Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: December 05 2008 at 03:14
Umm Alex, he did say he didn't like much Opeth except Damnation
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Posted By: sleeper
Date Posted: December 05 2008 at 04:33
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Dark Suns In the Woods... Green Carnation Arcturus The Pax Cecilia Virgin Black Sieges Even Zero Hour To-Mera maudlin of the Well Psychotic Waltz Anathema Orphand Land Drawn Lesbian Enslaved Wastefall Yakuza ------------- Spending more than I should on Prog since 2005 
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Posted By: AdamHearst
Date Posted: December 05 2008 at 10:00
Thanks for all the suggestions guys! I shall systematically go through the listed bands (the ones i haven't heard before) and see if anything sticks.  @spylu - ues, i've heard 'Athiest' and 'Pestilence' and neither were nearly as good (imo) as Cynic (even though they were all connected somehow). There's something very unique about Cynic's "Focus" that i love that those other bands lacked... can't put my finger on it though. I think Cynic's vocal approach is one of the main things i like... the mixture of weird electronic vocoder parts and the Death Metal vocals. And 'Death' is a band that i definitely respect, and i enjoy some of their albums (Human is my favorite) but other albums i don't like very much for some reason - their later albums feel too hollow. I didn't care for the Control Denied offshoot either. Maybe i'm too picky when it comes to my Metal? ------------- I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity... |
Posted By: AdamHearst
Date Posted: December 05 2008 at 10:13
Aye, i do know of those bands... what i've heard is pretty close to atmospheric Doom Metal (which i like). I never really thought of any of them as Proggy before... some Neurosis songs have always reminded me of Pink Floyd though. I quite like the album with the Wolf head on the cover... whatever that one was called. Havn't listened to it since the 90's probably. I know some 'Meshuggah'... in the past their music didn't have much impact on me, but i may check them out again now. They seemed almost too un-melodic, heh... i couldn't find anything memorable in the riffs that hooked me in. Thier riffs seemed to be all about rhythmic complexity and there wasn't much to the songs beyond that... not that there's anything wrong with that really, just not exactly my cup of tea. I like a pinch of melody in my riffs. I shall give 'Between the Buried and Me' an ear as well. ------------- I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity... |
HughesJB4 wrote:Posted By: AdamHearst
Date Posted: December 07 2008 at 00:11
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What do you guys think of extremely technical Death Metal bands like Cryptopsy or (more recently) Beneath the Massacre? Should they be included in the Prog Archives? The more bands i check out in the 'Tech/Extreme Prog Metal' category the less hope i have for ever getting into the genre in a major way. A lot of the bands are more in the extreme Metalcore camp it seems, and i'm more of an old-fashioned Death Metal fan I guess, hehe.... that 'Arctopus' band is pretty interesting though, i must admit. ------------- I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity... |
Posted By: WinterLight
Date Posted: December 07 2008 at 00:29
| If you like Cryptopsy, then you might like Gorguts. |
Posted By: pinkpork
Date Posted: December 07 2008 at 00:44
| Gojira's amazing. |
Posted By: Plankowner
Date Posted: December 07 2008 at 00:51
Here's a list provided by Avalanchemaster in the Tech/Extreme Appreciation thread back in July that I've almost gotten through
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Posted By: JayDee
Date Posted: December 07 2008 at 01:24
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I'll sit this one out.
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Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: December 07 2008 at 02:00
The man speaks the truth. I've been listening to them obsessively over the last two days. They absolute crush faces. -------------
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Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: December 07 2008 at 02:02
I like Cryptopsy and what I've heard of Beneath the Massacre is good stuff, but it's straight tech metal. If you're wondering, Cryptopsy was rejected by the prog metal team on the grounds of lack of progginess in their music. Doesn't take away from them being a wicked band though:) -------------
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Posted By: AdamHearst
Date Posted: December 07 2008 at 02:58
'proginess' is my new favorite word  it's a fine line i suppose... the endless timing and tempo shifts Cryptopsy employ approaches proggy in my book... but i guess it would open the floodgates and every technical death metal band would then have to be included if they were in. Are there any Extreme Prog Metal bands that heavily use typical "Symphonic Prog Rock" instruments like mellotrons, moogs or even flutes and other classical-type instuments as main elements of their music? I'd love to hear something like this.... something that sounds like Cryptopsy but with long intricate moog synth solos ha... that would be mad. If no one else is doing that, i'm going to start.  ------------- I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity... |
Posted By: DavetheSlave
Date Posted: December 07 2008 at 11:52
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Hi, I think that you should try "Pain of Salvation" - maybe their "One hour by the Concrete Lake" album!! ------------- I'm a normal psychopath |
Posted By: Visitor13
Date Posted: December 07 2008 at 11:59
| Avalanchemaster's list is fairly comprehensive, but a band called Blast Muzungu is missing. Progressive grind, for want of a better word. |
Posted By: The Pessimist
Date Posted: December 07 2008 at 14:40
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Protest The Hero is probably the only one I can add to the suggestions so far. Albeit being mentioned above, they deserve a standout mention. Very technical, very heavy, very progressive, however they remind me more of post-hardcore punk such as Fall Of Troy moreso than death metal. Only better.
------------- "Market value is irrelevant to intrinsic value." Arnold Schoenberg |