Giving prog metal a fair hearing..

MikeEnRegalia wrote: I can't say I'm too happy about all the bashing of the extreme vocal styles in this thread ... I sometimes have problems with them myself, but they're certainly not all out of place or ridiculous. There are also many distinctly different styles ... Mikael Akerfeldt's growling doesn't sound anything like Devin Townsend's screaming for example. @Blacksword: Please check out Heaven's Cry ... they recently made their two albums available for free on their website (http://www.heavenscry.com), you simply need to register.

Edited by The T - February 28 2008 at 23:54

look for In The Woods... - Omnio, trust me, it's a great album and most people can enjoy it...

Blacksword wrote: Apart from 4 Dream Theater albums, I know very little about prog metal. Today I bought 'Ghost Reveries' by Opeth from the bargain bin in my local HMV. I must confess I had some negative pre-concieved ideas about Prog metal and most of them are being proven right by this album. Some of the music sounds pretty good; dynamic and powerful, and presenting a varitey of moods and styles. They are clearly good musicians, but when that guy sings like a werewolf, to me, it turns into comedy, bordering on tedium. I dont think I'll ever get to grips with growling vocals; I'm probably too old for that, but can anyone reccomend any prog metal - apart from Dream Theater - where the singer sings 'properly' all the time? I will persevere with this album, btw, it's just that my first impressions are not that great..

Growled vocals are an acquired taste. You will only learn to accept them when you find music you like to accompany them. Opeth is usually good for that because the vocals are used relatively sparingly and are accompanied by comprehensible, melodic music. Go listen to uneXpect (try Desert Urbania on their MySpace) and you're unlikely to get any part of the vocals (avant-garde music isn't good for introducing styles).

If you want to try to acclimate yourself to growled vocals, try some of T's beloved Amorphis (melodic death metal; not prog) or maybe some goth metal where the death vocals are not featured prominently (i.e. not Epica). You might also look for "good" death vocals, which also excludes Epica . If you know someone who has it (or don't mind using eBay if you don't like it), you could try After Forever's eponymous album. Discord basically only features the death vocals as background (they're mixed very, very quietly as far as death vocals go). To be honest, it was After Forever's 2001 album Invisible Circles that got me past growls. You might also try some vocals that are only partially growled or screamed, which can be seen very sparingly in Riverside and Indukti (See Loose Heart from Riverside's debut album Out Of Myself).

As for suggestions, we really need some background into what you like. I can always throw the usual recommendations at you (Riverside, Pain of Salvation, Shadow Gallery), or DT "clones" (Dreamscape, Vanden Plas), but it would be better to have a good idea of your taste, since we could all be barking up the wrong tree.

Ghost Rider wrote: Anyway, even if they're not strictly speaking 'metal', I think you would enjoy Riverside. The vocalist is really one of the best I've heard lately.

Indeed. I recommend you also OSADA VIDA (http://www.myspace.com/osadavida). And if you'd like to try some instrumental prog metal then try this ones:

JT BRUCE : http://www.jamendo.com/en/artist/jtbruce
Luminous Flesh Giants : http://www.jamendo.com/en/artist/lfg

(these albums are legally for free)


Edited by Tuzvihar - March 01 2008 at 10:24

Are you familiar with Tiles?  They are a heavy prog band who I feel appeal to fans of Rush.  Their albums are produced by Terry Brown, Hugh Syme has made some appearances on keyboards, and Alex Lifeson has a cameo on their most recent album Fly Paper (2008).  I really enjoy all of their albums but the consensus seems to be that Presents of Mind is their best.

DJPuffyLemon wrote: Blacksword wrote: I dont think I'll ever get to grips with growling vocals; I'm probably too old for that, but can anyone reccomend any prog metal - apart from Dream Theater - where the singer sings 'properly' all the time?   Blacksword wrote: So far I have deduced that Opeth have the potential to make better - well, more original - music than Dream Theater, but have decided to deliberately offset their talent with comedy vocals.    fandango wrote: btw, if you're interested, I gave Ghost Reveries about 4 listens and shoved it on ebay.... as I said in another thread, personally I can't stand growling either...its completely unnecessary...   if I wanted to hear cookie monster vocals, I'd go out and buy myself a Sesame Street DVD.... Properly? Offset talent? Unnecessary?   You guys suck. And I don't mean it as much in a disparaging way as I do in a dissapointed way. The growls are part of metal. Its not a necessary part but its a part! Would growling sound good if coupled with Yes' sound? Or would Jon Anderson be able to hold his own singing for Opeth? Not at all. Of course its a matter of preference and I'm not telling you to like it. But I AM telling you to respect it as an art form. Anderson gets a lot of praise for this high register notes. So give metal singers their praise. ESPECIALLY with Opeth, where the clean vocals and the growling are both top notch.   I will admit that there is bad really really bad growling. But opeth's vocalist is very good.

I respect all good musicians, prog or otherwise, and the prog metal bands I've heard so far are comprised of excellent musicians; but 'growling' as an 'art form' is pushing it..

Dont take it so seriously.

oh no....

Someone teaching 'growling'? Well, they do say education is being dumbed down.

I would contest that growling is a musical device, or an instrument. It's merely a vocal style designed to convey a sense of horror and dread, but these are not really moods I seek in music these days, certainly not in a metal context. The kind of darkness that a singer like Peter Hammill can evoke, is far more my thing. The vocal style expresses a wider spectrum of emotions; anxiety, fear, insecurity etc..