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Blacksword 
Prog Reviewer
Joined: June 22 2004
Location: England
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 Topic: Giving prog metal a fair hearing..
Posted: February 28 2008 at 12:43 |
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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..
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Jared
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Posted: February 28 2008 at 12:54 |
^^and you had to start with Opeth, didn't you.... 
as a mate of yours, stretching back a few years on this site...would I lie to you? 
so, do yourself a favour and start with this one...GREAT vocalist:
..presently only £6.30 on Amazon.... 
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Music has always been a matter of energy to me. On some nights I believe that a car with the needle on empty can run 50 more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. Hunter S Thompson
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Jared
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Posted: February 28 2008 at 12:56 |
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.... 
Edited by fandango - February 28 2008 at 12:58
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Music has always been a matter of energy to me. On some nights I believe that a car with the needle on empty can run 50 more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. Hunter S Thompson
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Blacksword
Prog Reviewer
Joined: June 22 2004
Location: England
Status: Offline
Points: 16130
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Posted: February 28 2008 at 12:59 |
Thankyou, Jared. I will check that out. 
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.
I confess an old fashioned weakness to wanting my singers to sound human, and not something out of a Sam Raimee nightmare.. 
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Padraic
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Joined: February 16 2006
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Posted: February 28 2008 at 12:59 |
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I have a recommendation for you: "Hypothetical" by Threshold. Great vocals and great songs, plenty of great metal riffs and complexity but by no means a w**kfest.
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Blacksword
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Joined: June 22 2004
Location: England
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Points: 16130
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Posted: February 28 2008 at 13:01 |
 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.... |
More like the Honey Monster... 
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Jared
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Posted: February 28 2008 at 13:03 |
^^nice recommendation NS...
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Music has always been a matter of energy to me. On some nights I believe that a car with the needle on empty can run 50 more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. Hunter S Thompson
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Jared
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Joined: May 06 2005
Location: Hereford, UK
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Points: 20722
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Posted: February 28 2008 at 13:04 |
Blacksword wrote:
More like the Honey Monster... |
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Music has always been a matter of energy to me. On some nights I believe that a car with the needle on empty can run 50 more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. Hunter S Thompson
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debrewguy
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Posted: February 28 2008 at 13:05 |
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Maybe Indukti might provide a boost to your appreciation. Check out the many glowing reviews.
Devin Townsend's projects are a good place to start with, too. I stumbled onto ZIltoid & Terria. Both are great. ZIltoid, especially with an excellent shot of Canadian humour, eh ...
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"Here I am talking to some of the smartest people in the world and I didn't even notice,” Lieutenant Columbo, episode The Bye-Bye Sky-High I.Q. Murder Case.
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Blacksword
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Joined: June 22 2004
Location: England
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Posted: February 28 2008 at 13:06 |
Cheers, NS. I shall check out Threshold too.
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Jared
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Posted: February 28 2008 at 13:08 |
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^^I LOVE Threshold, but for me, there's more of the 'heavy neo' about them than pure prog metal (mainly Nick Midson's influence)..if you can cope with Arena with a few more crunching riffs...either way, they are very British...
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Music has always been a matter of energy to me. On some nights I believe that a car with the needle on empty can run 50 more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. Hunter S Thompson
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Padraic
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Posted: February 28 2008 at 13:12 |
fandango wrote:
^^I LOVE Threshold, but for me, there's more of the 'heavy neo' about them than pure prog metal (mainly Nick Midson's influence)..if you can cope with Arena with a few more crunching riffs...either way, they are very British... |
True enough, and that's what I was thinking...I wanted to point Andy towards this end of the PM spectrum vs. the "Meshuggah" part 
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rushfan4
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Posted: February 28 2008 at 13:12 |
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The band that I have been recommending to people asking for metal has been Thought Chamber. The singer is Ted Leonard from the Heavy Prog band Enchant. Their description here on PA is an "intelligent brand of metal".
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Blacksword
Prog Reviewer
Joined: June 22 2004
Location: England
Status: Offline
Points: 16130
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Posted: February 28 2008 at 13:15 |
fandango wrote:
^^I LOVE Threshold, but for me, there's more of the 'heavy neo' about them than pure prog metal (mainly Nick Midson's influence)..if you can cope with Arena with a few more crunching riffs...either way, they are very British... |
mmm, I've heard a few Arena albus, and they never really jumped out at me. The only one I ever purchased was 'Contagion' which I dismissed fairly quickly as being simple and a bit cheesy, but maybe I've always been a little dismissive of neo. I'll have to dig it out, blow the dust off it and give it another go.
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Jared
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Joined: May 06 2005
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Posted: February 28 2008 at 13:41 |
^^your best bet would be to go onto the bands respective Myspace pages Andy, and check 'em out for free..
personally, I really have a soft spot at the moment for some of the new wave of technical, symphonic metal bands from (mostly) Scandinavia such as Pagan's Mind, Beyond Twilight, Spheric Universe Experience, Anubis Gate, Darkwater, Pathosray, Seventh Wonder & of course Circus Maximus...check out a few and see what you think...quite a different style to Opeth...
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Music has always been a matter of energy to me. On some nights I believe that a car with the needle on empty can run 50 more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. Hunter S Thompson
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Raff
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Posted: February 28 2008 at 14:01 |
Micky will have a fit when he sees this thread tonight .... He LOVES Ghost Reveries! And so do I, actually... I have to admit I'd rather listen to 'cookie monster' vocals (especially if paired with excellent 'clean' ones like in Opeth) than to the likes of LaBrie  . 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.
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ProgBagel
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Joined: May 13 2007
Location: United States
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Points: 2819
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Posted: February 28 2008 at 14:19 |
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^ Riverside is an excellent recommendation.
Pain of Salvation is a band that really hits the mark with me. Nothing seems to forced in their music, they can seriously play their instruments but refrain themselves until the time is right. The lyrics are very passionate and conceptual (sans 'Scarsick'. I recommend 'Remedy Lane' and then moving to 'The Perfect Element' if you liked the former.
If singing is something that you hold in high interest I would recommend a 'less-metal' album by a prog-metal band, Sieges Even. 'The Art of Navigating by the Stars' is one of the best albums I have ever heard. There is metal presence, but not that much.
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rushfan4
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Posted: February 28 2008 at 14:27 |
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Another metal band that I feel has had some really great moments is Evergrey. Their albums In Search of Truth, Recreation Day, and The Inner Circle are all very good. I also like Monday Morning Apocalypse but it is criticized for being more metal by numbers and not prog.
Edited by rushfan4 - February 28 2008 at 14:28
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keiser willhelm
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Joined: September 14 2007
Location: United States
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Points: 1697
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Posted: February 28 2008 at 14:56 |
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i would stay clear of Devin Townsend if yo dont enjoy heavy vocals, especially on Ziltoid the Omniscient. Terria is incredible however and the screaming is used very very sparingly. second the Pain of Salvation recommendation and would like throw in Ayreon's - Human Equation. if you want to branch out into prog metal just check out the top 20 album's page, all of these recommendations will come form there for the most part
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Padraic
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Joined: February 16 2006
Location: Pennsylvania
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Posted: February 28 2008 at 15:04 |
Ghost Rider wrote:
Micky will have a fit when he sees this thread tonight.... He LOVES Ghost Reveries! And so do I, actually...
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It's one of my favorite albums of all time, but I can understand the vocals making this a non-starter for some folk.
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Giving prog metal a fair hearing..
