For those interested, my go to categories are usually Post Rock, Heavy Prog, Prog Folk, Experimental/Post Metal and Prog Electronic, But I also like weird sh*t. I recently stumbled across Heliung and Euzen and have been mesmerized for at least two months. When I find an act I like I usually dive in hard, listening to albums on repeat for days. It gets weird. Some of my favorite groups are Anathema, Anekdoten, Cloudkicker, Lunatic Soul/Riverside, Indukti, Marraiges, Pure Reason Revolution, Thy Catafalque and Ulver. Tool used to be at the top, but it's hard to be at the top when you take 15 years per album.  Any recommendations are appreciated. Salut!

Don't invest in the plantain market.

But seriously it sounds like you lean toward heavy, what about NeBeLNeST's NoVa eXPReSS  ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVmjsQSzICQ" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVmjsQSzICQ

@Dellinger Alcest and Porcupine Tree I'm intimately familiar with. None of the others though. Awesome recommendations. Thanks guys.

I have to be honest ... I hate giving suggestions! 

We're all so different that just about anything that we suggest is like ... an imposition on who we are and what we should be ... something like that ... and I'm simply not into that, which is the reason why a lot of times I simply say ... I like this, and this is WHY, instead of simply sticking to the I like this song or that song ... which to me is really poor listening for the most part.

I think, I THINK, that by continuing to discuss/mention "PROGRESSIVE" music as just another song out there in the middle of a million songs, that in the end, we are closing down the story of "progressive" music, because folks will find ... it's too long .... solo is too weird .... too much meandering on this or that ... the lyrics are too weird .... the lyrics are invasive ... a myriad of reasons.

This is the main reason, why I do not "participate" in what I call top ten ideas and discussions a whole lot ... we're diminishing the very quality that got you and I into the great music that we love ... and we continue to do so, because we do not know/understand why? STILL?

Suggestions are for those who are lost ... and my name is Kasper Hauser ... no answer that I can give you, will EVER be enough for you!

We "found" this music, because we were looking for it ... and many times, and many of us, did not have a single person to tell us anything ... a cover got us into it ... and too many of these folks (for my tastes) are asking for suggestions on something that is so objective and subjective as to be impossible ... so I don't do it.

If he/she, can not find something right/good/bad/weird about BANDXYZ, then he/she is not listening to it, or just checking out 15 seconds here and 10 seconds there ... conversation is over ... you and I listened to the whole of CTTE and TARKUS and we were not only impressed, we loved it ... 

You might discover a couple of new tunes/bands from a long running thread myself and a couple of others have been posting to over the last few years. Mostly modern 'middle of the road' prog with an emphasis on European bands.

http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=96312" rel="nofollow - http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=96312

My go-to album of theirs is Si on avait besoin d'une cinqième saison, which happens to be #29 on PA's list of top prog albums. But I see their next album, L'heptade, as their magnum opus - seven 10-minute long prog songs, each with their own flavour and mood.

Personally, I do not find the post a downer, but I will accept the constructive criticism.

My main point in the whole thing was to show the new listener, HOW we found things, 45 years ago, and no one told us anything, and no one suggested anything ... and somehow ... after all this time, we still love and remember those things, and we even have a "big 5", as Mike P says in one quote. That "big 5" created something that was --FOR ME -- the classical music of my generation.

Now, I would hope/think, that the ability to listen to music, is as OPEN to the listener as it was for us way back when ... for the IMPACT that it makes is something that we remember for the rest of our lives. FOR ME, taking a suggestion, took away that surprise, and (sometimes) the complete appreciation.

Example: Two thirds of what I talked about in bands, came around like this. Albums by the cover and the title. About half of them. Next came the Harvest Label. Everything in it. Specially loved the European stuff they did, and of course, Kevin Ayers and Roy Harper, and through them, the one kid named Mike Oldfield.

The odd thread, was ELP, but I was into classical music then, too, so it was a natural, specially when they did Mussorgsky. Tomita was also right there. (couldn't stand W. Carlos!) ... and the rest? All by musician association, sometimes, producer.

YES, was an exception. I heard the beginning of "Ive Seen All Good People" in a late night radio, and immediately went after that album. I already had things like Jethro Tull, Fairport Convention and PF by then, Kinks, and a lot of the early FM radio stuff.

There wasn't, other than Guy Guden and Space Pirate Radio, a lot of recommendations, and that is probably why I am so independent. I like/love the surprise ... and it's just scary/weird that folks ask for these, and I can't help thinking they are not sure about the surprises and everything else in the music. They almost always asked something like, or similar ... again, the idea and thought of it, FOR ME, is not PROGRESSIVE at all ... and I keep thinking that we really owe it to the music to help them see that ... but in a pop music forum, I'm the only one that has the courage to say that?

You just don't know how much I miss RASPUTIN's in Berkeley, or have any idea if they still exist! I found more imports there on the left over bins than anywhere else ... and only visited them twice ... and came back ... BROKE!

If you haven't tried Ayreon, then you really should.  If you like (slightly) cheesy folky prog space-metal operas!

Start with The Human Equation, things don't get much better (IMHO)

Thank you for the recommendation.

Ayreon and most of the related projects (including Arjen Lucassen's solo albums) are the ones I have followed for a long time. I think I have all of the Ayeron's albums and it would be extremely difficult to pick a favorite one, as each one is exceptional in its own way. Even if the style is pretty much the same I never get tired of listening to them, although, with so much of good new music it does not happen too often.

One thing I have not followed with Ayreon are the new deluxe remasters (Into the Electric Castle?). Are they worth consideration/purchase?

The Gentle Storm - The Diary - 2015 is worth listening.

I would like to recommend a few things. If you don't know them already.

Post Rock: Sigur ros.

Prog Electronic: I grew up with Vangelis. Still my favourite.

You might also like White Willow, Solaris (Nostradamus album), IQ. It seems you are more into elegic stuff.

There have been some excellent releases this year. I particularly like Steve Hackett's latest At The Edge Of Light and also Dave Kerzner's latest project In Continuum - Acceleration Theory.

In terms of recent stuff I enjoy much of Big Big Train and Haken's output but there are so many interesting bands and albums I could list. This site is  fantastic mine of information so just browse!

it's amazing how prolific Steve Hackett is