Metal albums with incorrect genre labels on PA
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Category: Progressive Music Lounges
Forum Name: Prog Music Lounge
Forum Description: General progressive music discussions
URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=130291
Printed Date: July 27 2025 at 00:07
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Topic: Metal albums with incorrect genre labels on PA
Posted By: cold103
Subject: Metal albums with incorrect genre labels on PA
Date Posted: January 02 2023 at 00:35
Hi.  Could you guys list for me the metal albums that have been mislabeled with an incorrect genre on Prog Archives? When I listen to King Crimson's album "Red", it sounds like metal to me. But the album is in the "eclectic prog" category on PA. Same goes for their album "The Power To Believe". Also, Opeth's album "Damnation" as well as some of their other albums are incorrectly in the "Tech/Extreme Prog Metal" category. Those particular albums, while still being heavy, don't even have any growled vocals. Personally, I'm not into growled vocals, and I try to find great metal that doesn't have much growled vocals. I'm just trying to discover some great heavy albums that are excluded from the all time best progressive metal albums chart. Thanks in advance for your help!
Edit: IQ's albums "Dark Matter" and "The Seventh House" have a pretty heavy sound despite being labeled "Neo-Prog". |
Replies:
Posted By: Necrotica
Date Posted: January 02 2023 at 00:55
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I see what you're getting at; however, once a band is labeled in a certain genre category, all of their albums fall under the same umbrella for the site. So even though Damnation by Opeth is more of a soft rock/prog album, it's still in the same tech/extreme category because EVERY Opeth album is under that umbrella. It's a bit of an odd rule, however, and I'm glad that our sister site Metal Music Archives went with a different format; that is, categorizing each album differently genre-wise ------------- Take me down, to the underground Won't you take me down, to the underground Why oh why, there is no light And if I can't sleep, can you hold my life https://www.youtube.com/@CocoonMasterBrendan-wh3sd |
Posted By: Saperlipopette!
Date Posted: January 02 2023 at 01:22
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cold103 wrote:Posted By: cold103
Date Posted: January 02 2023 at 01:35
 I'll check out the chart you mentioned
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Posted By: cold103
Date Posted: January 02 2023 at 03:00
| "Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Part Two" is a good, heavy song. |
Posted By: rushfan4
Date Posted: January 02 2023 at 09:23
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IMO, 21st Century Schizoid Man may be the first prog metal song. ------------- 
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Posted By: Grumpyprogfan
Date Posted: January 02 2023 at 11:09
| If you like Red era KC, check out Anekdoten and ni. |
Posted By: Icarium
Date Posted: January 02 2023 at 12:53
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There is angry firse guitar in In Heldd Twas n I by Procol Harum also not bonefied heavy the entire way through, but section inwise its boilingly hot and heavy. -------------  
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Posted By: David_D
Date Posted: January 02 2023 at 13:16
Bi Kyo Ran's Bi Kyo Ran (very KC influenced) certainly Anekdoten's Vemod and Nucleus Mars Volta's DeLoused and Frances the Mute Taal's Skymind (very much like Prog Metal) Il Balletto Di Bronzo's Ys
------------- quality over quantity, and all kind of PopcoRn almost beyond |
Posted By: David_D
Date Posted: January 02 2023 at 15:46
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Steel Mill - Green Eyed God Procession - Frontiera Amon Düül II - Yeti Then you can have a look at the Heavy Prog chart. ------------- quality over quantity, and all kind of PopcoRn almost beyond |
Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: January 02 2023 at 16:07
Only if WarChild may be the first prog metal album. ------------- "Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." -- John F. Kennedy |
Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: January 02 2023 at 16:13
You may be confusing 'Heavy' with 'Metal', two completely different sounds though both guitar-based and both derived from Blues. Red is heavy, but bears no resemblance to Metal, did not influence metal, and is rarely detected in modern metal/prog metal. I'll get flack for that but it's mostly true. People hear the guitar levels on that album and assume it relates to Heavy Metal as a subgenre... nor Power to Believe, though an incredible record, has nothing to do with heavy metal. Further, IQ is about as far from progmetal as Michael Bublé . ------------- "Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." -- John F. Kennedy |
Posted By: Grumpyprogfan
Date Posted: January 02 2023 at 16:58
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Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: January 02 2023 at 17:19
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^ Progmetal? That's grumpy. ------------- "Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." -- John F. Kennedy |
Posted By: siLLy puPPy
Date Posted: January 02 2023 at 18:50
I agree that RED isn't metal but i disagree that it hasn't influenced metal. Many of the more dissonant bands in the extreme metal category were heavily influenced by RED. Metal isn't just the blues based heavy metal of the 80s any more :) -------------  https://rateyourmusic.com/~siLLy_puPPy |
Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: January 02 2023 at 19:07
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^ Yes, but I would argue a band like NeBeLNeST who are not metal [and not because PA or anyone else says so] but who do show evidence of a Red-period KC influence are more representative of that album's impact than the metal bands that come to mind, from trad Trash [Exodus] to trad PM [Voivod] to modern PM [Opeth] to Extremists [Jarzombek] . ------------- "Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." -- John F. Kennedy |
Posted By: siLLy puPPy
Date Posted: January 02 2023 at 19:24
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^ i would say bands like Anekdoten are direct descendants of RED but many of the dissonant black and death metal bands were clearly inspired by RED. Think Gorguts, Deathspell Omega etc. RED allowed a free form avant-garde ethos to be adopted in heavy music. Pretty much all metal sites consider RED to be proto-metal, proto prog metal even! ------------- https://rateyourmusic.com/~siLLy_puPPy |
Posted By: cstack3
Date Posted: January 03 2023 at 00:06
I saw NeBeLNeST in a club in Chicago in 1999, they were amazing!! Whatever became of them? They certainly had a King Crimson vibe! ------------- I am not a Robot, I'm a FREE MAN!! |
Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: January 03 2023 at 01:56
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^ One of my favorites from the 00's - ------------- "Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." -- John F. Kennedy |
Posted By: David_D
Date Posted: January 03 2023 at 03:48
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And the man has just asked for suggestions of "heavy albums" which are not classified as Prog Metal?  ------------- quality over quantity, and all kind of PopcoRn almost beyond |
Posted By: Hercules
Date Posted: January 03 2023 at 03:52
Does it really matter? It's music. Enjoy it for what it is. ------------- A TVR is not a car. It's a way of life. |
Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: January 03 2023 at 03:55
 NoVa eXPReSS ------------- "Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." -- John F. Kennedy |
Posted By: David_D
Date Posted: January 03 2023 at 06:32
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Not that I don't see the good point of discussing Metal definition here. ------------- quality over quantity, and all kind of PopcoRn almost beyond |
Posted By: wiz_d_kidd
Date Posted: January 03 2023 at 07:13
 ------------- "Instrumental music is an expression that words can never capture." -- Peter Baumann |
Posted By: siLLy puPPy
Date Posted: January 03 2023 at 07:47
Hallelujah! ------------- https://rateyourmusic.com/~siLLy_puPPy |
Posted By: David_D
Date Posted: January 03 2023 at 11:34
It does indeed matter when asking for recommendations of "heavy albums" which are not Prog Metal.  ------------- quality over quantity, and all kind of PopcoRn almost beyond |
Posted By: cold103
Date Posted: January 03 2023 at 15:08
 In other words, I'm looking for great heavy albums that are not on the all time best progressive metal albums chart. I love Pain of Salvation, Ayreon, Riverside, and Symphony X, which are on the chart. Even Tool is not on the chart for some reason, but I love them. The following are also not on the chart but I also love them: Rush, Porcupine Tree, and Pink Floyd.Edit: A Perfect Circle are not on Prog Archives, but I love them. |
Posted By: Grumpyprogfan
Date Posted: January 03 2023 at 16:04
| ^Mentioned a few bands before, so have you listened to ni, Anekdoten or Body Hound? And what are your thoughts about them being similar to "Red"? |
Posted By: cold103
Date Posted: January 04 2023 at 00:50
Thanks for the recommendations! I just listened to Anekdoten's album "Until All the Ghosts Are Gone" since it's their highest rated album. I thought it was decent. Maybe it will grow on me the more I listen to it. The song "Shooting Star" reminded me a lot of Opeth's song "The Devil's Orchard". While listening to the album, one of my thoughts was "This singer is not as outstanding as Maynard James Keenan, Daniel Gildenlow, or James Labrie" About it being similar to "Red"- Hmm. I'm not sure how to answer that, haha. Hopefully that doesn't make me sound too dumb. I just checked Ni's and Body Hound's pages on PA. It appears that very few people have rated their albums. 
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Posted By: Saperlipopette!
Date Posted: January 04 2023 at 01:23
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^I would never choose the latest album for a first listen from a band who's been going for decades (Motorpsycho who seemingly just keeps betting better at what they do, being an exception). While Until All the Ghosts Are Gone
sound like they always done - I'd say their earlier albums feature more
memorable, stronger tunes. This one probably satisfies if you're
already a fan longing more, but not so much for the newbie. Outside of
PA, their first trio of albums are considered their best. Nucleus being
their heaviest. That said, I've never been their biggest fan + I'm not
really much of a prog metal fan. |
Posted By: cold103
Date Posted: January 04 2023 at 12:39
"Nucleus" is an awesome album! I just listened to it! I like it a lot more than the other album of theirs that I listened to! Thanks for the recommendation!  @Grumpyprogfan: To your question, I hear more similarity to "Red" with this album
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Posted By: Grumpyprogfan
Date Posted: January 04 2023 at 13:09
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Here is some ni. |
Posted By: cold103
Date Posted: January 04 2023 at 16:31
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It's cool My main complaint about it is the screamed vocals. This is pretty much my only complaint about Opeth as well, the growled vocals. I'm not into extreme vocals, but bands that sprinkle tiny bits of it, I try to tolerate, like Riverside for example, the singer screams in tiny bits. I love Riverside's 1st and 2nd albums. |
Posted By: Logan
Date Posted: January 04 2023 at 17:08
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Not claiming Message should be elsewhere, but From book and Dreams is what I would deem a kind of Heavy Prog album of a sort of classic riff-based heavy metal idiom. My two favourite tracks from the album in one video. High Tide is another... various Coven... I really dig a lot of kind of classic heavy metal sounds (which I've been told is not truly metal and should be called hard rock). I alos love the heavy wicked riffage on Gentle Giant's The House, the Street, The Room, and VdGG's Darkness, which I have compared to Red. I'm much more into classic riff based hard rock kinds of classic heavy metal than modern metal generally. ------------- Watching while most appreciating a sunset in the moment need not diminish all the glorious sunsets I have observed before. It can be much like that with music for me. |
Posted By: cold103
Date Posted: January 05 2023 at 16:30
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Thanks for the recommendations so far, guys! I haven't mentioned the following yet, but I probably should so that you guys have a better understanding of what I like. I like heavy music, but at the same time, I don't like it to be too fast paced, nor chaotic, nor too aggressive. I love Tool's album "Fear Inoculum". It has a rating of 3.70 on PA, but I give that album a 5. People probably don't like that it's not as aggressive as the music the band made in the 90's. But I like the album more than the music they made in the 90's. The only song on Riverside's album "Anno Domini High Definition" that I like is "Left Out". The rest of the songs on that album go too hard for me. Other Riverside songs I love from other albums are "The Curtain Falls", "Conceiving You", and "I turned you down". I love Tool's song "Disposition/Reflection" from their album "Lateralus". It's probably the softest song on the album. I don't listen to much Opeth because of the harsh vocals, but I do love their album "Damnation". If only they kept the harsh vocals out of their music, I would listen to Opeth more. I love Rush. Obviously they're not an aggressive band. They're kinda the opposite. Rush is, like, the most wholesome hard rock / metal band that I listen to. And I like that. All of the heavy progressive bands that came after Rush seem to be darker. Pink Floyd is great. They have a heavy sound while at the same time having a slow tempo. They sound heavy and soft at the same time if that makes sense, and I like that. Check those songs/albums out if you guys aren't familiar with them. |
Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: January 05 2023 at 16:53
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Your taste is very specific. Good luck with that. ------------- "Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." -- John F. Kennedy |
Posted By: siLLy puPPy
Date Posted: January 05 2023 at 17:26
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Uh, isn't that what search engines are for? Type in "bands like Tool" and results gush in. If you're that limited in taste i pity you. You are missing the spectrum of emotions from a wide swath of musical experience. Good luck ------------- https://rateyourmusic.com/~siLLy_puPPy |
Posted By: cold103
Date Posted: January 06 2023 at 03:25
 I'm hoping those remarks weren't meant to be insults. I love the following albums: -"The Human Equation" by Ayreon -"The Perfect Element, pt. 1" by Pain of Salvation -"Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence" by Dream Theater -"Out of Myself" by Riverside -"V - The New Mythology Suite" by Symphony X -"In Absentia" by Porcupine Tree -"Dark Matter" by IQ -"Mirage" by Camel -"Lateralus" by Tool -"The Dark Side of the Moon" by Pink Floyd -"Moving Pictures" by Rush Even Arjen Lucassen (from Ayreon) himself has said that he prefers slower tempo songs over fast tempo songs. I've tried The Mars Volta, but they're too chaotic / fast for me. Obviously great musicians though. You can't blame someone (especially if they're older) whom just wants to relax and de-stress for not wanting fast-paced or chaotic music or growled vocals. Look to the left and you'll see that I joined the forum in 2005, which is earlier than all the rest of you guys, so have a little respect.
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Posted By: Lewian
Date Posted: January 06 2023 at 03:31
Is this negativity really necessary? The user didn't say they don't listen to anything else. Also people focus on the "accusation" of calling genre labels "incorrect" (OK the user brought that on themselves) whereas the user probably just wants recommendations of some stuff that cannot be found where they looked for it initially.
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Posted By: Grumpyprogfan
Date Posted: January 06 2023 at 05:12
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The PA folks are just trying to help you find music similar to "Red" as you requested in your OP. It's difficult to help if you don't provide feedback on suggestions offered. Some of the albums you mentioned are fast paced and chaotic - DT, PoS, Symphony X, and Rush. "Red" is very chaotic in spots. Check out All Traps On Earth, Freak Kitchen, Haken, Anti-Depressive Delivery, or Them Moose Rush. BTW the latest Mars Volta release is far from chaotic. Good luck. |
Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: January 07 2023 at 20:46
Not at all, just a little exasperation. No worries, it's a long journey. ------------- "Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." -- John F. Kennedy |
Posted By: mathman0806
Date Posted: January 07 2023 at 23:05
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For some heavy instrumental prog, I recommend OVRFWRD. EDIT:This makes me think that a category of interest is heavy prog. Rush, Porcupine Tree, Anekdoten, and OVRFWRD are all in that subgenre. |
Posted By: Progishness
Date Posted: January 23 2023 at 15:38
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Seeing as many artists in the broad genre that is prog explore many different themes and musical avenues over their careers, I do like the way the JMA assigns sub-genres on an album by album basis, whereas on PA once a sub genre has been assigned, an artist is 'stuck' with the classification. ------------- "We're going to need a bigger swear jar." Chloë Grace Moretz as Mindy McCready aka 'Hit Girl' in Kick-Ass 2 |
Posted By: Saperlipopette!
Date Posted: January 24 2023 at 03:52
-also Mars Volta gradually became less chaotic
after their two first (and most highly regarded) albums. Not a fan-favorite, but maybe you could
enjoy their less weird and kind of genuinely beautiful 2009-release Octahedron? I not a big a fan of the band myself, but I can listen to this from start to finish without my ears starting to bleed. -btw,
I'm not the biggest fan of those late Opeth-albums either. I enjoy a
good old growl, but I can understand where you're coming from.
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Posted By: Greenmist
Date Posted: January 24 2023 at 14:14
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This topic could just go on and on and on and on in an endless debate because afterall, putting bands into genres is always a subjective thing, genralising bands in any music field is subjective. For example i have noticed that Lumsk are in progressive folk, even though they are a metal band, unlike what Jethro Tull, Pentangle and Clannad are. I also think its strange how Celtic Frost do not have a page on here, considering Sigh, Kekal and Borknager do, who are all Avant-Garde metal. Metal does not have to have growley or gutteral vocals to be metal. Traditionally progressive metal vocals are clean, because their roots are from progressive rock.
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