Great artists similar to Seventh Wonder?

[GeriatricGuitarGeek]

I sure know the "I WANT MORE!" feeling - one just can't get enough of SW!

This may be stretching the "similar to Seventh Wonder" part a bit, but here it goes:

As you like Symphony X, I assume you are not averse to trying out somewhat heavier and "darker" music than that of SW. Have you tried Outworld's self-titled album? (The track "Grey Tide" is a personal favourite.)

You may also want to check out Beyond Twilight, in particular the album "Section X". (The tracks "Shadow Self" and "Ecstasy Arise" could be a good place to start.)

On the "softer", more melodic side: What about good ol' Royal Hunt? The two albums currently available on Spotify aren't necessarily among their best, but their back catalogue contains some real gems. Personally, I like their John West period best (what a singer!), but many fans seem to prefer their earlier albums with (the recently re-recruited) D.C. Cooper. Suggested albums: "Paradox" (D.C. Cooper) and "The Mission" (John West).

In addition, I'd like to second the recommendation of two of the bands mentioned in the other thread you discovered: Adagio (their first two albums in particular - "Sanctus Ignis" and "Underworld") and Dreamscape (the "5th Season" album is first class).

 

[Soliloquy]

Not quite like Seventh Wonder, but I discovered these while looking for new stuff on Spotify:
If you like that one and don't mind what sounds like autotune in the first chorus and the clicky-sound he makes with the guitar (sounds like he misses notes on Guitar Hero ) go find Lord of Mushrooms on Spotify if you have it, and listen to Envy and the rest of the songs off of Seven Deadly Songs. The first album isn't that great (poor sound quality) but I found this one to be rather fresh and exciting.


Found another band, very melodic but not THAT metal'y, more AOR but heavier - Work of Art. Check this one out from their 2011-release, In Progress: [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTG_J5mXQAM&feature=related[/ame] - maybe a bit cheesy, but I like it a lot. And yea, they're from Sweden.


Last but not least, the new(er) project or band or whatever, with the last singer of Sieges Even plus their former guitarist Markus Steffen, called Subsignal. Real moody stuff, especially the song called "The Sea" from Beautiful & Monstrous. Sadly no studio-version on youtube, and the live versions aren't representative at all - but check it out on Spotify.

 

[KrisHQ]

I love threads like this. Just relaxing, listening to a lot of new music!
But yes, im having trouble finding bands that i really like. The slightest thing can throw me off, whether it be the guitar/keyboard or the singers tone.
I really like the singer from Enbound, i will definitely check some of their stuff out, hoping they will catch on to me!

 

[Edd037]

Illusion Suite a scandinavian prog metal band who are quite similar to Seventh Wonder.



To a lesser extent Darkwater are also similar. (I find them a bit hit and miss - Tallest Tree is a fantastic song but many of their others dont do it for me)



I can highly recomend Lost in Thought who are like a combination of Seventh Wonder and Dream Theater.



I recently bought Enbound's album and was quite dissapointed by it. Combined the Souls is really the only good song on the album.

 

[Kilroy Murdoch]

Found another band, very melodic but not THAT metal'y, more AOR but heavier - Work of Art. Check this one out from their 2011-release, In Progress: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTG_J5mXQAM&feature=related - maybe a bit cheesy, but I like it a lot. And yea, they're from Sweden.

Just to note...the lead singer from "Work of Art" is the same vocalist from Enbound - Lars Safsund. I really do think that if some of the projects with him on evolve in terms of songwriting (actually WoA are top notch AOR but we are all progpower people!) I think they could join SW in the ranks of my top bands.

 

[JenniferLynn]

I was thinking yesterday - no really I was!!! - and I can't believe I didn't mention Vanden Plas... Anything by them is amazing... And Jorn's 2 cds - Out to Every Nation and the Duke kick ass too...

 

[Minoin]

What do you think of Mind's Eye - A Gentlemans Hurricane? This album is one that i really love. I have listened to Mind's Eye over 400 times in a little over a month now, and almost exclusively to this album. For me this was almost like discovering Seventh Wonder all over again. What is so sad is that there will probably not be any more albums it seems :-(

This! Mind's Eye - A Gentlemans Hurricane is one of my alltime favorites, just fucking incredible musicianship!
And you all should check out Tomorrow's Eve if you like SW and the Mercy Falls album, you will not be disappointed

 

[Frankgate]

No one mentioned Shadow Gallery?

Shadow Gallery is my favourite band of all times (look the avatar). I don't think they're so close to SW, anyway any prog lover should consider them.

 

[Xandra]

How could I have forgotten Subsignal? They are not really like SW of course - they are Prog Rock mixed with AOR, but they easily made it into my current Top 5 bands at the moment. Both of their albums are masterpieces of pure beauty.

 

[JesterIF]

^
Both Subsignal albums and the two last Sieges Even (they're pretty much the same band) are some of the best prog albums ever made. Definitely worth checking out.

I also highly recommend Bilateral by Leprous.

 

[floftheim]

So much great music recommended here. I'm not gonna comment on every recommendation, but i do check out every single band suggested. Thanks everyone! Keep it coming.

 

[Minoin]

^
Both Subsignal albums and the two last Sieges Even (they're pretty much the same band) are some of the best prog albums ever made. Definitely worth checking out.

I also highly recommend Bilateral by Leprous.

You and Xandra are very right about that. I was devastated to hear that Sieges Even was breaking up, I had listened to Paramount and The Art of Navigating By The Stars. Until I heard about Subsignal and bought their new albums; phenomenal. It's crazy how unknown this band seems to be.

Ow, ans yes, Shadow Gallery sure is something special, just check out Cliffhanger part 2.

But coming back to Seventh Wonder; I don't think there is any band alike and that's one of the strongpoints of them. Still, Tomorrow's Eve...

 

[fizodan]

I'm going to second Sieges Even. The Paramount album is great......... Have you heard anything by Neal Morse? It's very "Christian" and some don't like that, but the musicianship is AMAZING!!!! He has Mike Portnoy on drums. He fronted Spock's Beard years ago. And together they do Transatlantic which is a "not as heavy" prog, but great prog none the less.... I met Andreas at the last Neal Morse show in Los Angeles.

Some of my favorite by Neal Morse......... Some more "proggy" than others.

 

[dtguitarfan]

I read through most of page 1 and skimmed after and agree with all the suggestions. Haven't seen this mentioned yet so: Haken? They're lighter and not as...um...for lack of a better way to put it: show-offish? But I think you might like them. Also you might like A.C.T (Last Epic is their best album).

 

[floftheim]

I have just started to try out Haken. They were reccomended in a post on Dream Theaters forum that was linked to here a while ago (The "Heirs"-tread). To be honest i don't remember what I thught about Haken when listening them. I have tried out too many bands lately, so I cant remember which is which. I will check them out again.

 

[dtguitarfan]

Do you live in the states? If so, you should check out the ProgPowerUSA festival. If you live in Europe, there's a european version that seems to get even more bands I like. When I discovered prog metal, all I knew at first was Dream Theater and Symphony X. I started finding others slowly, but when I went to ProgPower the first time I discovered there was a LOT of stuff I liked out there.

 

[floftheim]

I live in Norway. Although I would like so myself, I probably won't be going to any ProgPower festival. With 3 kids, a wife, a busy job and a cat I am having trouble making this happen.
But I am really hoping to catch a Circus Maximus consert here in Norway this year, after their new album is released. If I am lucky the Seventh Wonder comes back to Norway also? I thought it was a bit expensive traveling to Bodø for their latest concert. Although in the same country as I live in it is quite a travel.

 

[floftheim]

By the way "Less showoff-ish" is a good thing. The showing off was what made me stay away from prog-metal until last year. By the way, I am not considering Seventh Wonder to be showing off, althougt they definately have the abilities

 

[Xandra]

Ohh, I love Haken! Saw them live at the Night Of The Prog Festival last year and was very, very impressed. Such young guys and so highly talented! And they seem to be super nice guys! My husband is going to see them again in Rüsselsheim and Pratteln on April 14th and 15th. Sadly I can't join him, because I decided to go see Seventh Wonder instead. Priorities, you know? Haha!

 

[floftheim]

I see that I have only played Haken 17 times. I will try them out again right now!
What I have listened most to from the reccomendations here, that I hadn't listened to before, are Leprous and Subsignal.
But mostly I still listen to Circus Maximus and Seventh Wonder. It's an addiction

My Last.fm profile:
http://www.last.fm/user/floftheim