How does the oddball selection work?

[BenMech]

^this

As the fest turns more toward doom/death/black, the traditional prog/power bands are in the minority. I don't think tastes are broadening so much as a different audience is being sought.

The truth is, to borrow a cliche, Six of One, Half-Dozen of the other.

The fest won't be death/doom/black. There ARE other outlets in the US for that.

(New England fest, Maryland Fest, any remaining Jack Koshick disasters, etc)

Glenn works with what is available to him each year. Arcturus was an oddball this year because they were otherwise defunct. A few years back, Conception was the same.

 

[skyrefuge]

Or you could look up the word traditional. Because it's quite apparent you don't have a clue to that definition. Either/or.

Alright, I recognize that people have different levels of orthodoxy when it comes to their prog/power bands, but you must be the new record-holder for the narrowness of your definition. And there's nothing wrong with that, though it hinders communication when your idea of what "traditional prog/power band" means differs greatly from the majority opinion.

So, you believe that 9 or more of the 16 bands are not traditional prog/power bands. Just out of curiosity, which are those nine?

Neil

 

[Sumeet]

^this

As the fest turns more toward doom/death/black, the traditional prog/power bands are in the minority. I don't think tastes are broadening so much as a different audience is being sought.

There are certainly some old-school fans from a decade ago who have fallen away due to family or changing interests or other things, and newer, younger fans are hopefully part of the audience now. But I think broadening tastes are also a significant element. For example, it was not at all unusual 10 - 12 years ago for a prog / power fan to make a blanket statement that they simply did not like any harsh vocals. From what I can see, that seems to be a much less typical opinion these days... not just among newer fans, but even among people who felt that way 10 - 12 years ago.

 

[AngraRULES]

^this

As the fest turns more toward doom/death/black, the traditional prog/power bands are in the minority. I don't think tastes are broadening so much as a different audience is being sought.

Are you serious?

Creation's End
DarkWater
Eldritch
Labyrinth
Mob Rules
Vanden Plas
Red Circuit
Dream Evil
Evergrey

... could all be considered traditional prog/power metal or a mix of both.

How long have you been coming to ProgPower if you don't mind me asking?

 

[nomisofsiman]

Are you serious?

Creation's End
DarkWater
Eldritch
Labyrinth
Mob Rules
Vanden Plas
Red Circuit
Dream Evil
Evergrey

... could all be considered traditional prog/power metal or a mix of both.

How long have you been coming to ProgPower if you don't mind me asking?

I do find it quite amusing Neil asked him that question and then completely avoided answering it. Have there been some alterations and more open-mindedness in the lineups? Yes. However, the lineup is still predominantly prog and power related. Hell, Therion has been here before and while they can be one of those love/hate bands, I think they fit perfectly with the fest. I would also add Haken to the list. The only difference with them is they aren't quite as heavy as most. Same can be said with Voyager. It seems people are making a big stink over a couple of bands.

 

[ICEDEARTHFAN]

I do find it quite amusing Neil asked him that question and then completely avoided answering it. Have there been some alterations and more open-mindedness in the lineups? Yes. However, the lineup is still predominantly prog and power related. Hell, Therion has been here before and while they can be one of those love/hate bands, I think they fit perfectly with the fest. I would also add Haken to the list. The only difference with them is they aren't quite as heavy as most. Same can be said with Voyager. It seems people are making a big stink over a couple of bands.

Simon,do you think we could get lucky enough to get Amon Amarth one day as maybe the oddball?
Last year Blackguard and Tyr were there,but to me Amon is my fave out of the bands that do the viking lyrics.I think they could release a album that is all instrumental and I'd love it as much as the ones with lyrics.The guitars have such a groove on every song to me that I can listen to just about anything by them.

 

[Sumeet]

Simon,do you think we could get lucky enough to get Amon Amarth one day as maybe the oddball?
Last year Blackguard and Tyr were there,but to me Amon is my fave out of the bands that do the viking lyrics.I think they could release a album that is all instrumental and I'd love it as much as the ones with lyrics.The guitars have such a groove on every song to me that I can listen to just about anything by them.

I'm a big fan of Amon Amarth, but they might be a weird pick for ProgPower, especially at this point. I mean, they're doing a north american headline tour right now with no opening act, and selling out some shows. Also, the heavier more death metal oriented bands who have played ProgPower seem to be ones that also have a proggy aspect to their sound, which isn't really the case with Amon Amarth.

 

[ICEDEARTHFAN]

I'm a big fan of Amon Amarth, but they might be a weird pick for ProgPower, especially at this point. I mean, they're doing a north american headline tour right now with no opening act, and selling out some shows. Also, the heavier more death metal oriented bands who have played ProgPower seem to be ones that also have a proggy aspect to their sound, which isn't really the case with Amon Amarth.

Yeah,I understand that,but Blackguard has nothing proggy about them IMO and they played last year.I don't expect it to happen but I'm just saying it would be awesome to me.If Glenn is reaching out and trying to get kids of today's metal to come,he might consider a band like Amon or something similar to help sell the tickets.

 

[AngraRULES]

Yeah,I understand that,but Blackguard has nothing proggy about them IMO and they played last year.I don't expect it to happen but I'm just saying it would be awesome to me.If Glenn is reaching out and trying to get kids of today's metal to come,he might consider a band like Amon or something similar to help sell the tickets.

I don't think Blackguard's level of progressiveness was considered when they were booked dude...

 

[Akumu]

Yeah, I don't think Amon Amarth would be a good fit - they're kickass, but there's not really anything prog/power about them. That, and they're probably too big to play the fest.

 

[nomisofsiman]

Simon,do you think we could get lucky enough to get Amon Amarth one day as maybe the oddball?
Last year Blackguard and Tyr were there,but to me Amon is my fave out of the bands that do the viking lyrics.I think they could release a album that is all instrumental and I'd love it as much as the ones with lyrics.The guitars have such a groove on every song to me that I can listen to just about anything by them.

As much as I love them, no. They're just far too heavy for the fest and there would be no way to control the floor in terms of having no moshing. I really do love their instrumentation though and wouldn't mind an instrumental song BUT considering their makeup and love for history/mythology, etc. I would doubt they'd do an album that doesn't involve lyrics. Also, they are getting too big for Progpower anyways.

 

[soarbeyond]

I don't take in consideration EG and VP. They are not part of the 2 day fest. It wasn't that long ago that the kick off night was being emphatically promoted as a stand-alone. But, removing them and looking at the 2 day schedule still leaves about a 50/50. So, I probably should have commented on the trending of the fest. Which can be said without doubt, is headed the way of doom/death/black. And like I said before, a different audience is being catered to. The original crowd is basically falling away due to that trend as I've noticed since III.

 

[BenMech]

Amon Amarth are a bad fit for ProgPower because . . they tour the US RELENTLESSLY during their album cycles. There'd be nothing special about having them at Glennfest.

 

[Corsair]

I for one, feel like the broadening horizons is a -good- thing.

However, saying that it's shifting towards death/doom/black is egregious to the max.

Kinda like suggesting that Therion is still a death metal band, or While Heaven Wept is still a straight up doom band. Bands change, so the labels that applied to them 5-10 years ago don't necessarily apply anymore. Some folks seem to have a *really* hard time wrapping their heads around this concept.

 

[dcowboys311]

The only thing close to a true 'death metal' band we've had is Mercenary....Therion hadn't been a DM band for like 15 years by the time they played.

A black metal band has NEVER played ProgPower.

Only doom band is WHW.

This guy is an idiot.

 

[nomisofsiman]

Amon Amarth are a bad fit for ProgPower because . . they tour the US RELENTLESSLY during their album cycles. There'd be nothing special about having them at Glennfest.

That too.

 

[nomisofsiman]

The only thing close to a true 'death metal' band we've had is Mercenary....Therion hadn't been a DM band for like 15 years by the time they played.

A black metal band has NEVER played ProgPower.

Only doom band is WHW.

This guy is an idiot.

Like I said previously, it seems like the type of person that defines progressive as a Dream Theater knockoff. WHW, Therion and Ihsahn for example are very progressive bands but people like to define prog as the aforementioned -- a Dream Theater-like band. It probably is one of those things where the people that HATE gutteral vocals, hate it so much they go overboard by then saying the fest is going in that direction.

 

[ICEDEARTHFAN]

Amon Amarth are a bad fit for ProgPower because . . they tour the US RELENTLESSLY during their album cycles. There'd be nothing special about having them at Glennfest.

I thought about that but I don't care how much touring in the U.S. Amon does,they will never tour as much in the U.S. as Blackguard does in a single year and they played Progpower.But maybe I'm looking too hard into Glenn letting them play last year.Didn't they replace somebody last minute?
Maybe it was just a quick fill in instead of trying to branch out.

 

[dcowboys311]

I thought about that but I don't care how much touring in the U.S. Amon does,they will never tour as much in the U.S. as Blackguard does in a single year and they played Progpower.But maybe I'm looking too hard into Glenn letting them play last year.Didn't they replace somebody last minute?
Maybe it was just a quick fill in instead of trying to branch out.

Yeah, Blackguard was a replacement of a last minute addition, or something like that. I would definitely love to see Amon Amarth play PP but by this point I think they're just too big for it.

 

[dcowboys311]

Like I said previously, it seems like the type of person that defines progressive as a Dream Theater knockoff. WHW, Therion and Ihsahn for example are very progressive bands but people like to define prog as the aforementioned -- a Dream Theater-like band. It probably is one of those things where the people that HATE gutteral vocals, hate it so much they go overboard by then saying the fest is going in that direction.

He also seems like he is the type of person who failed 3rd grade math if he really thinks this year's lineup is 50/50 prog/power and death/doom/black.