Prog Metal

Amazing song. I love the drums during the guitar solo:



An amazing instrumental:



Their magnum opus. It is worth listening to:

 
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I absolutely love the first three albums (yes, especially the debut!).

Falling Into Infinity was my "wtf" moment with them, equivalent to Queensryche's Hear in the Now Frontier.

The albums beyond that are very hit and miss with me, I've never quite figured out why to be honest. To my ears, the songs became very monotonous for me.

I liked some of the stuff on Black Clouds but found Portnoy's influence on the music and lyrics becoming way too overbearing. His love for System of a Down does not fit with what he was trying in Dream Theater and the lyrics were pretty juvenile/basic.

Now, I really liked their last couple albums again (post-Portnoy - coincidence? Not sure...), especially A Dramatic Turn of Events. I thought the song writing was better, lyrics, all around much better. So, they've won me over again - for now. :)
 
Falling Into Infinity is very underrated in my eyes. Very dark and different for the band.

Mike Portnoy really shines through on the debut.

 
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I'm sure most people's love for Queensryche disappeared many years ago, but have you checked out the past couple albums (well, the new one is about to hit)?

I never thought I would say this, but post-Tate Queensryche is sounding pretty kick ass. Todd LaTorre is very much a Tate style singer, and I'll stop short of calling him a complete clone (although, he really is, and I'll take it :) ). I enjoyed the self titled album a lot, and the 2-3 new tracks from the new one are sounding pretty kick ass.

Curious if anyone else has given the "new" Queensryche a listen? Here are the 3 videos they've put out for the new album (Condition Human):





 
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MetalAges said:
I'm sure most people's love for Queensryche disappeared many years ago, but have you checked out the past couple albums (well, the new one is about to hit)?

I never thought I would say this, but post-Tate Queensryche is sounding pretty kick ass. Todd LaTorre is very much a Tate style singer, and I'll stop short of calling him a complete clone (although, he really is, and I'll take it :) ). I enjoyed the self titled album a lot, and the 2-3 new tracks from the new one are sounding pretty kick ass.

Curious if anyone else has given the "new" Queensryche a listen? Here are the 3 videos they've put out for the new album (Condition Human):
Click to expand...

I just listened to the self titled with him. It isn't bad! I am pleasantly surprised. Not as great as the first 3 full lengths, but still decent for not having Tate at the helm.
 
MetalAges said:
I liked some of the stuff on Black Clouds but found Portnoy's influence on the music and lyrics becoming way too overbearing. His love for System of a Down does not fit with what he was trying in Dream Theater and the lyrics were pretty juvenile/basic.
Click to expand...

Only two of the songs on Black Clouds & Silver Linings had lyrics that were written by Mike Portnoy.

The lyrics to "A Nightmare to Remember", "A Rite of Passage", "Wither" and "The Count of Tuscany" were all written by John Petrucci.

Except for "Wither" which was written only by John Petrucci, the whole band wrote the music for all of the songs.

:Spin:
 
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Mercyful Fate said:
I would love recommendations on bands that are similar to Arch-era Fates Warning, Irae Melanox by Adramelch and Winter Kill by Slauter Xstroyes. I don't like anything in progressive metal that isn't in a similar vein to those albums.
Click to expand...
You might enjoy the Titan Force s/t.

 
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^seconded of course. the song you linked is so unusual and so good, one of my all time faves. i love the tyrant. <3

MetalAges said:
Popped in my reissue of Artch's Another Return to Church Hill today (another Divebomb Records issue) and thought of your replies. I think this one falls in line with Arch-era Fates. Are either of you familiar with Artch?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZG36XICLmzg
Click to expand...

yes sir! i wouldn't put that album on the level of the stuff i mentioned but it's still worth hearing.
 
Yeah the emotion he puts in (on that album in particular) is incredible, I think that might be his best vocal performance.
 
Big Prog Rock/Metal fan here... it's been my favourite genre for over ten years now. I just love long songs, and they way they can just go off on a tangent with some widdly-widdly noodling for 10 minutes before coming back to the main song.

It was quite interesting reading through this thread, and seeing the different tastes people have. I love Fates Warning, but only with Ray Alder on vocals ... I can't stand the early John Arch era. Similarly with Threshold, one of my very favourites but only the Andrew "Mac" McDermott albums, since I don't like Damian Wilson's "whiny" voice. Also mention of early Queensryche does nothing for me, as I'm only a fan of "Operation Mindcrime" and "Empire". I'm not sure if "Operation Mindcrime" counts as Prog Metal or just Heavy Metal, but if it is eligible for this thread, then that would be my Number One favourite album.


I think I probably prefer the highly polished sound of Prog Metal, as I can get the raw energy from other genres in my collection. Dream Theater is probably where it all started for me, with that awesome debut album that I loved to bits when it first came out. Of course, they became massive from their next album onwards with James LaBrie on vocals, with my favourites being "Images And Words", "Metropolis Part 2: Scenes From A Memory", "Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence" and "Train Of Thought". However, I am struggling with their two most recent albums since Mike Portnoy left. I'm not sure why, but they just don't seem as interesting anymore. Not so keen on James LaBrie's solo albums, and I did get a bit fed up with the ubiquitous nature of him being hired to sing on too many other projects at one point, so I've just stuck with Dream Theater to hear him.

Anyone interested in similar styled bands to Dream Theater (polished sound and high-pitched vocals) could also check out Vanden Plas and Dreamscape.

Vanden Plas - Holes In The Sky



I absolutely adore the first four Pain Of Salvation albums, and with main-man Daniel Gildenlow being a bit of an intellectual, anyone who can write an entire concept album about the radioactivity of Lake Karachay in the former Soviet Union following the Chernobyl disaster is cool in my book!! I was gutted when they chose to change direction with the "B.E." album onwards. Those early albums just work as cohesive whole listening experiences, rather than the disjoined nature of their subsequent efforts. Consequently I stopped following them some time ago now.

Pain Of Salvation - One Hour By The Concrete Lake (full album)



When he's not singing with Fates Warning, here's some more Ray Alder in the form of Redemption, whose first two albums I would recommend the most. I found the production on the third album ("Snowfall On Judgment Day") a bit off-putting as it sounded too "brickwalled" with the vocals not standing out as much in the mix, and was really annoyed with James LaBrie on vocals for one song, as if he was brought in as a Big Name to try and sell more albums.

Redemption - Bleed Me Dry



Considering Prog Metal is often thought of as sterile and clinical, I find a lot of emotion in the voice of the singer of Sylvan. Here's an example from their current album "Home", but being another of my very top favourites, I would recommend any of their albums although maybe leaning towards their more recent ones ("Presets", "Force Of Gravity" and the "Sceneries" double album) where they have matured and settled into an established style.

Sylvan - Shine



On the more technical side of Prog Metal, I really like the early Zero Hour albums with Erik Rosvold on vocals, and I lost interest after he left as I wasn't keen on the other singers they hired, nor did I think the songwriting was as strong. For anyone unaware, 3/4 of Zero Hour (Rosvold and the Tipton brothers) got together again as Cynthesis and have so far released a couple of albums. Great stuff once again, although slighly mellower than Zero Hour.

Cynthesis - Release The Deity



Other recommendations with vocalists more in the mid-range rather than the higher-pitched style of the majority of my collection include Cloudscape and Riverside.

Cloudscape - Demon Tears



I was going to mention Wolverine, but listening to them just now makes me wonder if they are borderline Prog Rock as the videos I was sampling seemed more like modern-day Anathema. Although someone mentioned Arena earlier in this thread, I'll stick to Prog Metal.


EDIT: Found this website while I browsing some info for this post:
http://noisefull.com/articles/absolute-guide-progressive-metal
This looks like a good starting place for beginners, as I'm probably familiar with 80% (at a guess) of the albums, and would agree with most of the suggestions. Looks like I'll be checking out a few new ones that I'm not aware of... :)
 
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OneManArmy said:
Big Prog Rock/Metal fan here... it's been my favourite genre for over ten years now. I just love long songs, and they way they can just go off on a tangent with some widdly-widdly noodling for 10 minutes before coming back to the main song.

It was quite interesting reading through this thread, and seeing the different tastes people have. I love Fates Warning, but only with Ray Alder on vocals ... I can't stand the early John Arch era. Similarly with Threshold, one of my very favourites but only the Andrew "Mac" McDermott albums, since I don't like Damian Wilson's "whiny" voice. Also mention of early Queensryche does nothing for me, as I'm only a fan of "Operation Mindcrime" and "Empire". I'm not sure if "Operation Mindcrime" counts as Prog Metal or just Heavy Metal, but if it is eligible for this thread, then that would be my Number One favourite album.


I think I probably prefer the highly polished sound of Prog Metal, as I can get the raw energy from other genres in my collection. Dream Theater is probably where it all started for me, with that awesome debut album that I loved to bits when it first came out. Of course, they became massive from their next album onwards with James LaBrie on vocals, with my favourites being "Images And Words", "Metropolis Part 2: Scenes From A Memory", "Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence" and "Train Of Thought". However, I am struggling with their two most recent albums since Mike Portnoy left. I'm not sure why, but they just don't seem as interesting anymore. Not so keen on James LaBrie's solo albums, and I did get a bit fed up with the ubiquitous nature of him being hired to sing on too many other projects at one point, so I've just stuck with Dream Theater to hear him.

Anyone interested in similar styled bands to Dream Theater (polished sound and high-pitched vocals) could also check out Vanden Plas and Dreamscape.

Vanden Plas - Holes In The Sky
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdy2uk-GqFM

Dreamscape - The End Of Silence
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vm8Qampiim4


I absolutely adore the first four Pain Of Salvation albums, and with main-man Daniel Gildenlow being a bit of an intellectual, anyone who can write an entire concept album about the radioactivity of Lake Karachay in the former Soviet Union following the Chernobyl disaster is cool in my book!! I was gutted when they chose to change direction with the "B.E." album onwards. Those early albums just work as cohesive whole listening experiences, rather than the disjoined nature of their subsequent efforts. Consequently I stopped following them some time ago now.

Pain Of Salvation - One Hour By The Concrete Lake (full album)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YTPKBU4JCA


When he's not singing with Fates Warning, here's some more Ray Alder in the form of Redemption, whose first two albums I would recommend the most. I found the production on the third album ("Snowfall On Judgment Day") a bit off-putting as it sounded too "brickwalled" with the vocals not standing out as much in the mix, and was really annoyed with James LaBrie on vocals for one song, as if he was brought in as a Big Name to try and sell more albums.

Redemption - Bleed Me Dry
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGZuQ8oVScg


Considering Prog Metal is often thought of as sterile and clinical, I find a lot of emotion in the voice of the singer of Sylvan. Here's an example from their current album "Home", but being another of my very top favourites, I would recommend any of their albums although maybe leaning towards their more recent ones ("Presets", "Force Of Gravity" and the "Sceneries" double album) where they have matured and settled into an established style.

Sylvan - Shine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxuSoJWftg0


On the more technical side of Prog Metal, I really like the early Zero Hour albums with Erik Rosvold on vocals, and I lost interest after he left as I wasn't keen on the other singers they hired, nor did I think the songwriting was as strong. For anyone unaware, 3/4 of Zero Hour (Rosvold and the Tipton brothers) got together again as Cynthesis and have so far released a couple of albums. Great stuff once again, although slighly mellower than Zero Hour.

Cynthesis - Release The Deity
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFHFWQ1b7WU


Other recommendations with vocalists more in the mid-range rather than the higher-pitched style of the majority of my collection include Cloudscape and Riverside.

Cloudscape - Demon Tears
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xW-DfLTStSY

Riverside - Second Life Syndrome
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLhLKLLJOnA


I was going to mention Wolverine, but listening to them just now makes me wonder if they are borderline Prog Rock as the videos I was sampling seemed more like modern-day Anathema. Although someone mentioned Arena earlier in this thread, I'll stick to Prog Metal.


EDIT: Found this website while I browsing some info for this post:
http://noisefull.com/articles/absolute-guide-progressive-metal
This looks like a good starting place for beginners, as I'm probably familiar with 80% (at a guess) of the albums, and would agree with most of the suggestions. Looks like I'll be checking out a few new ones that I'm not aware of... :)
Click to expand...

Great post, mate.
 
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