What happened to prog metal?

[Prog_Please]

Agreed, but I'm pretty sure this isn't what he's talking about. He sort of jumped around the description, but I'm guessing what he means is more DT-type prog. Creation's End should be pretty good and Aspera was good from what I've heard (I still need to pick up the disc though).

Too bad too. Barren Earth is amazing. There are a lot of decent progressive "death" metal bands out there. *cough cough* Division By Zero, Disillusion, Orphaned Land *cough cough*.

 

[Up&Away]

However, I get the feeling that a lot of the lesser known bands that a lot of people post new threads about are simply overlooked or ignored. A lot of times, those threads end with 5 posts tops.

^ this. I linked 3 threads above that basically went by the wayside. The originator of this thread asked a question that normally gets answered almost daily with threads like these.

You are right, and I never understood the reason. Why do you think that's the case?

Forums have cliques normally. So, a post about a new band from certain individuals will get responses. Particularly one or two due to the brown-nose effect.

 

[Up&Away]

It just really hasn't been WORTH listening to. I'll check out that Utopia disc though.

I would put those that l linked against almost any that have been to PP and I'll record the win.

 

[Cheiron]

There's plenty of good, ballsy, heavy prog metal around. You just need to know where to look for it.

I look in lots of places. Can you name a couple?

 

[Metaldrumz]

do they have anything other than that one album that came out a few years ago?

Liljegren Records / October 15 2010 .......includes a 20 minute epic

"Into Forever" is the title of the new one. Last one was called "The Weight Of The World"

 

[Cheiron]

They're out there and not very hard to find.

About as progressive as it gets...

http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/progpower-usa/623895-utopia-new-italian-progressive-metal.html

another...

http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/progpower-usa/625317-mindsplit-video.html

and another I really like...

http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/progpower-usa/603360-anaxes-progressive-metal.html

The cause is being championed, it's just not getting listened to anymore.

I like the MindSplit album.

Why the hell is a progressive band calling themselves Utopia? They might want to research their name-choice first, and perhaps learn something about a man named Todd Rundgren. Still, the clip was musically interesting enough to want to hear more.

--
Your posts are often very troll'ish, so sometimes I just ignore when you post.

 

[cslebn]

There's some new stuff on Lion's Music that I like.

Really what I'm seeing as relevant is the stuff that is on ProgPower Europes last few rosters, which includes bands like Day Six.

I'd agree that's very on point. From Lion Music:

Section A (2003)
Lord of Mushrooms (2002)
Shadrane (2008)
Sun Caged (2003)
Venturia (2006)

Others:

Day Six (they fucking rule) (2003)
Anthropia (2006)
Silent Call (2008)
Acid Rain (2009)
Subsignal (from members of Sieges Even) (2009)
Winds (if you want something not DT like) (2002)
Oceansize (2003)
Dante (2007)

Edit: added dates of debut full length albums just for frame of reference

 

[Bryant]

Where are the people pushing for new, young, progressive metal bands, or propping up the old ones. I enjoy some melodic prog bands, but frankly, their music does not fit that huge hole that wants complex, well thoughtout music. I want more Fates Warnings, more Abstract Shadows, All Too Human, Sieges Even, or Catharsis. But I can't find it.

If you like Sieges Even, the former singer and guitar player formed a band called Subsignal.

Also if you like complexity...... you might want to try the new Vanden Plas. I certainly would not consider the band very "proggy" in terms of odd time signatures or uncommon melody, and in fact is very much a "melodic" prog band. However, the addition of a choir, guest vocals, a small orchestra and a very detailed concept make it quite complexed in it's own right.

If you want FW, look no further than Redemption. They even share a vocalist. The music you are looking for is out there..... you just have to find it.

I am not a sub-genre specific fan. I am a metal music fan, be it prog, power, traditional, thrash etc. but if I look hard enough I can find bands to satisfy what I am looking for. Even though I am not sub-genre specific, it is still difficult for me to find the quality I am looking for, but it is out there. Just try the recommendations here and look for them on youtube or something.


Bryant

 

[Up&Away]

Your posts are often very troll'ish, so sometimes I just ignore when you post.

Your perception is wrong but it's your perception, so fair enough.

So, why ignore the other threads by other people giving great recommendations like mine?

 

[BenMech]

I like the MindSplit album.

Why the hell is a progressive band calling themselves Utopia? They might want to research their name-choice first, and perhaps learn something about a man named Todd Rundgren. Still, the clip was musically interesting enough to want to hear more.

Todd Rungren's band wasn't the only 1970s Utopia, nor his previous band, The Nazz, the other version mutating into Alice Cooper.


Meanwhile, There's no International Band Copyright Register, so crap like this happens all the time. Case in point - Portal. One person thinks of the Australian cloak-wearing Clockheads. Another thinks of a Canadian Alt-rock band (Blood Red Tape being their most recent album). Still others think of the female-led band featuring members of Cynic. Then there's something about a videogame where you can learn about a lying cake.

Ambiguity everywhere!!!

 

[cslebn]

Then there's something about a videogame where you can learn about a lying cake.

Cake cannot lie!

 

[hoodaman]

Cake cannot lie!

correct. However the presence of cake in the very near future can indeed be a lie.

 

[cslebn]

correct. However the presence of cake in the very near future can indeed be a lie.

This makes me want to leave work and go get some cake

Back on topic:

Lanfear is another excellent band

 

[J. Golden]

As still a relatively new listener to the genre (6 years or so now), most of the progressive metal I listen to is from before I got into the genre. Now when I look around I see plenty of melodic 'prog', but I see very little of more aggressive progressive music. There are avant garde and experimental bands out there, but those aren't the types I'm talking about, as they tend to either be more of the black metal variety, or more rock than metal, respectively.

What I'm referring to is the aggression level of bands like Complex 7. I'm talking about bands that had no shame in playing complex-technical music. Now to get a band that takes pride in delving into difficult-to-play music often requires you to look at one of the 'cores' (metal, grind) or, as another sad decline, in death.

When it comes to this festival, progressive music has little hope when there seems to be so few fans of this style anymore. Where are the people pushing for new, young, progressive metal bands, or propping up the old ones. I enjoy some melodic prog bands, but frankly, their music does not fit that huge hole that wants complex, well thoughtout music. I want more Fates Warnings, more Abstract Shadows, All Too Human, Sieges Even, or Catharsis. But I can't find it.

"playing complex-technical music" does not a progressive band make. And more bands like Fates Warning and such would not be progressive or progressing. Actually it would just be cut from the cloth really. I think those bands that sound like Fates Warning, Dream Theater, etc are not very thought out at all. The only thought that seemed to have gone into these bands is "who should we sound like?"
What happened to progressive metal and even progressive rock is that it stopped progressing. It became formula, attracted an audience with the average consumer mindset (not saying that is go or bad) and suddenly the meaning was changed. Seems I recall the same thing happening in the 90s when the word "alternative" also took on a new meaning.
I'm sure, actually know no one here will agree with me, but what the hey.

 

[hoodaman]

What happened to progressive metal and even progressive rock is that it stopped progressing. It became formula, attracted an audience with the average consumer mindset (not saying that is go or bad) and suddenly the meaning was changed. Seems I recall the same thing happening in the 90s when the word "alternative" also took on a new meaning.
I'm sure, actually know no one here will agree with me, but what the hey.

you sir, would be wrong.

 

[dcowboys311]

I'm sure, actually know no one here will agree with me, but what the hey.

This sentiment has never, ever, ever been expressed on this board. You sir are a true freethinker.

 

[zedowns]

I look in lots of places. Can you name a couple?

This is something I've been wondering too, most places I used to go to for prog metal recs don't even like the stuff anymore.

 

[J. Golden]

you sir, would be wrong.

Oh I'm sure I am. Whoever would think that "progressive would mean to advance, forge ahead, be inventive, creative, can't have that. No in the perfect world of "progressive" everything should be sterile, only advance within the common frame work, stay formulated, and only change within the common perception of the collective. Um, I wonder how Orwell would have seen this idea of "progressive" in music.
A lot of what I read in this forum about "progressive" music and thought leads me to think it is a very Orwellian way of thinking. Seems many in the forum view progressive music as fitting within a structure with no room for movement rather that be forward, backwards, or wherever. This thought is reconfirmed in how many in the forum not only seem to share the same way of thinking has if of the Borg, but if anyone suggest different that is either ignored, disagreed with heavily, or sometimes even censored (fascism).
So today as I pondered this thread I finally came to realize how a lot of people in this forum (note; I did not say all) view progressive ideas and music.

 

[hoodaman]

I hope you read my reply as saying you're wrong in thinking that no one agrees with you and not your way of thinking is wrong.

 

[axehomeyg]

"playing complex-technical music" does not a progressive band make. And more bands like Fates Warning and such would not be progressive or progressing. Actually it would just be cut from the cloth really. I think those bands that sound like Fates Warning, Dream Theater, etc are not very thought out at all. The only thought that seemed to have gone into these bands is "who should we sound like?"
What happened to progressive metal and even progressive rock is that it stopped progressing. It became formula, attracted an audience with the average consumer mindset (not saying that is go or bad) and suddenly the meaning was changed. Seems I recall the same thing happening in the 90s when the word "alternative" also took on a new meaning.
I'm sure, actually know no one here will agree with me, but what the hey.

I don't know... As a musician, much of the prog that I listen to sounds so predictable. You just start to anticipate the chords, the melodies, the song structures even upon a first listen of a new band. When I get that feeling, I agree with you that prog is stale/dead. But, then I hear something like Haken, or Frost, and it is so amazingly fresh to my ears (even if its not enjoyable to some, it's out of this world in terms of originality).

It's cyclical. There are innovators, then copycats, then a stagnation period, then ultimately a rebirth with just enough of a shred of originality to re-invent genres. Just like natural/physical evolution, we'll iterate and evolve our music at an almost imperceptible pace using the near-infinite amount of entropy-reducing goodness thats available! On a local scale (our cd players, and our limited time devoted to discovering music), we just don't see the forward progress!