Metal Reviews

I have gotten into progressive metal to an extreme amount as of the last few years. I was wondering who this forum feels are the current kings of the genre, taking into account newer bands and old bands. I hope this doesnt turn into a dream theater bash, but i would not consider them the kings. My leanings are towards Pian of Salvation. Just curious about what everyone thinks. Maybe someone will sugeest someone i havent given a good chance to.

*waits for lizardtail*

*looks out flamesuit in meantime*

I'm not too into the genre myself, but there are a few bands I can point you towards. All on metal-archives, too busy at moment for individual links, sorry...

Alarum
Alchemist
v28
Akercocke - Words That Go Unspoken, Deeds That Go Undone
Edit: Green Evening Requiem

are all very good, and enough of a variety there. Not power/prog, by the way...

I recently bought Alarum's Eventuality cd. It is good but i havent listeneed to it enough to form a real opinion. I will check out v28, and alchemist though. Akercocke is a band that i sometimes like and sometimes cant stand. they are a weird one for me. In three years i will either throw out all of their material i have or love them to death. who knows. I generally stay away from prog/power but i do love Pagan's Mind and I like the Circus Maximus disc.

Eventuality is what I have, a good CD. v28 have a more industrial sound, very good band. www.v28.com , I think. Alchemist I made a thread about in the Avant-garde forum, great band.

Agreed about Akercocke, personally I love them, the harsh/soft vocals beat Opeth easily IMO (I'm assuming you've heard of them).

Not much into prog/power myself, yet another area of metal I have yet to explore...

And another's just come to mind, Subterranean Masquerade. There's a review on this site...
Edit: http://www.metalreviews.com/reviews/detail.php3?id=2822
Edit2: Ignore my comments there, it's a good band.

i actually am very much in love with Opeth. I am going to see tehm next Thursday in NYC at one of tehir Chonological special shows.

I like them, don't think they are the best band ever, as some do, but the haters are wrong. Hope the show's a good one!

I would say Symphony X are the kings, but I've only really been listening to prog metal for a year or so. I have an awful lot of respect for Dream Theater aswell, if they haven't been the most important part in promoting prog-metal then who.

Bands like Circus Maximus, Pagan's Mind and Time Requiem are "good" but their value diminishes significantly because they lack orginality and they copy other bands. This is more disrespectful than some heavy metal band copying Iron Maiden, and thats because it's "progressive" metal, where the ideal is to try finding a sound of your own and try new ideas.

It has to be prog/power? If can be prog/death, Cynic. In prog/rock, King Crimson.

In the prog/power, old queensryche are for me the kings, although I'm not sure if they are prog/power or power with a slice of prog.

Pain of Salvation is a very good band, but I don't consider them kings, neither DT. In this field I enjoy a lot Symphony X, Russen allen has a great voice.

*smacks head* Atheist as well.

i agree with bands like Circus Maximus not being original, but it is enjoyable for what it is. It is also only their first album...they may grow. I happen to think Pagan's Mind are very original and unique. DT are obviously the most important Prog Metal band of all time. As of recent output though i would think someone has to creeping up to knock them off the mountain. I also listen to prog/rock and prog/death. Symphony X was one of the first prog bands I got into and i love Russell Allen (solo album too). I have seen them live three times and they are great but i dont think they are they tops in teh genre. certainlynear the top but I want to see how they follow up to the Odysee, which was spectacular. I think Pain of Salvation have the tech ability and the creativity. They experiment and actually progress in the truw sense of the word. I have never been let down by their albums and they all sound different. I also loved "be". The dvd is real cool too.

just checked out v28. pretty cool. maybe i will pick up an album. thanks Zad. BTW, cynic is great but with one album cant be considered the tops.

I need to get into more Pain of Salvation, I only have Be and I don't know what to think of it. I grew up listening to songs like Hallowed Be Thy Name and Master of Puppets, not stuff like Mr. Money, know what im saying. I think I will have to give the album a few more listens though, it sure is progressive. I'll be sure to check out some other albums by them also.

Symphony X aren't as progressive as PoS and not as technical as some bands, but what makes them stand out above other bands is the incredible feeling and punch that they have in their songs. It's like music with heart and soul in it, hearing them live shows this best.
EDIT: Im also very interested to see what their new album will sound like. The Odyssey was damn good but it had some aspects I wasn't to fond of. Some of the stuff was just metal, and the return to Accolade wasn't the best move either imo.

PoS first two albums are less esoteric and more straight forward. Check out the sonfs !Forward adn Stress off Entropia and by the way I love teh Mr. Money song. I hope i eventually see them live.

Glad you liked it. There are quite a few good industrial/black bands worth checking out, Aborym, Dimensional Psychosis (made a thread about them in the Black/death forum), Blut Aus Nord, Mysticum to name a few.

Obviously, they're quite heavy, so not really good for this forum. Just a few bands I think you'd like....

Edit: into Mike Patton? Mr Bungle, Faith No More, Fantomas, Tomahawk, all worth checking out...

Zad, i will check them out. I do like my prog heavy when i can find it. i dont think this site has any Threshold reviews, but everyone should check out their Extinct/Instinct album. Not exactly heavy, but def prog-metal. First three songs are unbelievable on that album.


Not a big Mike Patton fan but i do love devin townsend.

There's another one, Hevy Devy. I'm so impressed by his DT band stuff I haven't even bought a Strapping album yet.

there is some strapping songs that are awesome. Far beyond Metal is a cool song if you can download it. The new Synchestra album is really good. I am still absorbing it and infinty has a permanent rotation.

Yeah this site's got some threshold albums reviewd.

Ive got Hypothetical and I like it, i'll check out some other albums by them for sure. The singer is also great.

the singer on Extinct/Instinct and their first album is the best. his name is Damien Wilson and he sings on many Ayreon projects as well. Obviously extinct/instict is my favorite album form them. The later albums with Mac singing are good, but not as proggy as teh wilson era threshold. Damien Wilson simply has possibly the best voice i have ever heard. perectly fits the music too.