Metal Reviews

Progressive metal has changed a lot over the years Rage For Order did have progressive elements and was released a long time ago before bands like DT and Conception came along with a much more technical side taking prog/metal to new levels. My point is if Rage For Order was released today it wouldn't be considered as progressive compared to what's out now but back then it was and bet you it inspired a lot of prog bands.

Suspyre - The Silvery Image
Zero Hour - Towers of Avarice
Pain of Salvation - Entropia
Pain of Salvation - The Perfect Element Part 1
Symphony X - Divine Wings of Tragedy
Riverside - Out of Myself
Riverside - Second Life Syndrome
Dali's Dilemma - Manifesto For Futruism
Seiges Even - The Art of Navigating By The Stars
Threshold - Extinct/Instinct

This was a tough list and it is in no order. I would say that Riverside's Second Life Syndrome is my favorite. I wanted to put Opeth on here, and while they have one of the best catalogues, including Ghost Reveries, they couldnt crack my top ten prog albums.

Would it be considered prog even to contemporaries such as Fates Warning, or even Rush? Rage for Order came out the same year as Awaken the Guardian.

Opeth still have a lot of Pink Floyd, cheesy keyboards and melodrama going on on Ghost Reveries, so I'd call it proggressive metal. It's just not very good.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_metal

"Acts such as Fates Warning, Queensrÿche, and Dream Theater took elements of these progressive rock groups – primarily the instrumentation and compositional structure of songs – and merged them with heavy metal characteristics"

wikipedia is not fact. There are no odd time signatures on Queensryche albums. They are not in the same field as the other artists in that article. I am not saying they are better or worse, I enjoy old Queensryche, its just not prog.

Will just have to agree to disagree as I still consider Rage For Order and even some of Promised Land progressive.

the best prog album ive heard is Nachtmystiums Instinct:Decay lololololololol. Black prog!! Muahaha!

Whatever, it doesn't matter what genre it is--Operation: Mindcrime still kills!

Also, I can't identify time signatures by ear...I'd like to be able to, though.

And yeah, I would say Opeth is prog. They have some death in their vocals (at times), but the music is definitely prog. Every song on Ghost Reveries is prog, but check out "The Grand Conjuration"--the intro reminds me of Rush's "YYZ".

And I've never really thought of The Sound of Perseverence as prog. More like tech death.

Promised Land? Are you kidding?

Queensryche has been considered a progressive metal band by the majority of the media for ages. There was no 13/8 Dream Theater around way back when they were first conceived, and their style was very progressive for the metal world. Progessive is not defined by odd time signatures. Go back to the prog bands from the seventies - a whole lot of 4/4 going on there. Bands with Jazz Fusion influences like DT (just look at Petrucci's list of guitar influences) make people think that, but old Metallica used odd time signatures in a number of songs. Are they progressive?

I think scud and derncare already answered this, better than I could. I'll just add that, to my ears, in Rage For Order there's a lot of elements that will later be incorporated and developed by bands like DT in albums like I&W. The whole atmosphere of RFO is a really progressive one even if it's not as technical as DT is. And I actually prefer this sort of incipient prog metal, with more room to breathe and songs not suffocated by technical prowess, to present day bands like DT.

I have this one, I got it new for like $1. Haven't listened to it yet.

Opeth - Blackwater Park
Opeth - Ghost Reveries
Queensryche - Operation:mindcrime
Tool - Aenima
Spocks Beard - Snow
The Mars Volta - De-Loused in the Comatorium
Dream Theatre - Scenes from a Memory
Fantomas - Delirium Cordia
Dillinger Escape Plan - Calculating Infinity
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon

Heavy metal bands not generally considered prog-metal, such as Opeth, have nevertheless incorporated prog-influenced elements like bizarre shifts in time signatures and tempo in their music, that's why I've included them.

Marillion - Misplaced Childhood
Marillion - Script For A Jester's Tear
Dream Theater - Metropolis pt.2: Scenes From A Memory
Dream Theater - Images & Words
Symphony X - Divine Wings Of Tragedy
Evergrey - Solitude, Dominance, Tragedy
Evergrey - In Search Of Truth
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
Opeth - Still Life
Opeth - Blackwater Park

Mindcrime would of course be up there if I would think of Queensryche as prog. Easily one of the best albums of all times..

Quite a few Porcupine Tree album could be included as well, but since I'm not sure how to label them I decided to leave them out.

Dude Porcupine Tree is definately progressive rock

Yeah well, I'd still say that they're one of those bands that are quite genredefying and hard to pigeonhole. Anyways, In Absentia, Stupid Dream and Deadwing could be up there as well. Quite awesome albums indeed

I will be missing out a lot:

Enslaved - Below The Lights
Pink Floyd - Animals
Ihsahn - The Adversary
Agalloch - The Mantle
Arcturus - La Masquerade Infernal
Solefald - In Harmonia Universali
King Crimson - Larks' Tongues In Aspic
Winds - The Imaginary Direction of Time & Refletions of The I
Emperor - Prometheus: The Discipline of Fire and Demise

I shall add more later.

1.Awaken the Guardian-(FW)
2.The Spectre Within-(FW)
3.A Farewell to Kings-(Rush)
4.2112-(Rush)
5.Caress of Steel-(Rush)
6.Divine Wings of Tragedy-(SX)
7.Rage for Order(Q)
8.Operation Mindcrime(Q)
9.Moving Pictures(Rush)
10.Permanent Waves-(Rush)

I will have to agree that most of these albums are excellent, but i dont consider the first two albums to be progressive