Progressive Metal bands...?

Question

Do you know any good Prog-Metal bands?

I love Kamelot, Nightwish, Sonata Arctica and others, but maybe you could suggest some I've never heard of before?

Answer 1

Well, you do seem to know some of the more obscure stuff and while any other bands that fit that sonic template that I would mention would probably already be known to you, I can tell you of metal bands that are progressive in terms of both their musicality and bringing originality and "progression" to the genre.

Opeth: Death metal with acoustic breakdowns and wonderful production. Equally schizophrenic vocals: a clear death-growl with surprising enunciation as well as a choral, ethereal alto, both provided by the same individual: Mikael Åkerfeldt.

Spock's Beard: A lighter sort of progressive metal, very song oriented (increasingly so since founder Neal Morse left the group in order to pursue a more religious lifestyle; material from that point onward does not fit the prog-metal aesthetic). Imagine a more sensitive Dream Theater with less emphasis on technicalities and more emphasis on cohesion and clarity.

Coheed & Cambria: Written off as simple "emo" by those who are unfamiliar with their work, this band possesses an amazing vocalist and songwriter in the form of Claudio Sanchez. Every album of theirs up to this point are united by a singular concept and storyline that focuses around a few characters, the most prominent of which are named Coheed & Cambria. Very enjoyable band with powerful songwriting and dynamic arrangements.

Porcupine Tree: Steven Wilson's visionary pseudo-Floydian metal outfit. Brilliant production and arrangements and tasteful usage of instrumentation for both textural and dynamic reasons. Essentially a better Spock's Beard with more musical versatility and less of a "cheese" factor.

The Dillinger Escape Plan: Hardcore punk meets death metal by way of jazz. Extremely tight, extremely abrasive, extremely good. It'll take a few listens to grow on you unless you're really into grindcore or other genres that focus on concentrated blasts of noise. However, unlike standard noise fare like A.C. or early Napalm Death, The Dillinger Escape Plan's compositions require an amazing amount of talent to carry out. To help get into them, listen to their Calculating Infinity album and realize that every noise is on there for a reason, and that everything is in sync. They're that good live, too.

The Mars Volta: More progressive than metal, but still very heavy and self-indulgent at times. I mean self-indulgent in the most positive way possible. Drawing equal parts influence from free jazz, Can, Abraxas-era Santana, Red-era King Crimson, and the first lineup of Mahavishnu Orchestra, these extremely talented men from El Paso, Texas serve up song after song of memorable melodies, amazing tightness, musical appropriation, and spaced-out auditory tricks courtesy of what sounds like a million delay pedals.

Meshuggah: Progressive in the sense that the changes in this band are so illogical that at times you almost can hear them counting out time to stay within the convoluted arrangements that they manage to pull off flawlessly in front of audiences worldwide. Mechanical sounding death metal of the highest order.

Dragonforce: They're not my cup of tea, per se, but they remind me a lof of Sonata Arctica, so you'd probably like them.

My band had the pleasure of opening up for Sonata Arctica in January of this year. I didn't get to meet any of them but my bassist chatted with their guitarist for a few minutes. Apparently, he's a really nice guy. Talented as hell, too.

Answer 2

Blue October- Hate Me, Calling You
All American Rejects- Move Along, Why Worry
Nelly Furtado- Promiscuous
Kelis- Bossy
Fall Out Boy- Where is Your Boy Tonight
Young Joc- It's Going Down, I Know You See It
Rihanna- Unfaithful, SOS
Cherish- Do It To It
Natasha Bedingfield- Unwritten, Single
Panic! At The Disco- I Write Sins Not Tradgedies, But its Better if You do
AFI- Miss Murder, Girls Not Grey
James Blunt- You're Beautiful, High
Daniel Powter- Bad Day
Chris Brown- Gimme That, Say Goodbye, Poppin
Pussycat Dolls- Buttons
E40- You and Dat
Shakira- Hips Don't Lie
Sean Paul- Temperature, Give It Up To Me
Bubba Sparxxx- Ms. New Booty, Heat it Up
Dj Khaled- Holla At Me Baby
Field Mob- So What, Baby Bend Over
TI- What You Know, Why You Wanna
Christina Millian- Say I
Cassie- Me & U
Ghostface Killah- Back Like That
Dem Franchise Boys- Ridin Rims
Shawnna- Gettin Some Head, Damn
Young Dro-Shoulder Lean
Hinder-Get Stoned, Bliss
Seether-Driven Under, Gasoline
Nickelback-Far Away
The Starting Line-Bedroom Talk
The Heartwell Ending-If Looks Could Kill
Fergie-London Bridge

Answer 3

Fates Warning
King Diamond
Rush
Voivod
Jethro Tull
Yes

Answer 4

Dream THeater
Jethro Tull

Answer 5

i don't think people know what prog metal is. haha. if you've heard of dream theater, check out liquid tension experiment. it's basically dream theater without vocals, and longer breakdowns and solos. musically amazing. john petrucci and mike portnoy are gods.

Answer 6

Within Temptation - They are really good. Goth rock.... reminds me a lot of Evanescence in a way.

Answer 7

listen to the kill by 30 seconds to mars its amazing

Answer 8

HIM