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Progressive metal, more commonly know as prog metal, is characterized by genre transgression and instrumental virtuosity. Its signature features are guitar driven songs that have complex time signatures and very intricate playing.
Progressive metal as a genre is associated with acts such as Dream Theater, Fates Warning and Queensrÿche, who had their heyday in the early 1990s, but progressive elements have been fused into metal virtually since the inception of metal. For instance, on their early releases, Black Sabbath would incorporate jazzy passages into their compositions, while also drawing on other genres, and many proto-metal acts also had backgrounds in progressive rock and heavy psychedelic rock. In the early to mid 1980s, some NWoBHM groups, such as Iron Maiden would find direct inspiration in progressive rock acts like Genesis, Yes, and King Crimson and incorporate progressive elements, such as complex song structures, twin guitars and changes in time and tempo into their style, while the cult band Mercyful Fate were known for blatantly disregarding the conventions of composition in popular music, opting for complex and unusual song structures.
So, progressiveness was a part of metal since the inception of the genre, but it was not until the late 1980s and mid 1990s as bands like Watchtower, Fates Warning, Queensrÿche, Psychotic Waltz, and Dream Theater that progressive metal became established as an independent subgenre. These bands would draw both on previously established metal genres, like NWOBHM, and progressive rock acts of the 1960s, 70s and 80s. Especially Dream Theater would become iconic of the genre, and their instrumentation, which includes prominent keyboards, became the blueprint for many progressive metal bands to follow. The music that came out was very diverse and even symphonic at times. Not all of it was overly technical, though some bands such as Dream Theater were very technical, while others, like Fates Warning and Watchtower emphasized odd time signature. Psychotic Waltz incorporated psychedelia into their sound, and Queensrÿche began to operate with complex lyrical themes.
After progressive metal had been somewhat popular for some time, it began to take on more extreme forms such as progressive death metal, and so on. Bands such as Edge of Sanity and Atheist took prog metal to greater heights with their infusion of prog and death metal. Atheist also added a jazz/fusion sound to their music to make it true progressive death metal, as did Pestilence on their jazz-influenced Spheres. Also during this time, bands such as Opeth and Voivod changed their style to a more progressive sound. While Voivod changed in the early 1990’s, Opeth became a more progressive metal band in the late 1990’s which was probably an effect of the progressive metal movement that was going on at the time. Some already established metal acts in other genres would similarly cross over into progressive metal territory, such as Savatage, who - although having a background in traditional metal and power metal - released several progressive metal albums. In parallel with the development of progressive extreme metal genres, many power metal acts would take their music in a more progressive direction, resulting in the subgenre of progressive power metal (which is included under power metal here at the MMA) some of which, like Kamelot and Savatage, would eventually become fully fledged progressive metal acts.
Most bands in the progressive metal genre have their own unique style; whether it is more spacey, more symphonic, or more technical while others follow the Dream Theater configuration to a smaller or greater extent (these are sometimes referred to as 'traditional progressive metal' bands), but they all have an equal balance between the influences. Over the years progressive metal has gained the title of having longer songs then regular metal, and while this is mostly true, it isn’t always.
These bands are here because they are different, in a sense, than regular metal bands because they not only include metal but different genres as well, such as jazz/fusion, prog rock, and classical music, and put them all together to make an enjoyable sound. Bands and releases who include progressive elements in their music, but whose central sound is more firmly anchored in another genre are placed in that genre - for instance, Enslaved, whose style is progressive and experimental but still quite firmly based in their black metal roots, are placed in the black metal category, while mathcore and progressive metalcore bands are placed in metalcore.
Sub-genre collaborators (shared with Avant-Garde Metal): - siLLy puPPy
- DippoMagoo
- Sisslith
- adg211288
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Album · 2004 ·
Progressive Metal
martindavey87
I fell in love with this band after hearing their 2005 release ‘Revoiced’, a compilation of tracks from their first two albums, re-recorded with then-current vocalist Roland Stoll. Yeah, you could get away with calling it “generic progressive metal”, but whatever, I think it’s fantastic, regardless. So going back through the bands discography, the first two albums were pretty good. Nothing amazing, but certainly worth owning. I think with ‘Revoiced’ they definitely picked out the best tracks both had to offer. Which brings us to their third studio album, 2004’s ‘End of Silence’, and the verdict is not good.
I do really like this band, and I wanted to give this a fair chance, but it’s been on my playlist for well over a year now (maybe even two), and it’s just not working! I’m struggling to really get into it. The musicianship is fantastic, the production is great, everything is as it should be. Except… well, the songs are pretty boring.
Of the nine tracks, there’s only two that I like, or that I can even recall for that matter, and that’s ‘Short-Time News’ and ‘You Don’t Know Me’. Both have some nice melodies and vocal lines, but overall, are still pretty passable. I don’t know what I’m missing. It just feels like everything else plods along at the same pace, with nothing overly interesting happening. Just a horrible, sludgy mess of some poorly executed prog metal ideas.
Sorry Dreamscape. Think I’m going to skip this one and listen to ‘Revoiced’.
Album · 2010 ·
Progressive Metal
martindavey87
2010’s ‘Static Impulse’ is the second solo album by Dream Theater vocalist James LaBrie (not counting his previous Mullmuzzler albums, which are often considered a solo project). Whatever foundations LaBrie laid down on his first album are well and firmly smashed to pieces with this, as he now goes in a much darker and heavier direction than before, giving us one of the most intense Dream Theater side-projects out there.
Of course, this is also in part thanks to the musicians he has surrounded himself with. Once again teaming with guitarist Marco Sfogli and long-running keyboard buddy Matt Guillory, LaBrie already has a good chemistry with these guys. But it’s newcomer Peter Wildoer on the drums, with his death metal background, that ups the ante with the heaviness, incorporating a large amount of growling vocals.
But the amazing thing is that it fits perfectly with LaBrie’s clean vocals.
Although this album fits comfortably in the progressive metal genre, the songs mostly follow a standard song structure. But the writing is solid and the performances are incredibly tight and precise. There’s an awesome synergy between everyone here, and it shows. And while LaBrie’s aging voice might struggle on stage, on record, it’s an absolute joy to listen to.
With highlights including ‘One More Time’, ‘Mislead’, ‘Jekyll or Hyde’, ‘Coming Home’, ‘I Need You’, ‘Euphoric’ and ‘Over the Edge’, this is more than just another solo outing, this is a fantastic album, by a very legit band, and while there’s no doubting that Dream Theater will always be LaBrie’s “home”, I really hope to hear more from this line-up of musicians.
Album · 1995 ·
Progressive Metal
martindavey87
‘The Final Experiment’ is the debut album by legendary progressive metal outfit, Ayreon, the band pseudonym of multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Arjen Anthony Lucassen. I use the term “legendary” because Ayreon albums have not only gone on to garner huge fan adulation and respect, but have become known for utilizing a wealth of musicians from various genres, thus displaying a high standard of quality and musicianship.
However, that’s now. Back in 1995, Lucassen was pretty much unknown, and was just starting to put this little project together. Not being able to pick from an unlimited pallet of musicians like he is today, almost everyone on this album is also relatively unknown, and are mostly friends from Lucassen’s homeland, the Netherlands.
And so with that said, this album is nothing more than laying the foundations of what’s to come. The huge medieval science fiction concept is in place, and it’s clear the musical direction is in the vein of traditional progressive metal, though with an underlying folk influence. However, for all the pomp and pageantry, I do find this album to be pretty forgettable. There’s only a handful of songs I’d really consider coming back to, such as ‘Eyes of Time’, ‘Sail Away to Avalon’ and ‘Ye Courtyard Minstrel Boy’, which are all remarkable, but otherwise, I would much rather listen to any of Ayreon’s later releases.
But for what it’s worth, this is still an album worth owning, if nothing more, than because it’s the start of a huge rock opera that will go on to span many albums over many years. But much, much better things are on the horizon for this Dutch project.
Album · 2008 ·
Progressive Metal
UMUR
"Warring Factions" is the second full-length studio album by Norwegian black metal act Ansur. The album was released through Candlelight Records in April 2008. It´s the successor to "Axiom" from August 2006. "Warring Factions" would be the last studio album under the Ansur monicker, as the band opted to change their name to Leixis in 2011. The reason for the name change was predominantly that Ansur wanted to distance themselves from their black metal sound and instead start a band which focused on playing progressive rock...
...well... listening to "Warring Factions", Ansur were already well on their way in that direction. Although the album still features the occasional use of semi-snarling extreme metal vocals and a couple of more extreme metal oriented moments (one minute into "An Exercise In Depth Of Field" you´ll find one of those moments), the material is generally much more hard rock and progressive rock oriented with dominant use of organ, blistering melodic guitar work, hard rock chord progressions and riffs, time-signature changes, use of dissonance, and just an overall progressive mindset to the songwriting (the inclusion of saxophone is a brilliant touch). I think some of Ihsahn´s work is a valid reference, but Ansur generally create something pretty unique here.
One of the things I find interesting about "Warring Factions" is the positive energy and generally uplifting atmosphere that the album exudes. It´s not that Ansur was ever the most extreme or dark and savage sounding black metal act, but it´s still a bit surprising how much light and melody they have let in on "Warring Factions".
The band are obviously very well playing, but Ansur should probably already at this point have taken the plunge and gotten rid of the harsh vocals, because the few times lead vocalist Espen A.R. Aulie sings more melodic and clean are where the music shines the most. The harsh vocals are unfortunately the weak link of the album. They are not badly performed, but they just don´t fit the instrumental part of the music that well.
"Warring Factions" is a relatively long album featuring 7 tracks (including two tracks exceeding 12 minutes in length) and a total playing time of 61:34 minutes. The long playing time is fully warranted though and the album just flies by presenting one intriguing songwriting idea after another. The album features a well sounding production too (although the drums are a bit buried in the mix and sometimes also sound a bit artificial/programmed), and upon conclusion "Warring Factions" is one hell of a progressive metal album. Highly unique and creative. It would have been interesting to hear where Ansur would take their music had they carried on. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.
Movie · 2006 ·
Progressive Metal
martindavey87
Following on very closely to the format of 2004’s ‘Live At Budokan’, ‘Score: 20th Anniversary Tour’ is a fantastic DVD for fans of progressive metal icons, Dream Theater.
The first disc features an almost three-hour concert. Beautifully shot, with excellent sound and clear visuals, the band are on top form as always. The set is interesting in that, while touring in support of their ‘Octavarium’ album, (represented here five times), the band also go through various tracks throughout their discography in chronological order. Ending with an orchestra and treating us to ‘Octavarium’, ‘Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence’ and ‘Metropolis Pt. 1’, the set list is fantastic, and certainly differs to other live releases.
Amidst a number of bonus tracks and animated visuals, the true gem on the second disc is an hour-long documentary on the history of the band. While it’s a lot to cram into 60-minutes, this is still an interesting and enjoyable watch, and includes plenty of live footage, interviews and photos.
Rounding up the perfect trilogy of live albums/DVD’s, along with ‘Metropolis 2000…’, and ‘Budokan…’, ‘Score’ is an exceptional release, sure to please fans, and is an absolutely essential addition to every prog collection.
Movie · 2004 ·
Progressive Metal
martindavey87
Compiling two previously released Dream Theater VHS’s (they were the days!), this DVD is around three and a half hours of various music videos, live footage and tour diaries. ‘Images and Words…’ focuses on the bands first visit to Japan way back in the early 90’s, while ‘Five Years…’ follows the bands career from around 1994 to 1998, covering the making of the ‘Awake’ and ‘Falling Into Infinity’ albums, as well as the subsequent tours.
There’s plenty of highlights on both discs, besides the abundance of live concert footage, seeing the band members loitering the streets of Japan, in the studio writing, recording, and dilly-dallying, as well as playing covers with guest appearances, there’s a lot here for fans to enjoy.
An added bonus for the dedicated fans are the commentaries for both discs, where the guys are absolutely hilarious in their ability to poke fun at themselves (and each other), and not take anything too seriously. Overall, two fantastic discs in fantastic package, definitely worth owning for any Dream Theater fans.
Movie · 2005 ·
Progressive Metal
martindavey87
Filmed and released in 2004, ‘When Dream and Day Reunite’ was the first DVD to come out from Dream Theater’s Official Bootlegs series. Paying tribute to the band’s debut album, ‘When Dream and Day Unite’, on its 15th anniversary, this is an interesting look back at the bands first official album. An album which they no longer own the rights to, therefore meaning this is as good as a remix, remaster or re-release that we’ll ever get.
The concert footage is fantastic! Playing their debut album in its entirety, and featuring guest appearances by Derek Sherinian and Charlie Dominici, this is excellent stuff, and well worth watching. The sound and picture are great, and as expected, the performers are all on top form. As well as rehearsal footage and behind-the-scenes commentary, this is all great material for Dream Theater fans.
Then the icing on the cake, a 70-minute “home video” documentary compiled by Mike Portnoy, featuring concert footage and the band discussing their album, all in their early days. This is super interesting to watch, especially seeing them at such a young age. For an “official bootleg”, this DVD has an absolute wealth of material, and is truly a must-have for Dream Theater fans.
Movie · 2004 ·
Progressive Metal
martindavey87
In my opinion, this is without a doubt one of the best live DVD’s ever!
The concert is spot on. The picture and sound are fantastic, the camera angles capture everything perfectly, and the set list, while no doubt being somewhat “dated” now, is still incredible. As you’d expect with Dream Theater, the performances are all breath-taking, not only in the songs themselves, but all the extra jams, solos and whatever else they might throw in during the near-three hour set.
On top of that, there’s a whole wealth of incredible extras that should please anyone who’s ever considered themselves a fan of the progressive metal pioneers. A look at John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess’ gear, a Mike Portnoy drum solo that goes beyond mindless bashing, but fully entertains the audience, a highlights video, a multi-angle version of arguably the most insane instrumental song you’ll ever hear, and the true highlight, a 30-minute documentary of the Japanese tour.
I got this when it first came out, and it totally blew me away back then, as much as it does now. Without any doubt in my mind, this release is absolutely perfect, and definitely one of the all-time greatest live concert DVD’s.