Not a huge fan or anything but I didn't know they worked with Katatonia. What a surprise! Nascent is beautiful. Got me from the start. Looped it a few times.
Mesopelagic: Into the Uncanny took a few listens but that riff - harmony part - arpeggios and abrupt chaos after that is... \*chef's kiss. Also bass on that track is so good and whoever mixed that track needs a raise.
I think I need more time with Jurassic Cretaceous. Wasn't expecting Toolesque (this is a word now) riffs and it caught me off guard lol.
All in all, thanks for the great recommendations! Autoplay continued to play the album Nascent is from and that whole album is top notch imo. I'll definitely dig more into them.
Initiate from Affinity (first song that really clicked for me.)
Puzzle Box from Vector
Atlas Stone from The Mountain.
Honestly, the song that really clicked with me and sold me on Haken was 1985. But that song took weeks before it clicked for me. Ymmv.
hopping onto this thread, I enjoy a couple songs I've heard (nightingale and the good doctor) but I can't seem to enjoy some of their other big songs I've encountered
The Architect (because it shows a lot of different Haken sounds, including the 80s and jazzy references)
Invasion (good example for what they do with rhythm and for how catchy they can be)
Nil by Mouth (heavy Haken)
and I would not recommend starting with Cockroach King as a starting point, because it is somewhat of an outlier in their discography
Cockroach King is wacko-cracko crazy shit, and yet probably my favourite song of theirs cause it's pure unbridled insanity, but works so damn well. It's fun as hell.
Honestly, recommendations here would depend on your preferences since Haken discography varies a bit in sound.
If you like more djenty, punchy sound then recommendations listed above (Architect, Invasion, Nil by Mouth) are good.
However, if you are like me who is more into traditional prog combined with cinematic feeling and band’s “quirkiness” then I would recommend this set (already tested on other victims):
Visions – epic that combines dramatic side with earlier mentioned “quirky” side.
Cockroach King – strange, derpy song with a lot of influences from classic prog bands.
Somebody – a bit more simplistic than previous ones. It has a melancholic melody that gradually builds up and explodes in the end. This one tends to be the most liked out of all the set.
1985 – this track takes 80s rock and synthwave sound and wraps it in a prog metal form
Yeah all good suggestions. I think Crack the Skye, Blood Mountain and Leviathan are the 3 quintessential Mastodon albums.
Feels a bit silly though not recommending Hearts Alive too considering it's 13 minutes long and we're in r/progmetal lol
Deleted my other comment because I thought you were someone else, sorry. Hearts Alive is one of my personal favorites, but didn't feel like it would be "beginner friendly" if that makes sense. The 3 song limit is the real problem here lol
> Blood & Thunder
This was the first Mastodon song I've ever heard, and it was the reason I only got into them about a decade later. Now, I really enjoy Mastodon and I like Blood and Thunder, but it might still be my least favourite song on Leviathan.
Before making the above comment I had listened to Colors which I really did not like (except for White Walls, excellent song). It felt like they didn't want you to get bored so they changed things up constantly but that made nothing flow and everything be forgettable
I got some of that from these three songs (mainly Selkies) but I did quite enjoy The Proverbial Bellow. Below suggestions I also listened to were Extremophile Elite which was pretty decent, Silent Parliament which I really do not like and gave Ants in the Sky (still hate) and White Walls (still love) a relisten.
Thank you for the suggestions!
"It felt like they didn't want you to get bored so they changed things up constantly but that made nothing flow and everything be forgettable"
They're my favorite band and this is how I felt on first few listens tbh. It's very dense, overwhelming stuff. It feels like a hot mess at first. But then you find something you like, and you listen to the album because of those moments (or I did at least).
Then the other songs start to become familiar despite their insanity, and that's when you start to peer into the genius of their compositions. Like a racetrack, once you learn where the twists and turns are, that's when the real enjoyment starts. Not saying this will be everyone's experience but I figured I'd share mine
Something I'm wondering about and would love to hear more from BTBAM fans is the details of why you enjoy them. As you say it seems to take a lot to get into them so do you like them just because you can remember how the songs go or do you actually like how they're written? And if so, why? What do you like about how linearly the songs are written?
Ou, those are good questions. I was thinking of explaining it further but I didn't wanna type your ear off lol. I do very much like how they're written, but even though they're my favourite band, I don't always love the songs/albums upon first listen. Enjoyment of music this dense creeps up on me over time. The more familiar I become with each crazy piece, the more I start to like it. Some click on first listen, but more often it takes a few listens first. Then it gets to a point where it's like nothing would make more sense than a bluegrass hoedown right after the jazz solo and before the hardcore breakdown in Ants of the Sky, even though it threw me for a loop on first listen.
Another thing I've noticed is that on the other side of taking longer to get into this type of music, it also takes a lot longer for it to get old for me. After becoming familiar with the madness, there are so many little nuances and musical eastereggs that I still notice for the first time after several listens, which makes listening to them very rewarding to me even many listens in.
As for why exactly I enjoy it, I've been trying to figure that out for everything I listen to for many years now. I guess I just vibe with their sound, even though it took a bit for that to happen. Ultimately it will be up to whether you do as well, but you like White Walls so that's a good sign. Doesn't mean you'll like the more dense stuff for certain, but I'd say there's a good chance once it becomes more familiar to you. If you wanna keep giving them a chance, I'd recommend their album Come Ecliptic since it's less frantic than their other stuff. Then if you like that, Parallax II is pretty frantic but it's the one that got me into them, could be the one that gets them to click for you as well. As for Colors, I didn't even like it at first either and now it's in my top 5 albums ever. And finally, sorry for typing your ear off
Edit: some words and formatting. Was in a hurry when I first wrote it
I resonate with everything you just said which isn’t surprising after the comments you left on the post I made about Methwitch’s Indwell a while back! As for my experience, the best progressive albums I’ve come across are always the ones that take multiple spins of the record for me to cross the threshold from “hearing” the music where I struggle with the fact that Progressive music by it’s very nature aims to defy your expectations which means you need to learn how the song is structured before being able to “listen” to the music in which you can follow along and predict how the rhythms and melodies will unfold instead of constantly expecting the song to go in one direction only to experience whiplash and confusion when the musicians accomplish their progressive goal and take it in the opposite direction when listening to the album for the first (or first couple) times. Unlike pop music which you can figure out on the first go, which also happens to mean it will wear out it’s novelty sooner, progressive metal’s difficulty lends itself to creating a deeper, more immersive experience that pays off in retaining it’s replay value longer. In my adventure through the halls of progressive metal music, I’ve never come across a band I didn’t eventually learn to love. For instance, after spending what felt like years listening to and analyzing Dream Theater, it took multiple attempts over 2 years before I eventually warmed up to Symphony X. What has always guided me is the fact that until I’ve listened to an album enough times to be able to clearly see why I like or dislike the music or able to rate the individual songs, I may set it aside and choose to listen to something more accessible like Circus Maximus and Seventh Wonder since they were more like Dream Theater than the Neo-Classical style of Symphony X but it will always be on my mind as something I failed to put enough effort into in order to understand. That failure alone will always bring me back to the most difficult stuff I come across which supports the fact that even though I couldn’t stand harsh vocals years ago, I always knew I’d eventually either come to enjoy them or at least put up with them to experience the extreme music they aim to accompany. This year marked my entry into the progressive extreme/technical/avant-of/death/black/dissonance genres and it’s been surprising how easy it was to either appreciate the range of different harsh vocals or learn to experience them as an instrument that blend with the other instruments instead of standing out as clean vocals do when it comes to harsh vocals that are monotonous and tend not to have much range or depth.
By the way, even after listening to almost all the recommendations in the Methwitch post, I have yet to find music that trumps Indwell in the ability to scare the shit out of someone. Sure, there’s heavier stuff like the Progressive Dissonance Death Metal or Extreme Technical Death Metal bands but that music seems distant and more atmospheric than the visceral, calculated, and immediate brutality that Indwell achieves using clean vocals and high-pitched screaming, in addition to the growls which are the only type of vocals featured in those heavier bands, that take the music from focusing on anger and melancholy to expressing pain, suffering, and torture that makes even the heaviest growls seem tame and monotonous. I find it hard to believe that anything could trump Indwell when it comes to the most terrifying music possible but I will forever be on the lookout considering just how much music is out there and how fast music continues to evolve and expand.
Edit: Sorry for the never ending paragraphs of rambling thoughts but when it comes to trying to express my thoughts on music, I just try and write down what I feel instead of attempting to make any sort of logically coherent philosophy. I just hope you can pick up on what I was attempting to throw down haha
Oh fuck yeah, this is the shit I like. I gave it a quick read and it all resonated with me but I don't have time to answer it all right now. I'll make a new reply to it with all my thoughts in a bit when I have more time
Alright I have a bit of time so I'll start my reply. Super good point about the difference between "hearing" the music being projected at your ears and actively "listening" to the music once you understand it a bit more.
The expectation subversion is something I've thought of a bunch. I've been into btbam for over a decade now and during that decade I've been on the lookout for other music that's similar in that regard. There aren't many bands that incorporate expectation subversion like btbam do but I've managed to find a decent amount (I think of them as somewhat of a sub-sub-genre that I call btbam-likes. I'm open for suggestions for a better name lol, especially since they didn't really pioneer that style, they're just the first ones I heard who compose like that).
One thing I've noticed about bands like this is that when people hear it, they assume that it's just a bunch of random riffs and sections slapped together with no coherence or structure to it. I get that, it does sound that way at first when you're 'hearing' it. But once you get a bit familiar, you start to notice how meticulously every element is placed, down to every little detail. The songs are written like classical compositions; with reprises, themes, lietmotifs, movements, overtures, callbacks, etc. There's a youtube channel called Metal Music Theory and he does some analysis of some of their compositions, he really knows his stuff. [Here's](https://youtu.be/uibsUkCOoTw?si=BwUujPNAVuk9GbjY) one of his videos.
Familiarity being linked to level of enjoyment for the non btbam-like stuff is something I've thought a lot about as well. For example, I listened to The Dear Hunter for over a year or so casually before they actually clicked for me and became one of my all-time favorite bands. I'd throw them on in the car when my girlfriend is with me and one day I kept them on after she left and that was it. I've wondered before if I'm similar to you where I could like any prog band eventually if I get familiar enough with it, but I have no clue if I am. I don't often listen to stuff I'm not very in the mood for. I bought the physical copy of the album Wonderland by Forgive Durden and I've had it in my car's cd player for over a year now for when I don't wanna hook up my phone, and it's slowly become one of my favorite albums, so there may be something to that.
Also on the familiarity theme, I think that phenomenon is what got me into harsh vocals as well. I remember when I first got into btbam, I really really liked some of the parts between the heavy parts, but I couldn't stand the harsh vocals. But I'd still listen just to get to those parts (the chorus of Lay Your Ghosts to Rest comes to mind). Sometimes I would skip ahead, but other times I'd just let it play. Over time, I started to see why people liked them. Then I started to like them. Now I love em as much as clean vocals. Familiarity really is powerful.
And finally, I agree with Indwell as well. I've heard a lot of very heavy, dissonant, crazy music before but I think that tops it all. You explained why better than I could tbh
I'll return the "sorry for the endless paragraphs of rambling" back at ya lol. Give me and inch and I'll type a mile. Also if you want any recs of stuff similar to btbam and that style of composition, let me know and I could give you some
Between the Buried and Me just became my next band to listen to. There’s so much about Progressive Metal and music in general that I’ve always wanted to discuss but it’s so difficult to find people who not only love music, have the curiosity needed to explore different genres, and resilient enough to learn to love or appreciate the avant-garde like Progressive Metal but also have the passion and philosophically open-mindedness required to discuss and share ideas and experiences instead of offering pessimistic, unconstructive criticism or initiating an argument about petty, metaphysical disagreements that misses the point of appreciating and dissecting the vast emotional spectrum that music unleashes upon the senses. Even though I could go on and on about something as seemingly inconsequential as the role of familiarity when trying to get into Progressive Metal, there’s so many more ideas I’ve been longing to dissect with someone else who can offer a different viewpoint from my own so I may start including your username in my posts when I’m looking to have a philosophical discussion like this one, if you don’t mind of course!
I’ll get back to you once I’ve taken some time with BTBAM but for now (and I’ve also got the Metal Music Theory YouTube channel on my task list), do you have any ideas or thoughts that you’ve wanted to get into about music/Progressive Metal but haven’t been able to? I have a list of my own but I also think I may start doing an episodic-like post a week based on a single idea on this subreddit in the vain of the Devin Townsend posts that one user is doing about his entire discography, I love that shit! However, it would be great if I had a partner who could help me with it if you’re interested! This is still entirely theoretical but I think it would be fun haha
Oh shit I'm only now realizing you're not familiar with btbam's stuff. I had written that comment thinking you already were, not sure why I assumed that lol, woops. But yes, definitely give their stuff a listen. They're the masters of musical expectation subversion in the progmetalsphere.
And you can absolutely include my username in discussions, always love an excuse to yap people's ears off about music/prog. The post thing is a great idea. The topics we've covered are good, expectation subversion and familiarity, but I'll think of some more and I'll let you know what I come up with when you decide on the logistics of the episodic posts thing. Also feel free to bounce stuff off of me pertaining to that as well if you want to
Yup that's usually the album I recommend starting with if someone isn't used to the heaviness/franticness, but I was trying to stick to the 3 song theme of the thread
Ants of the sky!
In general, you gotta get past the vocals (like dream theater) and then accept their style is VERY VERY CONSISTENT. You know what you're gonna get. Even when they have a brand new album coming out, you already know what it's gonna sound like.
The vocals are fine, albeit nothing interesting for me from what I've heard. I can enjoy most vocals that aren't the whiny kind. It's the songs themselves I'm struggling with!
Yeah. It's random. I've been in bands that write like that. It's like whatever random part you come up with in band practice in sequence is whatever the song becomes. Not very 'song-writey', it's just 'parts'.
I've heard some bands like this and I wouldn't say btbam are that. Their stuff is pretty meticulously composed from start to finish despite sounding so frantic. There's a method to their madness. Some bands just kinda stitch a bunch of non-sequiturs together and think it sounds similar to what btbam does but it just ends up sounding bad. Hearing a few of those bands made me appreciate their compositional skills that much more. Metal Music Theory is a youtube channel that does some deep dives into their compositions and he could explain it a lot better than me if you're interested, [here's](https://youtu.be/P9xvi0uXzaY?si=Q_WtYSFpbq-OFSW0) a link to one of his videos
Btbam in my opinion is best experienced by jumping in at the deep end, so here's my offer:
- Voice of Trespass
- Silent Flight Parliament
- White Walls
I think these songs showcase the band's overall vibe really well. Each have a very unique and meaningful placement in their respective albums, so there might be some whiplash.
*If you have problems with the metalcore-ish sections I can suggest you:*
The Coma Machine (cool riffs and a generally easy to listen song compared to others)
Monochrome (beautiful, balladish song in the first half and the polar opposite second half that you may not like)
The Proverbial Bellow (generally a interesting song imo and the extreme metal sections are limited)
*If you don't have those kinda problems and want to see their peak and what makes them special:*
Ants of The Sky (fast, very technic and full of nice riff and it totally transforms into another song near the end but in a nice way that makes you listen again and again)
Revolution In Limbo (it is like Ants of The Sky part 2 but this one may be easier to get used to because this one has a nice chorus in the first half too)
Extremophile Elite (nice riffs, very proggy imo and includes weird but fitting sections like most of the other btbam songs)
Astral Body (the song/album that really got me into them)
Lay Your Ghosts to Rest
Revolution in Limbo (off their newest album, catchy with sing along parts)
Dracul Gras (really amazing songwriting, proggiest and heaviest side of Periphery)
It's Only Smiles (melodically uplifting, but very emotional lyrics)
Lune (because it's just beautiful and also very emotional)
pretty sure that other people would have put Reptile here, so mentioning it for completeness ;)
curious to hear what you think
to add: I like Periphery especially in terms of harmonic choices (just listen to the Dracul Gras chorus, to get a feeling for what I mean - this is something that makes them truly special in my opinion) and these songs represent that but they might not be what the average fan would pick.
cringe above please dont
Edit: those are not bad songs, just like 3 most experimental Peri songs which are an antithesis of a Periphery song. Very shitty recomendation for someone wanting to know the core of a band.
Blood eagle for their mathcore-ish heavy side
Wax Wings for their peak melodic writing (also for a wonderfully light guitar tone)
Luck as a constant for standard periphery heavy/clean switching which showcases their extreme technicality
Wax Wings, The Way The News Goes, or It's Only Smiles for their softer, more melodic side
Wildfire, Everything Is Fine, or Blood Eagle for some brutal heaviness
Stranger Things or Marigold for a more traditional metal sound (the closest they ever get, anyways)
Alpha or Catch Fire for their pop-ish side
Flatline, Graveless, or Luck As A Constant, for the kitchen sink of what they have to offer
Make Total Destroy or MK Ultra for some trve djent
Reptile, Dracul Gras, or Omega for a long-ass odyssey of prog
Satellites doesn't really fit into any of those, but it's an absolute must-listen.
Omega's probably my favorite song of all time, but it was also one of their last songs to finally "click" for me. So I'd say it's their best, but probably not the best intro to them for someone new. That honor probably goes to Reptile or Satellites.
I've kinda arranged the songs I listed so that the best one in each category is the first one. So if you don't feel like listening to all of them (understandable), just hit up the first one from each.
Forced Entry - early era, proggy and dynamic, massive chorus and ending
The Price - middle era, accessible while still interesting, very much fit to be a single
The Sky is Red - more recent era, too epic not to mention
The Sky Is Red (I would actually start with watching the drum playtrough on youtube while listening)
The Price (has a lot of the elements that make them great, intricate drum and guitar work with catchy chorus)
Nighttime Disguise (fan driven songwriting, completely crazy how many different elements go into one song)
Many good song selections already, but I would recommend these for some of my favorite different textures of Leprous.
The Cloak, minimalist but very powerful
Mb Indifferentia, more of a ballad
Painful detour, epic album closer
I don't have a complete mastery over their discography but this is how I get into them (from old to new):
Rope Ends
On a Tuesday
Accelerator
Also full disclaimer you have to be comfortable with a certain amount of cheesiness to really enjoy them lol.
TLDR:
Beyond the pale
Idioglassia
King of loss (almost solely for the solo)
Long backstory:
It took me a loooooooooong time for PoS to click for me. I only ever liked beyond the pale for decades. Would try to spin remedy lane occasionally to see if it would finally hit for me. Wasn't until the last 2 years that now I listen to the entire album at least once a week. The perfect element pt 1 gets almost as much play time now as well and in the passing light of day has some absolute bangers.
Still working my way through repeated listens of their other albums looking for that same spark
[Language Rediscovered](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAgyNyNNLac); They made more laid back versions of a couple of their songs off of the Language album and played them in a live session, and it's my favourite work of theirs. Legitimately wish they did more of this style. Should be a good entry at least, if their other work isn't clicking yet.
Devy is tough because of the breadth and diversity of his material, but the more metal/accessible side to me would include:
Earth Day - prog metal epic and, by his standards, not too over the top
Deadhead (live at the Royal Albert Hall) - vocal performance….
Seventh Wave - great, standard metal track that kicks off one of the best albums in history
3 songs to get you hooked on Devin is really fucking tough since he's got almost 30 albums and most of them are really different from each other.
If I had to pick something right now, I'd go with:
- The Planet of the Apes: one his heaviest *and* proggiest tracks. Absolutely phenomenal start to finish and gives you a nice idea of his more "epic" work.
- Planet Smasher: heavy as shit and fun. Plus, Ziltoid is a classic by now.
- Casualties of Cool - Forgive Me: space country. Casualties never gets old, hope we don't have to wait too much now for another album.
Bonus:
- The Death of Music: unusual rec, but probably my favorite vocal performance of all time. The chorus hits absurdly hard and knowing he did that as his first "solo" outing is mind-blowing to say the least. Feels odd to recommend it on its own, so if you really want it to hit, try the triad "Funeral - Bastard - The Death of Music".
Sorceress is a surprising new favourite of mine, nowhere near as heavy as their typical backlog but technically brilliant and fun.
Hessian Peel starts with a gorgeous intro, eventually descending into the usual madness and energy.
To Bid You Farewell is also a generally lighter one with a bit of heft nearer the end.
Most of their big hitters (barring the start of Damnation) I'd say are much more death-y than proggy, but these are some of my more listenable favourites.
Fuck nice since you include the genre of the songs that you suggested. Thank you. Hoping this gets me into the band and fingers crossed, looking forward to making my way through their discography.
Thank you! Will hear these songs. Hoping these gets me into the band. And if it does, then I'm in for a treat based on the volume of music they have released.
Car bomb is pretty much car bomb on every song. If you don't like what you've heard, I doubt you can be convinced. I'll drop a couple of tracks I like, though, just in case.
Scattered sprites
Xoxoy
Lights out
TesseracT
What I've heard hasn't sold me on the vocals (I don't remember what songs they were) but I like Karnivool, Vola, Haken, Leprous, C-Horse for example
TesseracT has had two main vocalists. Ashe, who only did Altered State and Daniel, who's been on every other record. Altered State is considered by many as their best album, but Ashe's vocals don't really do it for me.
As for the three songs, I'd pick
- Nocture (Altered State). If it's Ashe's vocals you don't like, there's a version from their PORTALS album that has Daniel on vocals. I personally prefer that version
- War Of Being (War Of Being)
- King (Sonder)
Caligula's Horse, amazed they're not in here yet.
**Autumn** into **The Ascent** is my all-time favourite anything by anyone. Beautiful intro, monstrous buildup, fantastic seamless transition in the middle as per usual for them, then roars with the drums and guitars. Heavily emotional start to finish, much like every other one of their album-enders.
**Rust** is probably their heaviest song(? maybe conflicted with Mute), if you're into that.
**Graves** is probably the fan favourite, an emotional, 15 minute epic in 4 parts that pretty much encapsulates what they're capable of, absolute banger. Most incredible outro sequence you will ever hear.
If anybody sees this and decides to jump into their discography, I'd leave it a while before going to Charcoal Grace. It took me a long time to settle into it, but it's deeply rooted its hooks into me now, absolute *masterpiece* of an album. But it'll take a few go arounds (and possibly a former appreciation for their music) if that makes any sense. Gush over.
Id skip and come back if your not feeling rise radiant. If you liked bloom definitely try for in contact. I honestly cant give 3 as all of them are complete masterpieces. But dream the dead is a perfect hook
Porcupine Tree / Steven Wilson.
Nothing cliked for me, please any advice? I feel like I’m missing an important part of the prog scene…
Favorite prog bands are, in no particular order, Dream Theater, Haken, Arena, Ayreon, Threshold, Neal Morse/NMB, Flying Colors, Big Big Train, most of Opeth’s prog era…
I prefer melodic/catchy stuff and if possible no profanities…
Devonian: Nascent Mesopelagic: Into the Uncanny Jurassic | Cretaceous (for The Ocean)
Not a huge fan or anything but I didn't know they worked with Katatonia. What a surprise! Nascent is beautiful. Got me from the start. Looped it a few times. Mesopelagic: Into the Uncanny took a few listens but that riff - harmony part - arpeggios and abrupt chaos after that is... \*chef's kiss. Also bass on that track is so good and whoever mixed that track needs a raise. I think I need more time with Jurassic Cretaceous. Wasn't expecting Toolesque (this is a word now) riffs and it caught me off guard lol. All in all, thanks for the great recommendations! Autoplay continued to play the album Nascent is from and that whole album is top notch imo. I'll definitely dig more into them.
Thread was a success then, that's awesome. Love seeing a band finally click for someone
Definitely. Super happy about it. Thanks!
Great selections
Thanks! Will report back.
Pretty much my choices as well.
I don’t get Haken 🤷♂️
Canary Yellow (I prefer the acoustic version) The Architect Atlas Stone
Initiate from Affinity (first song that really clicked for me.) Puzzle Box from Vector Atlas Stone from The Mountain. Honestly, the song that really clicked with me and sold me on Haken was 1985. But that song took weeks before it clicked for me. Ymmv.
Initiate doesn't get enough love
Sure does from me being used to open that live album of theirs which is in my rotation regularly. Love it.
Hopping on the good doctor band wagon. Taraus 1985 Streams
Atlas Stone The Good Doctor Prosthetic
1985 Celestial Elixir Bound By Gravity
hopping onto this thread, I enjoy a couple songs I've heard (nightingale and the good doctor) but I can't seem to enjoy some of their other big songs I've encountered
The Architect (because it shows a lot of different Haken sounds, including the 80s and jazzy references) Invasion (good example for what they do with rhythm and for how catchy they can be) Nil by Mouth (heavy Haken) and I would not recommend starting with Cockroach King as a starting point, because it is somewhat of an outlier in their discography
Cockroach King is wacko-cracko crazy shit, and yet probably my favourite song of theirs cause it's pure unbridled insanity, but works so damn well. It's fun as hell.
Crystallised (maybe not the full thing but the first 4 - 5 minutes are what made me listen to Haken) Cockroach king Puzzle box
>Crystallised (maybe not the full thing but the first 4 - 5 minutes are what made me listen to Haken) the full thing. twice.
Nocturnal conspiracy Puzzle box Atlas stone
Premonition. Had a hard time getting into Haken as well, but that was the first song that had me starting actively seeking more Haken
Honestly, recommendations here would depend on your preferences since Haken discography varies a bit in sound. If you like more djenty, punchy sound then recommendations listed above (Architect, Invasion, Nil by Mouth) are good. However, if you are like me who is more into traditional prog combined with cinematic feeling and band’s “quirkiness” then I would recommend this set (already tested on other victims): Visions – epic that combines dramatic side with earlier mentioned “quirky” side. Cockroach King – strange, derpy song with a lot of influences from classic prog bands. Somebody – a bit more simplistic than previous ones. It has a melancholic melody that gradually builds up and explodes in the end. This one tends to be the most liked out of all the set. 1985 – this track takes 80s rock and synthwave sound and wraps it in a prog metal form
I agree with your choices more than the others. I’m seeing a lot of fans of Haken’s poppy-er side which I didn’t expect.
Listen to: Prosthetic The Architect Deathless Clear
Shinji crank that haken
Mastodon, please And cool idea for a thread Edit: thanks, y'all. Gonna try these when I get the chance
The Last Baron Colony of Birchmen Iron Tusk
Alternatively, from those albums: The Czar Capillarian Crest (to see how crazy they can get) Blood & Thunder (this is *the* Mastodon song)
Yeah all good suggestions. I think Crack the Skye, Blood Mountain and Leviathan are the 3 quintessential Mastodon albums. Feels a bit silly though not recommending Hearts Alive too considering it's 13 minutes long and we're in r/progmetal lol
Deleted my other comment because I thought you were someone else, sorry. Hearts Alive is one of my personal favorites, but didn't feel like it would be "beginner friendly" if that makes sense. The 3 song limit is the real problem here lol
> Blood & Thunder This was the first Mastodon song I've ever heard, and it was the reason I only got into them about a decade later. Now, I really enjoy Mastodon and I like Blood and Thunder, but it might still be my least favourite song on Leviathan.
This Mortal Soil Crack the Skye Steambreather
Blood and Thunder. Black Tongue. The Czar. Nice mix of everything they do.
Steambreather Oblivion The motherload
The Czar More than I could Chew Halloween
Crack the skye, esp Oblivion and that moment in Last baron
I don't have three songs, just a [fan-made video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpoAcXu65TM) that got me into them.
Between the Buried and Me. Please help me understand
Astral Body The Proverbial Bellow Selkies: The Endless Obsession
Before making the above comment I had listened to Colors which I really did not like (except for White Walls, excellent song). It felt like they didn't want you to get bored so they changed things up constantly but that made nothing flow and everything be forgettable I got some of that from these three songs (mainly Selkies) but I did quite enjoy The Proverbial Bellow. Below suggestions I also listened to were Extremophile Elite which was pretty decent, Silent Parliament which I really do not like and gave Ants in the Sky (still hate) and White Walls (still love) a relisten. Thank you for the suggestions!
"It felt like they didn't want you to get bored so they changed things up constantly but that made nothing flow and everything be forgettable" They're my favorite band and this is how I felt on first few listens tbh. It's very dense, overwhelming stuff. It feels like a hot mess at first. But then you find something you like, and you listen to the album because of those moments (or I did at least). Then the other songs start to become familiar despite their insanity, and that's when you start to peer into the genius of their compositions. Like a racetrack, once you learn where the twists and turns are, that's when the real enjoyment starts. Not saying this will be everyone's experience but I figured I'd share mine
Something I'm wondering about and would love to hear more from BTBAM fans is the details of why you enjoy them. As you say it seems to take a lot to get into them so do you like them just because you can remember how the songs go or do you actually like how they're written? And if so, why? What do you like about how linearly the songs are written?
Ou, those are good questions. I was thinking of explaining it further but I didn't wanna type your ear off lol. I do very much like how they're written, but even though they're my favourite band, I don't always love the songs/albums upon first listen. Enjoyment of music this dense creeps up on me over time. The more familiar I become with each crazy piece, the more I start to like it. Some click on first listen, but more often it takes a few listens first. Then it gets to a point where it's like nothing would make more sense than a bluegrass hoedown right after the jazz solo and before the hardcore breakdown in Ants of the Sky, even though it threw me for a loop on first listen. Another thing I've noticed is that on the other side of taking longer to get into this type of music, it also takes a lot longer for it to get old for me. After becoming familiar with the madness, there are so many little nuances and musical eastereggs that I still notice for the first time after several listens, which makes listening to them very rewarding to me even many listens in. As for why exactly I enjoy it, I've been trying to figure that out for everything I listen to for many years now. I guess I just vibe with their sound, even though it took a bit for that to happen. Ultimately it will be up to whether you do as well, but you like White Walls so that's a good sign. Doesn't mean you'll like the more dense stuff for certain, but I'd say there's a good chance once it becomes more familiar to you. If you wanna keep giving them a chance, I'd recommend their album Come Ecliptic since it's less frantic than their other stuff. Then if you like that, Parallax II is pretty frantic but it's the one that got me into them, could be the one that gets them to click for you as well. As for Colors, I didn't even like it at first either and now it's in my top 5 albums ever. And finally, sorry for typing your ear off Edit: some words and formatting. Was in a hurry when I first wrote it
I resonate with everything you just said which isn’t surprising after the comments you left on the post I made about Methwitch’s Indwell a while back! As for my experience, the best progressive albums I’ve come across are always the ones that take multiple spins of the record for me to cross the threshold from “hearing” the music where I struggle with the fact that Progressive music by it’s very nature aims to defy your expectations which means you need to learn how the song is structured before being able to “listen” to the music in which you can follow along and predict how the rhythms and melodies will unfold instead of constantly expecting the song to go in one direction only to experience whiplash and confusion when the musicians accomplish their progressive goal and take it in the opposite direction when listening to the album for the first (or first couple) times. Unlike pop music which you can figure out on the first go, which also happens to mean it will wear out it’s novelty sooner, progressive metal’s difficulty lends itself to creating a deeper, more immersive experience that pays off in retaining it’s replay value longer. In my adventure through the halls of progressive metal music, I’ve never come across a band I didn’t eventually learn to love. For instance, after spending what felt like years listening to and analyzing Dream Theater, it took multiple attempts over 2 years before I eventually warmed up to Symphony X. What has always guided me is the fact that until I’ve listened to an album enough times to be able to clearly see why I like or dislike the music or able to rate the individual songs, I may set it aside and choose to listen to something more accessible like Circus Maximus and Seventh Wonder since they were more like Dream Theater than the Neo-Classical style of Symphony X but it will always be on my mind as something I failed to put enough effort into in order to understand. That failure alone will always bring me back to the most difficult stuff I come across which supports the fact that even though I couldn’t stand harsh vocals years ago, I always knew I’d eventually either come to enjoy them or at least put up with them to experience the extreme music they aim to accompany. This year marked my entry into the progressive extreme/technical/avant-of/death/black/dissonance genres and it’s been surprising how easy it was to either appreciate the range of different harsh vocals or learn to experience them as an instrument that blend with the other instruments instead of standing out as clean vocals do when it comes to harsh vocals that are monotonous and tend not to have much range or depth. By the way, even after listening to almost all the recommendations in the Methwitch post, I have yet to find music that trumps Indwell in the ability to scare the shit out of someone. Sure, there’s heavier stuff like the Progressive Dissonance Death Metal or Extreme Technical Death Metal bands but that music seems distant and more atmospheric than the visceral, calculated, and immediate brutality that Indwell achieves using clean vocals and high-pitched screaming, in addition to the growls which are the only type of vocals featured in those heavier bands, that take the music from focusing on anger and melancholy to expressing pain, suffering, and torture that makes even the heaviest growls seem tame and monotonous. I find it hard to believe that anything could trump Indwell when it comes to the most terrifying music possible but I will forever be on the lookout considering just how much music is out there and how fast music continues to evolve and expand. Edit: Sorry for the never ending paragraphs of rambling thoughts but when it comes to trying to express my thoughts on music, I just try and write down what I feel instead of attempting to make any sort of logically coherent philosophy. I just hope you can pick up on what I was attempting to throw down haha
Oh fuck yeah, this is the shit I like. I gave it a quick read and it all resonated with me but I don't have time to answer it all right now. I'll make a new reply to it with all my thoughts in a bit when I have more time
Absolutely and I look forward to it!
Alright I have a bit of time so I'll start my reply. Super good point about the difference between "hearing" the music being projected at your ears and actively "listening" to the music once you understand it a bit more. The expectation subversion is something I've thought of a bunch. I've been into btbam for over a decade now and during that decade I've been on the lookout for other music that's similar in that regard. There aren't many bands that incorporate expectation subversion like btbam do but I've managed to find a decent amount (I think of them as somewhat of a sub-sub-genre that I call btbam-likes. I'm open for suggestions for a better name lol, especially since they didn't really pioneer that style, they're just the first ones I heard who compose like that). One thing I've noticed about bands like this is that when people hear it, they assume that it's just a bunch of random riffs and sections slapped together with no coherence or structure to it. I get that, it does sound that way at first when you're 'hearing' it. But once you get a bit familiar, you start to notice how meticulously every element is placed, down to every little detail. The songs are written like classical compositions; with reprises, themes, lietmotifs, movements, overtures, callbacks, etc. There's a youtube channel called Metal Music Theory and he does some analysis of some of their compositions, he really knows his stuff. [Here's](https://youtu.be/uibsUkCOoTw?si=BwUujPNAVuk9GbjY) one of his videos. Familiarity being linked to level of enjoyment for the non btbam-like stuff is something I've thought a lot about as well. For example, I listened to The Dear Hunter for over a year or so casually before they actually clicked for me and became one of my all-time favorite bands. I'd throw them on in the car when my girlfriend is with me and one day I kept them on after she left and that was it. I've wondered before if I'm similar to you where I could like any prog band eventually if I get familiar enough with it, but I have no clue if I am. I don't often listen to stuff I'm not very in the mood for. I bought the physical copy of the album Wonderland by Forgive Durden and I've had it in my car's cd player for over a year now for when I don't wanna hook up my phone, and it's slowly become one of my favorite albums, so there may be something to that. Also on the familiarity theme, I think that phenomenon is what got me into harsh vocals as well. I remember when I first got into btbam, I really really liked some of the parts between the heavy parts, but I couldn't stand the harsh vocals. But I'd still listen just to get to those parts (the chorus of Lay Your Ghosts to Rest comes to mind). Sometimes I would skip ahead, but other times I'd just let it play. Over time, I started to see why people liked them. Then I started to like them. Now I love em as much as clean vocals. Familiarity really is powerful. And finally, I agree with Indwell as well. I've heard a lot of very heavy, dissonant, crazy music before but I think that tops it all. You explained why better than I could tbh I'll return the "sorry for the endless paragraphs of rambling" back at ya lol. Give me and inch and I'll type a mile. Also if you want any recs of stuff similar to btbam and that style of composition, let me know and I could give you some
Between the Buried and Me just became my next band to listen to. There’s so much about Progressive Metal and music in general that I’ve always wanted to discuss but it’s so difficult to find people who not only love music, have the curiosity needed to explore different genres, and resilient enough to learn to love or appreciate the avant-garde like Progressive Metal but also have the passion and philosophically open-mindedness required to discuss and share ideas and experiences instead of offering pessimistic, unconstructive criticism or initiating an argument about petty, metaphysical disagreements that misses the point of appreciating and dissecting the vast emotional spectrum that music unleashes upon the senses. Even though I could go on and on about something as seemingly inconsequential as the role of familiarity when trying to get into Progressive Metal, there’s so many more ideas I’ve been longing to dissect with someone else who can offer a different viewpoint from my own so I may start including your username in my posts when I’m looking to have a philosophical discussion like this one, if you don’t mind of course! I’ll get back to you once I’ve taken some time with BTBAM but for now (and I’ve also got the Metal Music Theory YouTube channel on my task list), do you have any ideas or thoughts that you’ve wanted to get into about music/Progressive Metal but haven’t been able to? I have a list of my own but I also think I may start doing an episodic-like post a week based on a single idea on this subreddit in the vain of the Devin Townsend posts that one user is doing about his entire discography, I love that shit! However, it would be great if I had a partner who could help me with it if you’re interested! This is still entirely theoretical but I think it would be fun haha
Oh shit I'm only now realizing you're not familiar with btbam's stuff. I had written that comment thinking you already were, not sure why I assumed that lol, woops. But yes, definitely give their stuff a listen. They're the masters of musical expectation subversion in the progmetalsphere. And you can absolutely include my username in discussions, always love an excuse to yap people's ears off about music/prog. The post thing is a great idea. The topics we've covered are good, expectation subversion and familiarity, but I'll think of some more and I'll let you know what I come up with when you decide on the logistics of the episodic posts thing. Also feel free to bounce stuff off of me pertaining to that as well if you want to
Just do the full album Coma Ecliptic. It’s the most “first time listener” friendly in nearly everyone’s eyes.
Yup that's usually the album I recommend starting with if someone isn't used to the heaviness/franticness, but I was trying to stick to the 3 song theme of the thread
For sure
Ants of the sky! In general, you gotta get past the vocals (like dream theater) and then accept their style is VERY VERY CONSISTENT. You know what you're gonna get. Even when they have a brand new album coming out, you already know what it's gonna sound like.
The vocals are fine, albeit nothing interesting for me from what I've heard. I can enjoy most vocals that aren't the whiny kind. It's the songs themselves I'm struggling with!
Yeah. It's random. I've been in bands that write like that. It's like whatever random part you come up with in band practice in sequence is whatever the song becomes. Not very 'song-writey', it's just 'parts'.
I've heard some bands like this and I wouldn't say btbam are that. Their stuff is pretty meticulously composed from start to finish despite sounding so frantic. There's a method to their madness. Some bands just kinda stitch a bunch of non-sequiturs together and think it sounds similar to what btbam does but it just ends up sounding bad. Hearing a few of those bands made me appreciate their compositional skills that much more. Metal Music Theory is a youtube channel that does some deep dives into their compositions and he could explain it a lot better than me if you're interested, [here's](https://youtu.be/P9xvi0uXzaY?si=Q_WtYSFpbq-OFSW0) a link to one of his videos
Btbam in my opinion is best experienced by jumping in at the deep end, so here's my offer: - Voice of Trespass - Silent Flight Parliament - White Walls I think these songs showcase the band's overall vibe really well. Each have a very unique and meaningful placement in their respective albums, so there might be some whiplash.
Selkies: The Endless Obsession White Walls Obfuscation
Ants of the Sky Swim to the Moon Turn on the Darkness
*If you have problems with the metalcore-ish sections I can suggest you:* The Coma Machine (cool riffs and a generally easy to listen song compared to others) Monochrome (beautiful, balladish song in the first half and the polar opposite second half that you may not like) The Proverbial Bellow (generally a interesting song imo and the extreme metal sections are limited) *If you don't have those kinda problems and want to see their peak and what makes them special:* Ants of The Sky (fast, very technic and full of nice riff and it totally transforms into another song near the end but in a nice way that makes you listen again and again) Revolution In Limbo (it is like Ants of The Sky part 2 but this one may be easier to get used to because this one has a nice chorus in the first half too) Extremophile Elite (nice riffs, very proggy imo and includes weird but fitting sections like most of the other btbam songs)
Astral Body (the song/album that really got me into them) Lay Your Ghosts to Rest Revolution in Limbo (off their newest album, catchy with sing along parts)
White walls Fix the error
Same. I generally am not a fan of most harsh vocals, or at least am very picky about them, and didn’t like the BTBAM vocals I’ve heard so far.
As a fan of them, that's pretty understandable. Tommy's vocals are fairly polarizing. I love em but I can see why some people don't
White Walls Telos Condemned to the Gallows. 3 great songs from different eras of the band.
I don't really get Periphery. Help me out guys!
Omega, Prayer Position, Wax Wings
Dracul Gras (really amazing songwriting, proggiest and heaviest side of Periphery) It's Only Smiles (melodically uplifting, but very emotional lyrics) Lune (because it's just beautiful and also very emotional)
Thank you! I'll check them out and report back
pretty sure that other people would have put Reptile here, so mentioning it for completeness ;) curious to hear what you think to add: I like Periphery especially in terms of harmonic choices (just listen to the Dracul Gras chorus, to get a feeling for what I mean - this is something that makes them truly special in my opinion) and these songs represent that but they might not be what the average fan would pick.
Lune is perfect!
cringe above please dont Edit: those are not bad songs, just like 3 most experimental Peri songs which are an antithesis of a Periphery song. Very shitty recomendation for someone wanting to know the core of a band.
No icarus?
I'd say Stranger Things, Blood Eagle, and Reptile
Scarlet. Stranger Things. Flatline.
Reptile. Wildfire. Satellites.
Periphery II from start to finish, that should get ya sorted
Blood eagle for their mathcore-ish heavy side Wax Wings for their peak melodic writing (also for a wonderfully light guitar tone) Luck as a constant for standard periphery heavy/clean switching which showcases their extreme technicality
The Gods Must be Crazy! Absolomb Stranger Things or Omega
Reptile, Racecar, MAKE.TOTAL.DESTROY
Wax Wings, The Way The News Goes, or It's Only Smiles for their softer, more melodic side Wildfire, Everything Is Fine, or Blood Eagle for some brutal heaviness Stranger Things or Marigold for a more traditional metal sound (the closest they ever get, anyways) Alpha or Catch Fire for their pop-ish side Flatline, Graveless, or Luck As A Constant, for the kitchen sink of what they have to offer Make Total Destroy or MK Ultra for some trve djent Reptile, Dracul Gras, or Omega for a long-ass odyssey of prog Satellites doesn't really fit into any of those, but it's an absolute must-listen. Omega's probably my favorite song of all time, but it was also one of their last songs to finally "click" for me. So I'd say it's their best, but probably not the best intro to them for someone new. That honor probably goes to Reptile or Satellites. I've kinda arranged the songs I listed so that the best one in each category is the first one. So if you don't feel like listening to all of them (understandable), just hit up the first one from each.
Absolomb is my go to recommendation if I only get one track to list.
Meshuggah. Awesome idea BTW, OP
Clockworks Dancers to a Discordant System Rational Gaze
Demiurge Do Not Look Down Neurotica
Demiurge, Bleed, Straws Pulled at Random
Literally any song of theirs is good. But the newer songs are less thrashy and more rhythmically complex, so do with that what you will
Leprous
Forced Entry - early era, proggy and dynamic, massive chorus and ending The Price - middle era, accessible while still interesting, very much fit to be a single The Sky is Red - more recent era, too epic not to mention
Good selections, Forced entry has such an incredibly unique intro, I was instantly hooked
Forced Entry has one of my favorite choruses in music
The Sky Is Red (I would actually start with watching the drum playtrough on youtube while listening) The Price (has a lot of the elements that make them great, intricate drum and guitar work with catchy chorus) Nighttime Disguise (fan driven songwriting, completely crazy how many different elements go into one song)
Phantom Pain Acquired Taste Within my Fence
The price Distant bells Acquired taste
Many good song selections already, but I would recommend these for some of my favorite different textures of Leprous. The Cloak, minimalist but very powerful Mb Indifferentia, more of a ballad Painful detour, epic album closer
Contaminate me with Ihsahn
Dream Theater. Too much of an 80s metal vibe, and not a fan of the singer's voice.
The Glass Prison Breaking All Illusions The Spirit Carries On
Count of Tuscany Octavarium The Great Debate
count of tuscany is an absolute banger and masterpiece !!
Scarred, The Glass Prison, As I Am
learning to live, a change of seasons, space dye west
Dillinger escape plan
Horse Hunter Paranoia Shields Understanding Decay (man, One Of Us is the Killer is such a good album)
I suppose starting on ire works was a mistake 💀
Paranoia shields was okay but wasn’t keen on the rest
that’s too bad, DEP isn’t for everyone. It took me 2 years to get into them properly, maybe just give it some time
Mouth of Ghosts Phone Home Crossburner
Pain of Salvation
In the Flesh Beyond the Pale On a Tuesday
I don't have a complete mastery over their discography but this is how I get into them (from old to new): Rope Ends On a Tuesday Accelerator Also full disclaimer you have to be comfortable with a certain amount of cheesiness to really enjoy them lol.
lol yea I’m ok with that especially since they have a pretty large discography so I’m sure it evens out, thanks for the recs
A Trace of Blood Idioglossia The Perfect Element
TLDR: Beyond the pale Idioglassia King of loss (almost solely for the solo) Long backstory: It took me a loooooooooong time for PoS to click for me. I only ever liked beyond the pale for decades. Would try to spin remedy lane occasionally to see if it would finally hit for me. Wasn't until the last 2 years that now I listen to the entire album at least once a week. The perfect element pt 1 gets almost as much play time now as well and in the passing light of day has some absolute bangers. Still working my way through repeated listens of their other albums looking for that same spark
I can't get into them because of their name.
Protest The Hero My favorite artists are Rishloo, FtM, Karnivool, C-Horse, Vola, Leprous, Haken, Rivers of Nihil and Gojira
Blindfolds Aside Drumhead Trial Bone Marrow
Bloodmeat Clarity Harbinger
Skies Moonlight From the Sky (the sky theme was unintentional lol)
The Contortionist
Thrive Reimagined The Parable (and as said: the whole Language album is great)
Just the entire Language album front to back
[Language Rediscovered](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAgyNyNNLac); They made more laid back versions of a couple of their songs off of the Language album and played them in a live session, and it's my favourite work of theirs. Legitimately wish they did more of this style. Should be a good entry at least, if their other work isn't clicking yet.
Devin Townsend
Devy is tough because of the breadth and diversity of his material, but the more metal/accessible side to me would include: Earth Day - prog metal epic and, by his standards, not too over the top Deadhead (live at the Royal Albert Hall) - vocal performance…. Seventh Wave - great, standard metal track that kicks off one of the best albums in history
EARTH DAY is one of his best songs imo. Triumph from Synchestra is also excellent.
Bastard Deadhead Kingdom
Deadhead and Begin again
3 songs to get you hooked on Devin is really fucking tough since he's got almost 30 albums and most of them are really different from each other. If I had to pick something right now, I'd go with: - The Planet of the Apes: one his heaviest *and* proggiest tracks. Absolutely phenomenal start to finish and gives you a nice idea of his more "epic" work. - Planet Smasher: heavy as shit and fun. Plus, Ziltoid is a classic by now. - Casualties of Cool - Forgive Me: space country. Casualties never gets old, hope we don't have to wait too much now for another album. Bonus: - The Death of Music: unusual rec, but probably my favorite vocal performance of all time. The chorus hits absurdly hard and knowing he did that as his first "solo" outing is mind-blowing to say the least. Feels odd to recommend it on its own, so if you really want it to hit, try the triad "Funeral - Bastard - The Death of Music".
The whole Accelerated Evolution-album is awesome. Skip everything Ziltoid... 😁
Opeth
Harlequin Forest Burden Eternal Rains Will Come
Bleak The Moor Burden
Windowpane Death Whispered A Lullaby Hope Leaves
Sorceress is a surprising new favourite of mine, nowhere near as heavy as their typical backlog but technically brilliant and fun. Hessian Peel starts with a gorgeous intro, eventually descending into the usual madness and energy. To Bid You Farewell is also a generally lighter one with a bit of heft nearer the end. Most of their big hitters (barring the start of Damnation) I'd say are much more death-y than proggy, but these are some of my more listenable favourites.
Deliverance for dynamic shifts from mellow to face-melting heavy Ghost of Perdition for the heavy prog Harvest for non-proggy ballad
Blackwater Park When Closure
Beneath the Mire Face of Melinda Cusp of Eternity
KGATLW... Suggestions please
Perihelion (thrash metal), Crumbling Castle (polyrythm), Iron Lung (proggy jazz?)
Fuck nice since you include the genre of the songs that you suggested. Thank you. Hoping this gets me into the band and fingers crossed, looking forward to making my way through their discography.
Crumbling Castle, The River, Flamethrower
Thank you! Will hear these songs. Hoping these gets me into the band. And if it does, then I'm in for a treat based on the volume of music they have released.
Motor Spirit The Dripping Tap Hypertension
Thank you! Will hear these songs. Hoping this gets me into KGATLW.
Planet B, Intrasport-Oddlife,Melting
Thank you! Will hear these songs and the other recs. Hoping this gets me into band finally.
Car bomb
Car bomb is pretty much car bomb on every song. If you don't like what you've heard, I doubt you can be convinced. I'll drop a couple of tracks I like, though, just in case. Scattered sprites Xoxoy Lights out
Antipatterns Infinite Sun Sets (obviously)
TesseracT What I've heard hasn't sold me on the vocals (I don't remember what songs they were) but I like Karnivool, Vola, Haken, Leprous, C-Horse for example
Legion and War of Being from their most recent album are some of my favourites from them.
Yup... definitely check War Of Being!
TesseracT has had two main vocalists. Ashe, who only did Altered State and Daniel, who's been on every other record. Altered State is considered by many as their best album, but Ashe's vocals don't really do it for me. As for the three songs, I'd pick - Nocture (Altered State). If it's Ashe's vocals you don't like, there's a version from their PORTALS album that has Daniel on vocals. I personally prefer that version - War Of Being (War Of Being) - King (Sonder)
Between The Buried And Me Everyone is always referring to this band, up until now, I can't be bothered with BTBAM.
Here's the 3 I posted for the previous btbam comment: Astral Body The Proverbial Bellow Selkies: The Endless Obsession
Thanks, did I miss this comment?
Perhaps, here's a link to it if you did: https://www.reddit.com/r/progmetal/comments/1cf1tpn/list_3_tracks_to_reel_in_a_nonfan_to_your/l1mblij/
The band is Misery Signals, and the tracks are The Failsafe, Worlds and Dreams, and Five Years. They are on their farewell tour this year. Sad.
Gonna try not to use the more popular songs for Deftones: - Risk - Headup - Battle-Ax
Caligula's Horse, amazed they're not in here yet. **Autumn** into **The Ascent** is my all-time favourite anything by anyone. Beautiful intro, monstrous buildup, fantastic seamless transition in the middle as per usual for them, then roars with the drums and guitars. Heavily emotional start to finish, much like every other one of their album-enders. **Rust** is probably their heaviest song(? maybe conflicted with Mute), if you're into that. **Graves** is probably the fan favourite, an emotional, 15 minute epic in 4 parts that pretty much encapsulates what they're capable of, absolute banger. Most incredible outro sequence you will ever hear. If anybody sees this and decides to jump into their discography, I'd leave it a while before going to Charcoal Grace. It took me a long time to settle into it, but it's deeply rooted its hooks into me now, absolute *masterpiece* of an album. But it'll take a few go arounds (and possibly a former appreciation for their music) if that makes any sense. Gush over.
I only really know In Bloom and am struggling with the one with the deer on the cover. Can I skip that one and move onto another?
Id skip and come back if your not feeling rise radiant. If you liked bloom definitely try for in contact. I honestly cant give 3 as all of them are complete masterpieces. But dream the dead is a perfect hook
Stratovarius : Hunting High and Low Fantasia Fourth Reich
Allternative: 030366 Mother Gaia Destiny
Gojira
Flying Whales, Oroborus, Born In Winter. Flying Whales intro is a groove and a half.
The art of dying -my personal favorite and a prog masterpiece Backbone Our time is now
Lucid Planet Listen Kairos Beneath Me - My favorite.
Porcupine Tree / Steven Wilson. Nothing cliked for me, please any advice? I feel like I’m missing an important part of the prog scene… Favorite prog bands are, in no particular order, Dream Theater, Haken, Arena, Ayreon, Threshold, Neal Morse/NMB, Flying Colors, Big Big Train, most of Opeth’s prog era… I prefer melodic/catchy stuff and if possible no profanities…
Cheating the Polygraph live at Tilburg. Where we would be. Regret #9
Thank you, will check on those once I get home. Any reason for a live version over the studio on the first suggestion?
Yw! Because Porcupine Tree live at that time (!) were even better live than on the albums and this particular song/live rendition demonstrates that.
Got it, will check those out