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dogmomwrites · 2 years

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Hello, please share some good progressive metal bands! I'm a big fan of symphonic metal and Marko Hietala from Nightwish put out an album a year or so ago that took some inspiration from progressive music. I've been interested in it since then but have no idea where to even start.

oh my god my dude, this is the greatest genre there is. There's so much talent. The riffs! The atmospheres! The lyrics! The stories! It's so incredibly versatile that no matter what your preference or even what mood you're in, there's a band for it. I only know a fraction of the bands out there, but here are some of my favorites!

This is gonna be a long one, y'all. Don't blame me if you click the keep reading break, but! If anyone else has some progressive (or progressive-adjacent) bands they wanna share, please do! As I said, I only know so many, and I'm always happy to discover new music!

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⚠️ really long, guys! ��️

Leprous (from Norway)-- probably my personal favorite band (although I will say I have no idea what the fuck they were doing with Bilateral's cover art). I'm not really certain how best to describe their style tbh it's distinctly Leprous, yet it blends a lot of the progressive categories together. Experimental is probably the best I've got there lol

They have the single greatest singer in Einar Solberg. His range is unbelievable. His control is unbelievable. His power is unbelievable. His rough vocals are so satisfying and then he'll turn right around and blow you away with the vulnerability in his voice. He overshadows every other member of that band, which is ridiculous because they're all insanely talented. If you go to Artist Pick on their Spotify page, they have a playlist that contains their entire discography, starting with their most recent album. Singling out individual songs of theirs to recommend would end up with me including at least two whole albums, so that's what I'm suggesting for them. Their most recent album is a genuine masterpiece anyway, so it's a great place to start for them. Their style has changed a small bit over the years, but I personally think they've refined it. They've just gotten better with every album--with the exception of The Congregation; I'd rank that one above Malina

Orden Ogan (from Germany)-- progressive metal meets power metal, with a tiny dash of folk metal thrown in. Their best albums would be Easton Hope, Final Days, and Gunmen, probably in that order. From their other albums, don't miss Ravenhead, F.E.V.E.R., Sorrow is Your Tale (album: Ravenhead), To the End, The Things We Believe In, Dying Paradise (album: To the End), To New Shores of Sadness, The Lords of the Flies, ...And if You Do Right, and the folk version of We Are Pirates! (album: Vale)

Powerwolf (from Germany)-- technically not a progressive band, but most who like progressive also love them, so I'm tossing them in. Their style is more befitting the power metal category, as they're not very progressive. However, they have been releasing fantastic orchestral versions of their new songs, so they fall into the symphonic metal category as well now! If you've been looking for werewolf metal or metal-as-religion, then I gotchu. Powerwolf is just what you needed.

Attila Dorn is another fantastic vocalist. His voice is so rich and powerful and thematic, and it works so so well with their style. They have so many phenomenal songs that trying to list all of their best would basically be a top 50, so honestly just go to their Most Popular on their Spotify page and just let that shit play. If you're not interested in any of that, you're not gonna care for them in general

Diablo Swing Orchestra (from Sweden)-- just one example of the variety to be found in the progressive genre. They have a wonderful chaotic style that borders on circus metal, and I love it. Sometimes they lean towards opera, sometimes towards swing, sometimes towards disco. I'll admit to being sweet on the album Swagger and Stroll Down the Rabbit Hole because that was my introduction to them, but Balrog Boogie, Rag Doll Physics (album: The Butcher's Ballroom), Lucy Fears the Morning Star, Bedlam Sticks, Vodka Inferno (album: Singalong Songs for the Damned and Delirious), Voodoo Mon Amour, Black Box Messiah (album: Pandora's Piñata), The Age of Vulture Culture, Superhero Jagganath, and Jigsaw Hustle (album: Pacifisticuffs) are also good songs

Blind Guardian (from Germany)-- they have some symphonic metal vibes, some thrash metal vibes, but overall they're power metal and progressive metal, I'd say. I personally don't much like thrash metal, so there are a good chunk of their songs that I'm not much into. But. When they're good, they're good. And they have a whole album based on Middle-Earth! (album: Nightfall in Middle-Earth). Even if you aren't a big fan of Tolkien, Nightfall, Blood Tears, and Mirror Mirror are some great songs.

As I'm not a fan of thrash metal, I tend to stay away from their older stuff. Curse My Name and The Wheel of Time (album: At the Edge of Time) are probably the oldest of their songs that I like (outside of the Nightfall in Middle-Earth album). The Ninth Wave (album: Beyond the Red Mirror) is quite possibly their greatest song of all. Dark Cloud's Rising, Point of No Return, and Beyond the Wall (album: Legacy of the Dark Lands) can't be forgotten, either. They're actually more orchestral songs; beyond the point of symphonic, they went straight to orchestral. So if you dig that, you'll love those last three songs

Ostura (from Lebanon)-- could be considered more power metal than progressive metal, but honestly, they're so good and so unheard of that I'm adding them because I want them to be able to release another album. They have both male and female vocalists, and since they only have one album, I'm not gonna single out specific songs. Just listen to their album lol it's only an hour

Seven Spires (from America)-- more of a symphonic metal, but I consider that a branch-off of progressive metal. Not many bands can boast a female singer who nails the rough vocals, but Adrienne Cowan can scream and growl as the song needs her to. Their entire first album, Solveig, is fantastic, as are Every Crest, Unmapped Darkness, Succumb, Silvery Moon, Bury You (album: Emerald Seas), Gods of Debauchery, Ghost of Yesterday, Oceans of Time, and Fall With Me (album: Gods of Debauchery)

Soen (from Sweden)-- I'm not super familiar with the band Tool, but that's who I'm told Soen sounds most like. Tool with audible vocals lol Fraccions, Delenda, Last Light, Canvas (album: Cognitive), Monarch, Antagonist, and Modesty (album: Imperial) are their best songs by far

Evergrey (from Sweden)-- the best I know of at setting the atmosphere for their songs with just the first few notes. It's kind of ridiculous. Another band where I prefer their more recent albums-- their most recent is my favorite of them all-- yet there are some songs strewn throughout their older stuff that just can't be left out. Namely: Words Mean Nothing (album: Solitude, Dominance, Tragedy), A Touch of Blessing, More Than Ever (album: The Inner Circle), Wrong, Free (album: Glorious Collision), King of Errors, and Hymns for the Broken (album: Hymns for the Broken). Of their newer stuff, pretty much everything from their new album--A Heartless Portrait (The Orphéan Testament)--as well as Forever Outsider, Where August Mourns, and Eternal Nocturnal (album: Escape of the Phoenix), A Silent Arc, Weightless, End of Silence (album: The Atlantic), Distance, The Impossible, and My Allied Ocean (album: The Storm Within).

Yes, that's a big list of songs. They have a lot and they're unfortunately hit or miss a lot of the time :(

Borealis (from Canada)-- these guys. Okay. They're amazing. How are they not popular?? Their newest album (Illusions) was released only a few days ago and I've already listened to it a hundred times. There's not a weak song on it. The singer, Matt Marinelli, has such a majestic voice and they draw inspiration from other fantastic progressive bands (having cited Kamelot, Nightwish, Sonata Artica, Seventh Wonder, Avantasia, Symphony X, and Evergrey as a few) and they just nailed everything about this album. Before this album, they released The Offering, which is another 10/10 and it's just not right that no one knows this band. It's truly an injustice.

I recommend the entirety of Illusions and The Offering. The epics of each album, The Phantom Silence (Illusions) and Ghosts of Innocence (The Offering) are two of the greatest songs ever. Granted, that list is massive, but even if you don't listen to anything else by Borealis, listen to those two songs

Seventh Wonder (from Sweden)-- one of Borealis' inspirations! Their style is a mix of progressive metal and symphonic metal. Some of their stuff has been taken down from Spotify due to them having different labels, but (hopefully!) that will be fixed soon. As it stands, the two albums they still have up, Tiara and The Testament, are both super good all the way through, so I don't have to list specific songs. Just both albums. I will say to look up their album Mercy Falls and the song The Great Escape on Youtube and give them a listen. The Great Escape is on an album of the same name, so...actually, to avoid confusion, I'll link this one song

youtube

Kamelot (from America)-- not so much a progressive metal band as they are power metal and symphonic metal, but the lead singer of Seventh Wonder, Tommy Karevik, took over as Kamelot's lead singer. So somehow, Kamelot lost Roy Khan as their singer and managed to upgrade. Roy Khan is incredible and yet. Tommy Karevik is ??? even better?? idk too. It's like Mike Portnoy leaving Dream Theater as drummer only for them to find Mike Mangini

Another band with a lot of great songs, so recommending songs to not listen to would probably be a shorter list. I'm just going to say go to their Most Popular on Spotify and let it play. I'm trying to single out the best stuff from all the bands I'm listing, but Kamelot just has...so much

Nightwish (from Finland)-- you mentioned Marko Hietala and Nightwish, so I'm not gonna go super in-depth on this one, as I'm assuming you're at least somewhat familiar with them, but a progressive metal list isn't complete without them, so. Floor Jansen is quite possibly the best female vocalist there is in this day and age. Her range, her control, her versatility. It's just incredible.

Stargazers (album: Oceanborn), Over the Hills and Far Away, 10th Man Down (album: Over the Hills and Far Away), End of all Hope, Dead to the World (album: Century Child), Dark Chest of Wonders, Wish I Had an Angel, Nemo, Planet Hell, Ghost Love Score (album: Once), The Poet and the Pendulum, Bye Bye Beautiful, Amaranth, The Islander, their instrumental song Last of the Wilds, 7 Days to the Wolves (album: Dark Passion Play), Storytime, I Want My Tears Back, Scaretale, Turn Loose the Mermaids, The Crow the Owl and the Dove, Last Ride of the Day (album: Imaginaerum), Shudder Before the Beautiful, Élan, My Walden, The Greatest Show on Earth (album: Endless Forms Most Beautiful), Music, Noise, Shoemaker, Harvest, and How's the Heart? (album: Human :II: Nature).

I said I was gonna keep this one brief...whoops. Well, if you were, in fact, already familiar with Nightwish, now you know my favorites!

Caligula's Horse (from Australia)-- I really dig their style, which is like a contemporary progressive metal, so I wish I liked more of their songs. As is, the ones I do like, I like a lot. All from their two most recent albums. Slow Violence, Salt, Oceanrise, Valkyrie, Autumn (album: Rise Radiant), Dream the Dead, The Hands are the Hardest, and Songs for No One (album: In Contact)

Diablo Swing Orchestra (from Sweden)-- just one example of the variety to

Unleash the Archers (from Canada)-- they're kind of just metal, not super proggy, but they do have elements of it. The entirety of their album Apex is worth a listen, as are the songs Waking Dream, Abyss and Afterlife (album: Abyss). Their cover of Northwest Passage (not on an album) puts any other version of that song to shame, easily

Pyramaze (from Denmark)-- they're progressive metal with elements of symphonic metal and power metal added in. Honestly, I kind of forget that they released any albums before 2015. The songs Disciples of the Sun and Back for More (album: Disciples of the Sun) are my favorites of theirs outside of the album Epitaph, which, like Borealis' most recent two, is flawless. All of Epitaph. From beginning to end, it's a solid 10/10, and yet the last two songs, World Foregone and The Time Traveller, are somehow even better than all the rest

Oceans of Slumber (from America)-- they're melodic progressive metal with darker tones like death metal. Some of their songs straight-up sound like gothic dirges. They're fantastic. They've been compared to Opeth, a band I've never really gotten into. Definitely look up The Decay of Disregard, The Banished Heart, No Color No Light (album: The Banished Heart), A Return to the Earth Below, To the Sea (A Tolling of the Bells), their cover of Wolf Moon (album: Oceans of Slumber), The Waters Rising, The Lighthouse, and their cover of House of the Rising Sun (album: Starlight and Ash)

Haken (from the U.K.)-- they have such a distinct version of progressive metal, it's very hard to describe. There's a weirdness to it that works just right. Whenever I'm in a Haken mood, I always know it. Not much else can scratch that particular itch. Invasion, Carousel, The Strain, Canary Yellow (album: Virus), The Good Doctor, Puzzle Box (album: Vector), and Cockroach King (album: The Mountain) are their best songs by far

Thank You Scientist (from America)-- when progressive metal meets jazz, you get Thank You Scientist. Also, their lead singer, Salvatore Marrano kinda sounds like Michael Jackson at times. It's weird, but it works so well. A Salesman's Guide to Non-Existence, Feed the Horses, My Famed Disappearing Act (album: Maps of Non-Existent Places), Mr. Invisible (album: Stranger Heads Prevail), FXMLDR, and Life of Vermin (album: Terraformer) are their best songs

Shaman's Harvest (from America)-- not really considered progressive metal, but since "progressive" essentially just means "different" in this context, as it's the evolution of metal, I'm including Shaman's Harvest. They are, in lead singer Nathan Hunt's own words, really fuckin' heavy blues. Their albums Shine, Smokin' Hearts and Broken Guns, and Rebelator are solid all the way through. Sequoia (March of the Bastards), Red Hands Black Deeds (Prelude), Soul Crusher, So Long, and Tusk and Bone (album: Red Hands Black Deeds) are all really good. I generally avoid their album Synergy tbh

Avantasia (from Germany)-- technically, it's called Tobias Sammet's Avantasia, but that's just cuz he has such an ego lmao I love him tho he's so energetic. Avantasia started out as a metal opera, with the first two albums literally being called The Metal Opera and The Metal Opera Part 2, although they're more of a symphonic power metal. The opera part is from all the guest singers that he has for just about every single song he releases, and includes singers such as Hansi Kursch (Blind Guardian), Jørn Lande (Masterplan), Marko Hietala (Nightwish), Tim Owens (Judas Priest; formerly, Iced Earth), Roy Khan (Kamelot; formerly), Alice Cooper (Alice Cooper), Sharon den Adel (Within Temptation), and for the upcoming album, Floor Jansen (Nightwish)!

Avantasia has a lot of music. Most of it's great, some of it isn't. The absolute best of the best songs of all (to try and keep this list short) would be Ghost in the Moon, The Raven Child (album: Moonglow), The Scarecrow (album: The Scarecrow), Let the Storm Descend Upon You, Lucifer (album: Ghostlights), Forever is a Long Time, Runaway Train (The Wicked Symphony), The Seven Angels (The Metal Opera Part 2), Farewell, Sign of the Cross, and The Tower (The Metal Opera) almost in that order!

Dream Theater (from America)-- easily one of the most well-known names in progressive metal. Every single member is absolutely outstanding. It's genuinely ridiculous how good these guys are. John Petrucci is the greatest guitarist on the planet; John Myung is the greatest bassist on the planet, Jordan Rudess is the greatest keyboardist (and keytarist!) on the planet, Mike Mangini is the greatest drummer on the planet (although some argue that title would go to their former drummer, Mike Portnoy), and James LaBrie would be the greatest singer on the planet if people like Einar Solberg (Leprous) and Tommy Karevik (Kamelot, Seventh Wonder) didn't exist.

These guys have been releasing albums regularly since the 80s, so they have a lot of music. Trying to get into progressive metal starting with Dream Theater can be problematic, as fans recommend their personal favorites, which are sublime songs, but not the most gentle introductions to this genre. The most accessible album of theirs would probably be their second most recent one, Distance Over Time. They just have so many time signature changes that it can scare away some people lol Distance Over Time is a little more newbie-friendly.

Some of my favorite songs of theirs are Metropolis Pt 1 (album: Images and Words), Space Dye Vest (album: Awake), A Change of Seasons (album: A Change of Seasons), Trial of Tears (album: Falling into Infinity), Blind Faith (Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence), Endless Sacrifice, In the Name of God (album: Train of Thought), I Walk Beside You, Panic Attack, Octavarium (album: Octavarium), In the Presence of Enemies Pt 1, Forsaken, The Dark Eternal Night, The Ministry of Lost Souls, In the Presence of Enemies Pt 2 (album: Systematic Chaos), A Nightmare to Remember, A Rite of Passage, Wither, The Count of Tuscany (album: Black Clouds and Silver Linings), Bridges in the Sky, Outcry (album: A Dramatic Turn of Events), Untethered Angel, Barstool Warrior, At Wit's End, Pale Blue Dot (Distance Over Time), The Alien, Answering the Call, and A View from the Top of the World (A View from the Top of the World).

Yeah. That's a lot, huh? I omitted two of their albums from that list. Some of their titles are pointlessly long, so I shortened them out of laziness.

Metropolis Pt 2: Scenes from a Memory and The Astonishing are both concept albums, and while I've included songs from concept albums for previous bands in this list without pointing out that they're concept albums, Dream Theater's list was just going to be so so long that I decided to give the concept albums their own paragraph. The Astonishing has only a very small handful of songs that I'd single out, so I'm gonna stick with just one, and that's because it sounds like Dream Theater wrote a Disney villain song. Three Days is the title, and it's great. James LaBrie sounds like he enjoyed himself a lot. For Scenes from a Memory, since it's a concept album (that means it tells a story through the songs and narration), it would make more sense to listen to all the songs in order, although I will say my favorites are Scenes 5 through 9; Through Her Eyes, Home, The Dance of Eternity, One Last Time, The Spirit Carries On, and Finally Free (there's more song titles than scenes because scene 7 was split into two parts. Dance of Eternity and One Last Time are both technically the same scene)

So. That's probably...a bit more than you bargained for, and I'm gonna have to go up and include a scene break so this answer doesn't take up pages and pages of anyone's dash, but I hope it gives you a place to start learning progressive metal! I'll be honest, I've probably forgotten some bands/artists. These are all just off the top of my head, as they're some of my most listened-to progressive metal bands

#music #metal #progressive metal #symphonic metal #power metal

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